The novel coronavirus has pummeled New York City’s economy, leaving workers who were once gainfully employed to grapple with the economic fallout. And in a city where renters make up nearly two-thirds of the population, several questions loom large: What happens if I can’t make rent? Will I be evicted? And what rights do I have as a tenant?
The good news is that residential tenants cannot be evicted through October 1 thanks to new court guidance. That directive, issued by New York State Chief Administrative Judge Lawerence Marks, mandates that no residential eviction warrants can be executed until October at the earliest, even as pre-pandemic cases begin to move forward.
Back in March, Judge Marks announced a suspension on court eviction proceedings, but a loophole briefly allowed landlords to file new cases. Shortly after, Cuomo closed that loophole and enacted a statewide moratorium on evictions until June 20.
He extended that moratorium by another month — narrowing who qualified under the order — but in a maddening twist, the governor rescinded part of that mandate in July. Under yet another executive order, Cuomo froze the statute of limitations, allowing the court system to continue its hold on moving eviction cases forward. The governor has renewed that freeze and Judge Marks’ responded by extending the court’s hold evictions.
Cuomo, however, has rolled back orders preventing new eviction cases from being filed. Those cases can be submitted but are prohibited from moving forward under Judge Marks’ latest guidance. Cuomo now points to the Tenant Safe Harbor Act — which provides residential tenants with a defense they can use in court, but does not block new cases from being filed — as New Yorkers’ only lasting pandemic-related tenant protection.
A qualifying renter under that legislation can never be evicted for not paying rent accrued between March 7 and after the state lifts its final pandemic-related restrictions. But landlords can still seek money judgements to recuperate missed rent for that period. Tenants grappling with eviction cases for reasons other than nonpayment, along with those who had cases in the works against them before mid-March, remain vulnerable.
In short, a swath of renters have protection from eviction but they’ll have to prove their case before a judge to qualify. And even as hearings for cases filed before March 17 begin to move forward, evictions are on hold; proceedings for cases filed after that date remain suspended. Tenants, all told, cannot legally be evicted right now. But that doesn’t mean some landlords won’t try anyway. Housing attorneys and tenant hotlines have been busy fielding questions from frazzled renters receiving misinformation or even threats.
If you’re trying to make sense of all this and figure out what this means for you, read on for a breakdown of protections New Yorkers currently have from eviction.
What does a hold on eviction proceedings mean for renters?
Residential evictions will remain on hold in New York until at least October 1, even as proceedings for cases filed before the pandemic begin to move forward. Any case commenced before March 17 must be conferenced in front of a judge before “any further action is taken,” according to Judge Marks’ latest guidance.
If you recently received a notice of eviction from your landlord, that by itself is not enough to evict you. Your landlord must get an order from the court to legally remove a tenant (even if the tenant’s lease has expired or they are behind on rent). But any new or existing eviction warrant cannot be carried out by city marshals until October at the earliest.
The city’s five housing courts began to reopen on June 22, when landlords were able to submit new eviction cases. But those proceedings are also on pause until further notice.
How does the Tenant Safe Harbor Act factor into things?
The Tenant Safe Harbor Act, which was sponsored by Manhattan State Senator Brad Hoylman and Bronx Assemblymember Jeffrey Dinowitz, makes it so tenants can never be evicted for missing rent payments throughout the COVID-19 crisis, specifically from March 7 until all coronavirus-related restrictions are lifted in a tenant’s county. (That is, so long as the tenant can prove to a judge that they suffered a financial hardship during that period.)
It’s crucial to understand that this legislation does not waive rents for that period. A renter can’t be evicted because they missed rent during that time, but a landlord can still seek a money judgement to recuperate any unpaid rent.
Patrick Tyrrell, a staff attorney with Mobilization for Justice, notes that such a judgement could still do “a lot of harm” to renters who could face having their wages garnished, liens put against their personal property, or seeing their credit ravaged if they’re unable to pay.
If I won’t be evicted, do I still have to pay rent?
Short answer: Yes; the Tenant Safe Harbor Act does not cancel rent payments, and if you can, you should still pay your rent. Not paying rent will open a legal pandora’s box that enables a landlord to bring a nonpayment case against a tenant.
That said, paying rent may not be feasible for many New Yorkers who recently lost work. This is why the eviction moratorium, and subsequent legislation, came into existence: So those suffering a sudden financial hardship aren’t forced onto the streets during a pandemic.
For those struggling to make ends meet, the city’s Human Resources Administration can offer some help through the “One Shot Deal.” This emergency assistance program can provide qualifying New Yorkers with a one-time payment they can put toward rent.
Jason Wu, a housing attorney and a trustee for the Association of Legal Aid Attorneys, says communication can also be key here. If you can’t make rent, you might want to let your landlord know that you recently suffered a loss of income and see if an arrangement can be reached; when you find a new source of income, you may be able to negotiate a repayment plan with your landlord for missed payments, says Wu.
Can my landlord still file a nonpayment case against me?
Now that the city’s housing courts have partially reopened, yes. But those cases have been adjourned until at least October. This means that New York landlords have the option to initiate new eviction cases against tenants. But while those cases can be filed, tenants are not currently at risk of an eviction warrant being issued and executed against them.
But my landlord is still threatening to evict me. What do I do?
As Andrea Shapiro, a program manager with the Met Council on Housing puts it, “There’s nothing landlords can do to get you out legally right now. The law is on your side.” As the city’s housing courts gradually reopen, some proceedings are beginning to resume, but the eviction process is a laborious one and a legal eviction is still a ways off for most renters.
You don’t have to go anywhere, and you shouldn’t: Health officials continue to caution those feeling sick — and those who are not — to limit their time outside. But if your landlord shows up at your door and claims you’ve been evicted or tries to change the locks, shut off utilities, or physically remove your belongings, you can call the police and explain that your landlord is engaging in an illegal eviction, what’s known as a “self help eviction,” according to Wu. (It’s a criminal misdemeanor to illegally evict a tenant in New York.)
Wu worries that some landlords may try to bully tenants who are not familiar with the eviction process into leaving when they don’t have to. “I have concerns about the intimidating and harassing tactics that landlords are using that really ride the line of what’s legal but potentially arises to harassment,” says Wu. “It’s important that tenants know that protections exist.”
A city marshal is trying to evict me. Can they do that?
No. In March, the city’s Department of Investigations (DOI) notified all marshals that eviction proceedings are suspended, and that directive has since been extended until October. If a marshal tries to execute an eviction warrant, do not comply, and report the activity by calling DOI’s Bureau of City Marshals at (212) 825-5953.
“Don’t make decisions out of fear,” says Susanna Blankley, the campaign coordinator with the Right to Counsel NYC Coalition. “Know that you have rights; know that you have power.”
What if I’m diagnosed with COVID-19 — does that change anything?
It’s critical to know that your landlord cannot ask you to leave your apartment because you have tested positive for COVID-19 or may be sick, according to the Mayor’s Office to Protect Tenants. It’s illegal for your landlord to discriminate against you, harass you, or threaten to kick you out of your home because of fear or stigma surrounding COVID-19. If you’re experiencing discrimination or harassment by your landlord, report it to the city’s Commission on Human Rights by filling out this form.
What happens when these eviction protections expire?
The answer to that question is currently up in the air.
Queens State Senator Michael Gianaris has proposed legislation that would suspend rent for 90 days for residential and commercial tenants impacted by COVID-19. The bill would also provide mortgage relief to the landlords of qualifying tenants.
“We are staring down the barrel of a housing crisis we know is coming,” says Gianaris. “We can either let that happen or we can put up some legal structure around it and try to soften the landing.”
That bill, however, was quashed when the State Legislature returned to Albany in May to take up a package of COVID-19 relief bills. Instead the legislature passed the Tenant Safe Harbor Act, though the bill’s sponsors, Hoylman and Dinowitz, acknowledge that it is only a small piece of the rent relief puzzle. “No law can single-handedly solve the eviction crisis — but [this] is one crucial step to address the looming tidal wave of evictions,” says Hoylman.
Now state lawmakers are pushing for the passage of the Rent and Mortgage Cancellation Act of 2020, proposed by Assemblymember Yuh-Line Niou and State Senator Julia Salazar. That bill would cancel residential rents accrued between March 7 and the end of New York’s ongoing state of emergency, plus an additional 90 days afterward.
Roughly 14,500 New York City families have pending eviction warrants and are the most imminently at risk of losing their homes once the court’s protections expire, which will trigger a wave of displacement across the city. Hundreds of thousands more could be at risk of housing instability now that weekly $600 pandemic unemployment payments have expired. New York University’s Furman Center estimates that 279,400 low-income renters who received those payments will face an increased rent burden. Additionally, the Furman Center estimates another 111,500 renters lost their jobs but did not claim unemployment.
The Housing Justice for All coalition — of which the Met Council on Housing and the Right to Counsel Coalition are members — has advocated for an outright cancellation of rent during the pandemic, calling on Cuomo to suspend rent for the duration of New York’s health crisis. “Without relief, what will happen is mass displacement that would just be unconscionable,” says Blankley.
At the very least, the governor should extend his initial blanket moratorium for the duration of the pandemic — and then for at least three months after that, says Shapiro. “It would give people a little more time to get on their feet,” she says. A new state bill, introduced by Brooklyn State Senator Zellnor Myrie, dubbed the Emergency Housing Stability and Tenant Displacement Prevention Act, seeks to go much further. That legislation would prohibit evictions, new cases, and money judgements for a year after the state lifts its final COVID-19-related emergency restrictions.
“Members of our community are already hanging on by a thread and would not be able to withstand the pain and instability that an eviction would cause,” says Myrie, adding that the bill would serve as a “a stopgap measure as our economy stabilizes.”
On the city level, City Council Speaker Corey Johnson, who supports canceling rent, has introduced legislation that would effectively halt evictions and debt collection for both residential and commercial tenants until September 30, following the expiration of state and federal eviction protections. The bill would also prevent city marshals and sheriffs from collecting debts and carrying out evictions on New York City residents impacted by COVID-19 until April 2021. That bill has so far stalled in the Council.
But if New York is to bounce back from this pandemic without deepening the city’s homelessness crisis and further spiraling into economic uncertainty, the governor and lawmakers must offer great rent relief and protection from eviction, says Wu.
“I think the initial eviction moratorium was a good first step, but it was not a long-term solution,” says Wu. “And what we have now is just kicking the can down the road.”
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