The New York legislature plans to meet at a special session on Monday to block eviction procedures amid the coronavirus pandemic, as low-income families face billions across the country in unpaid rent.
The legislature will approve what is effectively a two-month moratorium on evictions, to give tenants a chance to declare financial difficulties caused by the pandemic and its ensuing economic slowdown. The account will cover all eviction processes that begin next month.
“Since the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic, we have understood that housing security must be an essential part of our effort to protect the health and well-being of all New Yorkers,” said state senator Brian Kavanagh (D), author of the project. “We are offering real protection to countless tenants and homeowners who would otherwise be at risk of losing their homes.”
The Kavanagh bill will create a standard form that residents facing financial difficulties can fill out. Tenants would submit the forms if they faced loss of revenue or increased costs specifically because of the pandemic.
It also postpones foreclosures and tax lien sales to homeowners, an effort to protect smaller owners – those with less than ten rental units – and homeowners.
New York Governor Andrew Cuomo
Andrew CuomoGottlieb: New coronavirus strain ‘probably here in the United States’ Why special advice is warranted if Biden chooses Yates, Cuomo or Jones as AG Cuomo grants clemency to 21 people who have shown ‘remorse, rehabilitation’ MORE (D) said on Monday that he would approve the measure.
“We have an agreement with them about a housing moratorium project,” Cuomo said at a news conference. “As soon as the law is passed, I will sign.”
The pandemic has created an increasing accumulation of overdue rentals, which investment advisory Moody’s Analytics estimates at $ 70 billion nationwide. The federal government has banned evictions, a ban that the latest coronavirus aid package will extend until the end of January.
It is estimated that 11 million tenants have either delayed their rent or will not be able to pay next month, according to a weekly survey by the Census Bureau.
Several states have created their own ban on eviction. California avoided evictions until the end of January; Connecticut, Delaware, Colorado and Hawaii extended bans further in February; and Washington, Oregon and Nevada will block evictions until the end of the crisis.
Maryland, New Jersey and the District of Columbia have established bans that will last until the end of the crisis, with no specific date.