Gov Cuomo says he will extend eviction moratorium for residential and commercial tenants through the new year
Governor Andrew Cuomo will extend New York's temporary moratorium on evictions as the state grapples with a troubling surge in coronavirus cases.
The current bans on evictions for residential and commercial tenants were set to expire on January 1, 2021, but Cuomo's top aide on Wednesday indicated that his office won't let that happen.
'Obviously we update these things as we go, and we're not going to let anybody who's evicted due to these circumstances be evicted,' Secretary to the Governor Melissa DeRosa said at his daily coronavirus briefing.
She did not specify how long the upcoming extension would last.
Governor Andrew Cuomo on Wednesday said he will extend New York's temporary moratorium on evictions as the state grapples with a troubling surge in coronavirus cases
Cuomo first implemented a loose eviction moratorium back in March before solidifying it under a law called the Tenant Safe Harbor Act passed over the summer.
The moratorium protects tenants who are unable to pay rent due to financial hardship as a result of the pandemic from being kicked out of their homes.
He expanded protections in October to include commercial tenants, eliciting criticism from landlords who say they also need some form of assistance from the government to get by.
Up to 25 percent of tenants in New York City are said to have missed rent payments this year as the pandemic left thousands out of work.
Being unable to evict non-paying tenants has put a huge strain on landlords. A survey by the Community Housing Improvement Program in October found that 15 percent of landlords said they wouldn't be able to pay property taxes next year.
Signs calling for the suspension of rent payments have popped up around New York City this year as tenants fall further and further behind. One banner is seen on a building in Bushwick
The moratorium extension comes as Democrats in the state legislature prepare to pass new protections and property owners which would go 'much further than the current moratorium', a source told the New York Daily News.
Insiders told the outlet that lawmakers have reached an agreement on a 'package of bills' that will not only block evictions through July 2021 but also protect small landlords and homeowners from foreclosures.
Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie (D - Bronx) on Monday said that Democrats in both chambers of the state legislatures could ink the deal in a special session as early as next week.
'Once the Senate and the Assembly, if we can get to some common ground — which I think we are,' Heastie said. 'I think it's really just language that's being worked out between the staff.'
If the deal isn't approved next week it will be pushed back to next year's legislative session beginning in early January.
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