New York lawmakers wish to tighten the eviction moratorium Information

ALBANIA (TNS) – State lawmakers could meet for a rare December session early next week to extend and strengthen the New York eviction moratorium.

While Governor Andrew Cuomo recently pledged to extend the current eviction moratorium beyond January 1, proponents of housing construction have criticized this patchwork protection measure for tenants in New York and called for a blanket moratorium on evictions during the coronavirus to prevent pandemic.

Under the current moratorium, tenants who can prove financial difficulties due to COVID-19 cannot be evicted from their homes. It doesn't stop a landlord from filing an eviction request or protect tenants who can't prove financial difficulties – a high hurdle for undocumented workers and for the gig economy, housing lawyers say.

Congregation spokesman Carl E. Heastie said Monday members would work with their Senate colleagues to address housing issues.

"We want to make sure people stay in their homes," Heastie said. "We don't want people to have to go to court to prove an emergency, so we're working on that language."

The Democratic Conferences in both houses met this week to draft revised laws that would extend the eviction moratorium to prevent evictions for tenants facing nonpayment and holdover difficulties. The latter were the evictions that began before March 7 and before the pandemic broke out in the countryside.

The bill also offers similar protections to small landlords and homeowners who face potential foreclosure, tax breaks and credit discrimination. This emerges from a summary of the bill received by the Times Union. It also renews the property tax exemption for seniors and people with disabilities without the need for recertification.

But nothing has been finalized and discussions with lawmakers and the executive branch continue, said Rich Azzopardi, Cuomo's senior advisor.

"The standard for the current moratorium was set by the original Safe Harbor Act passed by lawmakers and we respect the legislature's intent, but we continue to discuss next steps with Houses," he said in a per e-mail. Mail sent statement.

The revised bill would create a "standardized hardship form". Tenants and homeowners could sign under the penalty of perjury if they have financial hardship preventing them from paying their rent in full, or get alternative accommodation if a tenant or member of the household has an increased risk of serious illness due to COVID-19 due to age or underlying medical conditions.

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Hardship would include loss of income; increased spending on health, childcare or family care; inability to take up employment; or a lack of funds to cover moving expenses. Small landlords could claim lower rental income as part of their hardship declaration. Tenants and owners would also have to confirm that the public support they have received since the beginning of COVID-19 has not fully offset the lost revenue or increased expenses.

The signed form could then be returned to a renter's landlord, mortgage holder, or court, preventing a landlord from filing an eviction or suspending one that is already in process until May 1, 2021. The State Assembly met on Thursday and changed the sequence of protective measures originally proposed until sunset on July 1. The safeguards would apply to both non-payment and bridging evictions as well as pending cases before the COVID.

Evictions due to a tenant who allegedly poses a security risk or violates the use and enjoyment of the property by another tenant may continue.

Homeowners and landlords with fewer than five units, based on the currently proposed bill, could also take advantage of protection via the hardship form.

Heastie had previously said the legislature could also return to Albany for revenue to help reduce the $ 15 billion budget deficit the state is facing this year for responding to the pandemic but Cuomos public claims that tax hikes should be implemented next year The budget appears to have abandoned these plans.

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