New York State Eviction And Foreclosure Moratorium Extended Through End Of August

The New York State Legislature voted Monday, May 3, to extend the state moratorium on residential and commercial evictions and foreclosures through the end of August.

The moratorium began by executive order in March 2020, and the State Legislature codified it in December. It’s been extended several times as the COVID-19 pandemic wore on, and it was most recently set to expire this past Saturday, May 1. This latest extension is retroactive to that date and gives tenants, homeowners and commercial building owners another three months of protection.

In order to invoke the moratorium, residential tenants and homeowners must file a hardship declaration that states they are affected by the COVID-19 pandemic and therefore cannot find other housing.

The moratorium does not waive the requirements to pay rent and make mortgage payments. It simply makes it illegal for a landlord to evict a tenant or for a bank to foreclose while the moratorium remains in place. For tenants or owners who have failed to keep up with payments, that debt is accumulating and has not been wiped clean by any executive order or legislation.

The state has budgeted $3 billion in state and federal dollars for both rent and homeowner relief, but none of that money has been distributed yet. According to the office of State Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie, the rental relief program will aid eligible tenants with up to 12 months of rent and utility arrears assistance.

“While we can see the light at the end of the tunnel of the global health crisis of the last year, the economic impacts on our families and small businesses have not diminished,” Mr. Heastie said in a statement released Monday. “Extending these moratoriums will give people the time they need to recover financially, keep families in their homes, and keep businesses’ doors open.”

Assemblyman Fred W. Thiele Jr. of Sag Harbor explained during an interview earlier this year that the December legislation does not stay evictions for people renting a vacation property. “They’re expressly excluded from this law,” he said. “So you don’t have any protection if you are there for a seasonal rental — less than a year — and you have another place to go back to.”