Buffalo, NY (WBEN) Property owners say eviction notices won't go out on Saturday as the state's eviction moratorium comes to an end. But the say help is still needed to collect rent and help tenants trying to pay.
During her COVID briefing on Tuesday, Governor Hochul announced the eviction moratorium would not be extended past this weekend. "We talked about giving people a little more breathing room on a short term basis. That was something no other state was doing to my knowledge. That is concluding," says Hochul.
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The state Office of Temporary Disability Assistance said the application portal will open at 10 p.m. Tuesday — even though the state doesn’t have enough money to provide any more rent relief, absent a deluge of federal funding. Applicants get protection from eviction while the state reviews their application. "That will have the same effect, as people can have a cessation of the eviction process for the time being. They can sign up, but that also hinges on the federal government to allocate more money to this pot of funding," notes Hochul.
Lisa Damiani of the WNY Property Owners Coalition says it's back to business as usual. "I think it's time, it's been a trying 2 years and people have experienced numerous hardships, but let our systems in place work, and let landlords and tenants work together to solve problems," says Damiani, adding there's the backstop of a court if problems can't be resolved.
Damiani says landlords and tenants have great relationships for the most part, but there hasn't been enough aid or support to help both sides. "Perhaps, if we can get into a situation where we can have mediation and assistance from all the programs available, we can help everyone," notes Damiani.
Damiani says rent collection has decreased the further along in the moratorium. "You would expect when the economy was shutting down and businesses were closed it would be bad. But now they've noticed it's betting getting worse down the line," says Damiani. She says there's miscommunication about whether the eviction moratorium meant a freeze on paying the rent. "Rent always needed to be paid and programs were in place to try to assist, and they have fallen short," notes Damiani.
Damiani says it's hard to say how many tenants would be at risk for eviction, but she says there's still a process before eviction happens. "There will still need to be notices to be made, and there will be some backlog because it's been such a long period of time, and such a small percentage of cases ends up with an eviction order," explains Damiani. She says landlords have lost substantial amounts of money over the past 2 years. For some, it's reached the point some have divested of the properties.
New York is set to receive just $27 million in extra federal rent aid — a sliver of the nearly $1 billion Hochul sought last fall.