NEW YORK (1010 WINS) — An organization that represents more than 25,000 New York landlords reportedly asked a Manhattan federal court Thursday to strike down the state's eviction moratorium extension arguing it runs counter to a recent decision made by the Supreme Court.
The New York Daily News reports The Rent Stabilization Association, the city's largest landlord organization, filed the lawsuit against Gov. Kathy Hochul and the state legislature's recent law extending the ban.
"No matter the spin by state lawmakers and Gov. Hochul, this is a reimplementation of the previous law — completely disregarding last month’s U.S. Supreme Court decision," said Joseph Strasburg, RSA’s president.
Hochul heralded the moratorium's extension, which continued the ban through Jan. 15, after calling the Supreme Court's decision last month to reject the nationwide eviction ban "heartless."
However, the RSA argued the state's action would not override the Supreme Court's blockade despite granting landlords the opportunity to challenge tenants’ economic hardship declaration in court.
"The central structure and mechanism is still an unsworn hardship declaration in which the tenant merely checks a box — without specifying what kind or type of hardship he or she claims, and without providing any documentation of the hardship," their lawsuit argues.
The organization said Hochul should instead focus on thoroughly implementing the federally-funded Emergency Rental Assistance Program, which covers rental payments due to COVID-19 economic faults.
The Daily News reports the program has been reportedly bogged down by glitches and bureaucratic delays, with only a small portion of the $2.7 billion program being paid out to landlords.
A spokesperson from Hochul's office did not immediately comment on the lawsuit.