NEW YORK (WBEN) – Lawmakers look to extend New York state's eviction moratorium by four months, from May 1 to the end of August.
State Sen. Brian Kavanagh introduced legislation to extend the moratorium to Aug. 31 as a way to keep tenants and small business owners who've filed paperwork highlighting pandemic-related hardships from having to be pulled into court.
"I think a lot of people have emphasized that it really would be catastrophic to resume business as usual in evictions," the senator said.
Kavanagh estimates that 1 million New York households are behind on their rent.
"We're taking an important emergency step to keep people in their homes, to keep small businesses in place. And the next round of this will involve financial assistance to help take the bite out of some of that," Kavanagh said.
The bill, which was introduced in both the state Senate and Assembly, is on the agenda for Tuesday.
When paired with other state assistance programs, including $2.4 billion in the state budget for rent arrears and $1 billion towards small businesses, Kavanagh hopes it will help ease financial burdens as the pandemic slowly improves.
Kavanagh has heard opposition from landlords.
"I have sympathy for small landlords who've been trying to do the right thing and trying to protect their tenants and maintain their buildings, but it is a very important emergency public health measure," he said.
