Responding to dire predictions that thousands of New Yorkers, unable to make rent because of COVID-19, could soon wind up on the street, a group of state lawmakers want to block landlords from evicting tenants until the end of the year.
The new legislation would extend Governor Andrew Cuomo's moratorium on evictions, which is set to expire on June 18th, for an additional six months from when the State of Emergency is declared over.
"That moratorium, while welcome, is not enough," Manhattan Senator Brad Hoylman, who introduced the legislation on Tuesday, told Gothamist. "We have to create this safe harbor to give tenants time to get back on their feet."
The bill would ensure tenants cannot be removed from their homes for unpaid rent for the duration of the public health crisis. It would not suspend rent altogether, as other state lawmakers have proposed, and would still allow landlords to sue delinquent tenants for monetary judgements.
But housing attorneys said the bill is a critical first step in addressing a looming evictions crisis that Cuomo has largely waved off.
"Without any state action, there are going to be New Yorkers across the state who will be unable to pay their rent, and very soon the courts are going to reopen and the cases will start piling up," said Ellen Davidson, a staff attorney with the Legal Aid Society. "This is a step in the right direction to ensure we don't end up with hundreds of thousands of New Yorkers in the street at a moment when coronavirus is wreaking havoc on the homeless population."
Expert predict that as many as 40 percent of New York tenants may be forced to skip April rent payments, as COVID-19 containment measures have pushed unemployment to historic levels. Bronx Assemblyman Jeffrey Dinowitz, who introduced a companion bill in the State Assembly, said that tenants who'd lost income during the pandemic were now facing "a ticking time bomb."
For his part, Cuomo has repeatedly insisted the "rent issue" was solved through the three-month eviction moratorium. He has declined to support a bill with bipartisan support that would cancel rent payments and provide relief to landlords as well.
38 comments:
Creating a rainy day fund and an emergency fund is what responsible adults do !
This Welfare state has produced a new generation of dependents and fools !
Rewarding bad behavior will only allow it to continue.
"We have to create this safe harbor to give tenants time to get back on their feet."
Spoken like a true Marxist !
First Safe Spaces now Safe Harbors ?
Double up and move in with family or friends and cut your living cost.
I always had a rainy day fund. Had to because job was always laying off or out sourcing. During this time I am buying what I need. Not spending lots of money on hoarding items. I buy what I need. I had been paying my bills and will continue too. I have always set up limits in charging. While I miss going out for the little splurges I’m saving money.
Being in a job that swings the axe I must live with in my means because any given day it will be that rainy day.
The comments so far are a lot of generalizations without any compassion. Not a surprise from Queenscrap contributors.
I don't like all this "we are all in this together" "no evictions" "screw all landlords" and special protections.
These bastards are using this virus to bypass the president, congress and impose socialism at executive order gunpoint.
-Ned
www.nra.org
What about a moratorium on rents for that time frame?
Even if it stands at June 18th as the last day for the eviction moratorium, the court back log will be stretch into August or September.
Deport all the illegal aliens, eradicate chain immigration, stop the sex trafficking of young illegal alien girls/boys, stop birth tourism and give Americans back their jobs.
Then there would be no problem with paying any rent.
"I always had a rainy day fund"
Exactly !
Problem is most the people with these eviction problems spend every dollar on some combination of cigarettes, booze, drugs or lottery tickets. They also can not control themselves and have no concept of "rainy day funds" for rent, medical or dental emergency.
I seen some urban trash in the bodega blow $80 in lottery tickets, scratch them off immediately, win $25 then buy $25 more and lose all.
Took me 10 minutes to pay for milk on line behind that Hip Hopper shithead who couldn't even speak proper English.
So if you plan on moving why pay the rent?
It's time to go back to work and stop funding the Marxist Complex !
This virus is crapping out much faster than the democrats were hoping for so they have to grab what they can fast. This Bill will win them some votes.
Nanny Government will not save you only enslave you !
Government doesn't like the fact that some people are still capable of managing themselves responsibly.
What about a moratorium on property taxes? Water bill/sewer bills? Insurance?
I rely on rent from my tenants to pay these expenses. What am I supposed to do?
The moral hazard here is too great.
If this passes I will divest myself of NY real estate.
"Because there are generalizations without any compassion ?"
“Think of how stupid the average person is, and realize half of them are stupider than that.”
― George Carlin
Took me 10 months to evict a deadbeat tenant before all of this all of this started. Thank God I finally got her out begining of March otherwise would be stuck with her for another year.
Housing court was a joke before all of this started. Now if your a small landlord you don't have a chance.
Politicians and housing court could give a rats ass about you paying your bills.
Socialism at it's finest.
New York City and the do-nothing, socialist legislators that they send up to Albany have slowly passed legislation into law that effectively hands over private property to individuals renting- all while keeping all the expense and risk on the part of the owner...not the renter.
They get elected on telling people that they are all victims of "greed", "evil", "money-grubbing" landlords.
In fact, the vast majority of landlords are simply people planning for their future, investing in their own communities and being economically responsible by owning a two-family home or a small investment property.
Lazy people, decide that they like the sound of not paying for free shit and elected these parasites into office to do their bidding.
I would say that the state of legal affairs in New York, with regard to ownership of property, has crossed the line of what is considered constitutional.
There is a lawsuit in motion challenging that slew of laws passed last year, by Democrats, which effectively took control of all rent stabilized properties.
Owners can only raise rents when the city and state say so.
Meanwhile, they can continue to increase property taxes, allow for water and sewer rate increases, allow for utility rate increases and most insidious of all; all for insurance companies to continue raising rates by double digits to keep the tort law firms happy.
It will come to an end, when the Supreme Court gets a hold of this continuous load of bullshit coming out of Albany.
Think I'm crazy?
Check out how quickly the lawyers and other idiots in the City government, reversed course when they wanted to limit our 2nd Amendment rights too strictly:
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2019/06/21/gun-rights-new-york-city-eases-rules-challenged-supreme-court/1525877001/
Meanwhile, the city and state can't seem to get their act together enough to simply produce more affordable housing for those in need.
In fact, they can't even manage the housing they are in direct control of!
No, they would rather keep passing laws that say F-U to the middle class.
I say, contribute to those organizations actively challenging them in court so we get to tell them to F-Off!
Rent Stabilization Association
Judicial Watch
Heritage Foundation
National Rifle Association
Affectionately,
Harry Haller
I’m poor and so is my family but we still managed to pay rent. This month is going to be different but I’m still going to do my part. A lot of these people think it was a “free rent” pass.
Fast food, grocery stores, hell even fed ex is looking to hire one million people right now. You are the only person holding yourself back. Work two jobs if you have to or move to some where you can afford to live.
Looks like the real estate lobby has high jacked Queens Crap
Or their lawyers
Too bad the slum lords lawyers can’t bill during the eviction moratorium
Last anon re: hijacked
Everyone's voice gets a chance to be heard on here.
It'd be nice to hear more from unemployed tenants that are still "holding themselves back". Since that number is going to escalate.
Liberalism is a mental disorder ��
I was once a landlord in NYC. Sold out in 2005, after 20 years, left NYC in 2010, after 40 years. Best two things I ever did in my life. Getting rid of deadbeat tenants was easy. Never took me more that a couple of months. Apparently, many amateur landlords just don't know the ropes.
Wow! I've been reading up on all this #cancelrent nonsense, and I couldn't be more livid right now!
I run an anti-gentrification blog, and if I had know it would've come to this, I would've never bothered wasting my time. I came out staunchly against gentrification because I care about the numbers of displaced working class and low income in major cities around the world. Never in my wildest dreams did I think that the very people who I've been trying to help have decided to completely scapegoat and sabotage the small landlords who've been pushing back against efforts to be bought out by developers and in doing so, have become the last line of defense against the aholes who would want nothing more than to turn all of NYC into Dubai 2.0.
If the remaining victims of gentrification are going to blindly go down this anti-landlord, populist road as the perfect solution to their problems--with politicians ENABLING them via public policy--then I've just wasted three years of my life fighting for this cause, and for demographics that never wanted to work hard against gentrification but wanted nothing more than a free ride and "payback". Forget lobbying for regulations against AirBnBs, house flipping, money laundering, Trojan Horses, contacting pols, etc. Forget writing articles, posting art or giving testimonials in the mainstream media exposing gentrification. No, no, no. Blame the landlords, scapegoat them for this entire mess, bankrupt them/push them into foreclosure by canceling rent! And then we'll all live happily ever after!
Madness. Pure madness. The worst part is how much mainstream traction it's been gaining. On Lipstick Alley, a predominantly black forum, people were trying to explain to #cancelrenters why a rent strike/suspension of rent would cause landlords to go into foreclosure or face property seizure. One of them sneered that it was their own fault for trying to enter an industry better left for businessmen and companies. So now, thanks to #cancelrenters, the destruction of the small landlord class is seen as justified because they were too in over their heads to charge cheap rent and remain solvent; the only people that should manage rental property are the very corporate landlords, real estate speculators and Silicon Valley Startups that have been instrumental in causing gentrification in the first place. They're the real heroes, not these scummy, stupid, incompetent small landlords who couldn't manage their affairs without jacking up the rents. They'll know how to give everyone "cheap" rent and balance the books!
To say that I am both livid and driven to despair by this latest turn of the screw in the dialogue on gentrification is an understatement. I am this close to quitting the blog and turning my back on the entire affair. People worked so hard to explain the many factors behind gentrification and it has now been flushed down the toilet by deadbeats telling everyone, "Don't you know? It's all because of these small landlords! Get your free rent! It's okay if you completely destroy the small landlord class and collapse the real estate market so that only corporate developers get to manage and run all the rental properties. It'll all work out in the end!"
@minababe
I didn't know that regular landlords were getting caught up on the hashtag trend. What I actually advocate for is a general strike until the cases and casualties go down to what can be considered normalcy. That way no one is victimized, except for the vulture hedge funds who are surely chomping at the bit to grab even more buildings.
I hope you don't quit your blog, because when this subsides the gentrification industrial complex of business and government (plus media and culture) are going to back to square one and continue the business of displacement and continue to push irresponsible dense overdevelopment like at Flushing Creek and the chutulu tower that you profiled on Dekalb.
Hang in there. And I'm glad you're pissed off. We all got to get mad and stay mad when this is done.
Liberals are going to far this time attacking small Landlords.
Landlords have families, children and parents like the rest of us and the Far-left is calling for stealing their Livelihood.
Motto from a hipshit hero :
To steal from a brother or sister is evil. To "not" steal from the institutions that are the pillars of the Pig Empire is equally immoral.
ABBIE HOFFMAN
@JQ LLC
Yes, regular landlords are getting caught up on the hashtag trend because that's exactly who it's targeting. This is all part of a very coordinated, strategic disinformation troll farm campaign by self-ascribed GenZ/millennial "anarchists" and "communists" on social media (particularly Reddit), as well as "squatters rights groups" passing themselves as "tenant advocacy" groups. I have no doubt that other elements--like Russian troll farmers and Big Development think tanks--are also amplifying or encouraging them to post.
How do I know this is a troll farm campaign? For years, I've been posting at or lurking on several forums and other websites related to real estate and gentrification. Suddenly out of the blue came a FLOOD of these #cancelrent/rent strike posters calling themselves "commmunists" or cross-posting from the /r/anarchism sub posting rhetoric about how "all landlords are parasites", how "property rights need to be abolished" and how "charging rent is criminal." Some of them have even expressed some form of sentiment that they're "hopeful" about COVID-19 "collapsing" the real estate industry.
An example of a website that started seeing "action" from people posting out of nowhere is Curbed NY. I don't know if the posts are still there (it looks like someone at Curbed started deleting them) but all of a sudden, a troll named "CheersMeesUpsBabes" showed up a few weeks ago to start posting a slew of deranged anti-landlord rhetoric, calls for the abolition of property rights and the complete collapse of the rental market. Here is this person's profile, so you can see the tenor of his/her posts. https://www.curbed.com/users/CheersMeesUpsBabes.
Another example of a website that suddenly saw "action" is the /r/gentrification sub at Reddit. This sub was a very quiet for years; hardly anyone posted. Then all of a sudden, #cancelrenters magically "discovered" it and have been flooding it with anti-landlord news stories, calls for a blanket rent strike (regardless of whether tenants are in need or not) and gleeful anticipations of COVID-19 collapsing the so-called "rent bubble."
Besides websites seeing a suspicious uptick in posts from new commenters being a gigantic red flag that this is a coordinated troll farm campaign, another gigantic red flag is the antisemitism, ageism and unrealistic exhortations about how great it would be if the real estate market collapsed. If you dig deeply enough into the social media "dens" that are fomenting all of this, you'll start to see stuff about "Jews" and "Boomers," how they are all responsible for stealing their wealth and how they need to "crash" real estate. There is also very little nuanced thinking, very little understanding of the realities of how destroying small landlords will actually accelerate gentrification and destroy whatever is left of affordable housing stock. Everything boils down to, "Well, if we just stop paying everyone, we'll crash the rental market to such an extent that landlords will have no choice but to practically rent their properties for next to nothing."
Bottom line, there's nothing remotely genuine about this #cancelrent movement. This is about fringe elements on social media and "squatters rights groups" passing themselves off as "tenants rights" hijacking the dialogue about gentrification to push their own sinister agenda to "crash the market" and destroy property rights of all landlords.
@ minababe said... Thanks You !
Thanks for your exemplary contribution to this thread again babe. I don't have or read reddit so this is very good to know ( I tend to avoid that site because of all the loons on there). These agitators sound like cellphone keyboard warriors, they remind me of those baffling and misdirected FTP and No new jails protesters with their contradictory and problematic social justice platforms and messaging. Except these actors/posers you describe are clearly more sinister.
I stand by my stance for a #GeneralStrike though. Because how can you pay when there's no business at all. Besides, the government is responsible and I look at this as an existential class action settlement. Although the working class should have got a lot more from that stimulus. (But Boeing still has a lot of bills to pay)
BTW That curbed link is a 404 now, they should have kept that up.
@JQ LLC: I can still see the link at Curbed NY. In the event it still doesn't work for you, here are a few gems:
"Dear American Slaves,
How can "America" be "home of the free" when ironically we are coerced treasonously into paying a "rent" or "mortgage" on our homes which is a "slavery by proxy contract" … WAKE UP CITIZENS… abolish all "rent" and all "mortgages" today and forever…
Sincerely,
Life, Liberty and/or Death"
---
"Dear Friends and Fellow Citizens,
SLAVERY BY PROXY, i.e. a "rental agreement" or "mortgage", is an act of TREASON, as slavery is UNCONSTITUTIONAL! If you have been hoodwinked by our unconstitutional "realestate industry" into paying any "mortgage" or "rental agreement" YOU ARE AIDING AND ABETTING TREASON!"
Small landlord here. I started buying properties around me after I moved into a neighborhood that was depressed after a large employer moved out. I inherited many of my tenants who've now been with me for 10-15-20 years. Raise rent $25-$50 every 3 to 5 years. In that time my property taxes and insurance have doubled. Only evicted assholes who destroy everyone's quality of life. I'm like the parent in many instances, helping them with paperwork, hooking them up with the proper agencies when they need help. I'm just covering my expenses and believe a good tenant should be rewarded and retained. I've always encouraged my tenants to communicate any issues they have and have on many occasions forgiven partial rent or have tenants do work in lieu of money. Helping and giving makes me feel good. However, if any of my tenants ever feel entitled to free anything, I'll immediately draft the eviction paperwork and skip to court. My willful giving is not the same as someone's confiscation.
And for all those who cheer the demise of the small landlord, who do you think will buy up their properties for pennies on the dollars? Private equity like Blackrock, that's who. They'll triple the rent I charged you and they have an army of lawyers to kick you out and hunt you down to collect judgments, plus they sue municipalities every year for assessment reduction, thereby starving the local governments who will be forced to cut services. Americans have become a bunch of flabby, entitled, indolent slugs who think success is handed to the lucky. Small landlords = small business and small business has a target on its back.
@Mina
What a couple of troublemaking retaurds
@JG LLC
"Because how can you pay when there's no business at all."
"I stand by my stance for a #GeneralStrike" Living Paycheck to Paycheck is a big mistake.
You can pay your rent/bills from your savings ! Financial planners will tell you to keep three months' worth of expenses Money dose not grow on trees !
Not paying your rent is stealing from the Landloard and his family !
@ Anon re: JG LLC
Is this Uncle Joe Biden? You seem to have cognizance issues.
Here's a thought, if said Landlord and his family are getting a mortgage moratorium, if the tenant still has to pay the rent aren't they just paying his/her mortgage for them?
Or may I direct you to today's lead story?
Or may I remind you of the CARES stimulus package. Apparently money doesn't grow on trees but it gets conjured out of thin air.
And it's JQ, sport.
@Unknown.
That's a great story and thank you for your service and contribution to the city by taking care of your tenants.
Good attitudes of problem solving, self-sufficiency, and gratitude will get you VERY far in life. Not waiting for the Nanny state to take care of you.
@Blogger Unknown said... Well said.
@JQ LLCIs "This Uncle Joe Biden? You seem to have cognizance issues."
No but I have nice hair on my legs and in the sun it turns blonde.
@anon re: legs
Ok, that's a good one. I'm laughing as I type this.
"I learned a lot about roaches"
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