On August 12, 2021, the U.S. Supreme Court blocked enforcement of the New York State eviction moratorium. The New York State Legislature responded to this decision by amending the eviction moratorium and extending it until January 15, 2022. The amended moratorium is now facing a challenge on constitutional grounds and may be struck down at any time. The information in this blog post is current as of September 17, 2021.
The amended eviction moratorium is similar to the previous moratorium, but there are some procedural and substantive changes relevant to residential landlords. Among other changes, landlords may now challenge the tenant’s hardship declaration in a court hearing. In order to do so, landlords must file an affidavit sworn under penalty of perjury stating that they have a good-faith belief that the tenant is not experiencing the hardship. Landlords must submit this sworn affidavit when they commence an eviction proceeding. The New York State Legislature also added language to the moratorium that allows landlords to evict tenants for intentionally causing significant damage to the property. The previous moratorium allowed the eviction of tenants who are “persistently and unreasonably engaging in behavior that substantially infringes on the use and enjoyment of other tenants or occupants or causes a substantial safety hazard to others” but did not explicitly mention tenants who damage property. There are also new procedural steps and paperwork requirements connected to these changes.
The New York State Legislature also amended the Emergency Rental Assistance Program (ERAP). Previously, it wasn’t clear if tenants who received ERAP assistance but were behaving badly could be evicted in holdover proceedings, but the legislature has clarified this point. The law now allows eviction of tenants engaged in nuisance behavior and tenants intentionally causing significant damage to property, even if those tenants received assistance from ERAP.
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James H. Cook, Attorney at Law 