Joseph Strasburg, president of the Hire Stabilization Affiliation, which represents some 25,000 landlords of rent-stabilized items and had sued over the earlier eviction moratorium, stated the group would think about suing over the brand new moratorium, too. However the way it responds will rely on how onerous the legislation will make difficult tenants’ claims of hardship. Mr. Strasburg additionally stated the state must be targeted on paying landlords via the hire aid program.
“We don’t need to litigate this,” he stated of the moratorium. “It’s a waste of cash and it’s a waste of time once we must be focusing our energies on how you can get the cash out.”
Nonetheless, the settlement on a brand new moratorium was a significant victory for tenant advocates. Cea Weaver, marketing campaign coordinator for Housing Justice for All, stated that Mr. Cuomo’s resignation and the 2 Supreme Court docket rulings represented a “excellent storm” for tenants in New York. However she referred to as the settlement a “large win.”
“I hope it’s going to set the tone for the brand new administration,” she stated.
Republican lawmakers, nevertheless, described the extension as the most recent try by Democrats to vilify landlords and infringe on their property rights, arguing that tenants, whom some lawmakers described as lazy, have been gaming the moratorium to keep away from paying hire. Some predicted that Democrats would prolong the moratorium once more in January, as a result of 2022 is an election yr.
“I feel we’re sending the incorrect message to society by not, on the very least, offering stronger mechanisms to ensure those that can afford to pay hire and who’re gaming this technique must be held accountable,” stated Assemblyman Michael Fitzpatrick, a Republican from Lengthy Island. “It’s not honest. It’s not proper. I don’t suppose it’s good politics in any respect.”
However with Democrats accountable for each chambers, the extension prevailed by a vote of 38 to 19 within the Senate and 80 to 60 within the Meeting.
The sluggish tempo of hire aid, and the Supreme Court docket’s ruling on the federal eviction moratorium, have positioned new urgency on state and native officers to create a patchwork of their very own insurance policies throughout the nation, stated Shamus Curler, government director of the Nationwide Housing Regulation Venture, which advocates for low-income tenants and has filed briefs defending moratoriums in a number of courtroom circumstances.
