End of eviction moratorium spells uncertainty for tenants

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Tuesday marks the 24th day since the expiration of New York state’s eviction moratorium — the earliest date eviction cases can be heard.

The state’s eviction moratorium, which paused evictions throughout the state starting in March 2020, ended on Jan. 15, 2022.

Sharon Sherman, the executive director of the Greater Syracuse Tenants Network, said that the immediate effects of the expiration of the eviction moratorium will be felt soon, as tenants must receive a 14-day notice of an eviction and receive at least another 10 days before a trial begins.

New York State Senator Rachel May said that there is a balance between the needs of tenants and landlords. While she wants to make sure people can stay in their houses for as long as possible, she also emphasized that the moratorium cannot last forever.

May represents New York State Senate’s 53rd District, which encompasses the city of Syracuse as well as towns outside of the city such as Pompey, Eaton and Lenox.

One of May’s concerns was for smaller landlords over larger businesses. She gave the example of a landlord who owns a two-family home and then rents out one apartment to pay for their own mortgage.

“That’s a whole different ball game,” May said.

New York State Assembly member Pamela Hunter, like May, weighed the interests of both tenants and landlords.

“I don’t want to see anyone out in the cold, especially in the winter — that always makes it very difficult for families,” Hunter said. “I’ve obviously heard from many landlords who are frustrated because some of them have gone for extended periods of time, you know, without rent from their tenants.”

May said that there are plenty of mitigating factors to help tenants in New York state following the end of the eviction moratorium. At this time, though, Onondaga County’s Emergency Rental Assistance Program is on pause as the county needs to reassess what funding is left for the program.

The program has received over 7,000 unique applications for aid, according to the program’s website.

“Once (the statewide assistance program) rolled out, there was a lot of demand for it,” May said.

Sherman said the tenants network has been working to answer the questions of tenants facing eviction and connecting them with legal services to assist with their cases.

State law requires landlords to provide tenants with a 90-day written notice about increasing rents if they have lived in an apartment for two years or more, Sherman said. This also applies to month-to-month tenants without a lease.

There is currently no protection against landlords raising rents at will in upstate New York, which leaves tenants in the difficult place of deciding between paying moving costs or those of increased rents, Sherman said.

Liam Hines, an administrative committee member for the Syracuse Tenants Organizing for Power Coalition, called the end of the eviction moratorium “abhorrent.”

“The eviction moratorium ending is … just (a) blatant failure of leadership and failure of policy,” Hines said. “(It’s) a failure to put basic human rights of tenants above the profit needs of landlords.”

Sherman said she spoke with a family in Liverpool that was already paying $1,200 a month in rent but recently learned their rent would increase by $300-400.

She believes increased funding for homeless shelters and legal services would be necessary to aid families facing evictions.

The amount of aid tenants are able to receive in New York has not increased in the past 10 years, Sherman said. She added that increasing the amount of aid tenants are eligible to receive could help alleviate the increased costs of living and the moratorium’s expiration that tenants currently face.

To help with upcoming potential eviction cases, May is sponsoring Senate Bill S6678A, which would create the right to counsel in eviction cases throughout New York state. May said that the right already exists in New York City.

“That’s really important because evictions are a complicated legal processes,” May said. “(Tenants facing eviction) just move out rather than going through that process because they don’t even begin to know how to do it.”

Tenants need to have the same legal representation of the landlords that are evicting them, May said. Hunter said there needs to be a larger conversation about housing outside of just the eviction moratorium.

“(Evictions are an) acute problem right now, and we want to absolutely take care of it,” Hunter said. “But we have to have a real honest talk about housing.”