Five small landlords, represented by Randy Mastro, have sued New York attorney general Letitia James (Getty)
Five small landlords have sued New York attorney general Letitia James, arguing that the new blanket moratorium on evictions is unconstitutional.
Attorneys for the plaintiffs allege that the hardship declaration form, which landlords are now required to send their tenants, is “unconstitutional compelled speech,” because it forces landlords to voice support for a policy that is “squarely adverse” to their interests.
The lawsuit, filed Wednesday in federal court in New York’s Eastern District, lays out how five small landlords each of whom owns only a few units have been impacted by non-paying tenants.
NYC Evictions Dropped By More Than 80% In 2020
arrow Tenant activists protesting outside of Brooklyn housing court August 6th, 2020. JUSTIN LANE/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock
A total of 3,059 tenants were evicted from New York City apartments in all of 2020, according to new data provided by the city’s Department of Investigation. That’s a decrease of more than 80 percent, or about 18 percent of the nearly 17,000 evictions completed in 2019.
The data was compiled by DOI from reports submitted by city marshals, who are charged with enforcing court orders, including evictions. There was no breakdown by month. However, tenant advocates said it is pretty obvious the eviction moratorium Governor Andrew Cuomo signed after the pandemic struck last March contributed to this year’s dramatically low number of evictions.
Lawmakers want Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie to fight for automatic rent debt forgiveness and more money for rent relief in the state’s 2021 budget.
In a Feb. 11 letter, more than 30 Assembly members called on Heastie to push for the inclusion of $2.25 billion in rent relief in the 2021 state budget a figure that includes already committed federal dollars and would require more funding from the state.
At the moment, the state is working out how to dispense $1.3 billion in federal rent relief. A recently amended bill lays out the framework, which would require tenants to apply for relief and demonstrate financial hardship.
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Legal Aid’s Judith Goldiner and REBNY’s James Whelan have teamed up. (Getty, REBNY, Legal Aid)
Talk about strange bedfellows. United by a desire to help New Yorkers pay rent and thus, make landlords’ lives easier the Real Estate Board of New York and Legal Aid Society have teamed up on a new lobbying push.
The two groups have joined forces with an existing effort, dubbed “Project Parachute,” that has pressured lawmakers to provide more rental assistance to tenants who are struggling because of the pandemic, the Wall Street Journal reported. Enterprise Community Partners launched the effort, which now has more than 100 participants.