Monday we talked about how the ERAP portal has shut down, now let's talk about what this means for tenants and housing courts. CHIP believes that even if some funding is reallocated, it will only be half of the amount that was requested. OTDA says that this shut down will give them the ability to finish distributing the money, this will also help stop the phenomena of tenants not paying their rent in order to apply for the program. At this point nothing has changed in housing court, if you have a pending application your landlord can't start a non-payment proceeding against you. If OTDA denies the application then they can start the eviction process. If a tenant still has pre-pandemic arrears you can also bring them to court but if they file a hardship declaration the proceeding will be stayed until January 15, 2022. As we have talked about, you can challenge the hardship declaration.
CHIP believes that Governor Hochul is prepared to let the moratorium expire come January 15. She has pledged to commit more funding to legal services for renters facing eviction. Even if or when the moratorium expires, housing courts will experience a lot of backlogs, which is why CHIP is still fighting for the state government to cover all rent arrears.
What about LRAP? Owners have until November 20th to apply for the program, however OTDA has said that all of the funds have been distributed. It is still a good idea to apply because this is a state program and the State Legislature can easily allocate more funds.
Let's talk about Universal Rent Control. CHIP has updated us that Poughkeepsie has passed the Good Cause eviction bill. Advocates of the statewide bill have been gaining support as they argue about how rent is drastically increasing. There is a big debate going on in St. Paul, Minnesota. Developers wanted to place housing projections on hold due to the new restrictions, but the mayor of the city has pushed for new developments to be exempt from the law. Small property owners are enraged by this and say this might force them to sell their properties since there are no caps on rising property taxes.
If you want to read more about the eviction moratorium:
What Does the Future Look Like for New York’s Eviction Moratorium?
