The New York Legislature has approved a moratorium on evictions until May 1, as many New Yorkers, who have lost their jobs due to the pandemic, struggle to pay their rent. Protesters urged lawmakers to ban evictions for several months.

Angela Weiss / AFP via Getty Images

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Angela Weiss / AFP via Getty Images

The New York Legislature has approved a moratorium on evictions until May 1, as many New Yorkers, who have lost their jobs due to the pandemic, struggle to pay their rent. Protesters urged lawmakers to ban evictions for several months.

Angela Weiss / AFP via Getty Images

The New York legislature has approved a sweeping eviction ban for tenants living in the state, giving residents fearful of losing their homes during the pandemic relief at least until May.

The law, which Governor Andrew Cuomo sign late Monday, imposes a moratorium on residential evictions until May 1 for tenants who have endured “COVID-related hardship.” Tenants must present documents explaining their situation to avoid evictions. Homeowners can still evict people who fail to present these documents.

The law also stops residential foreclosure proceedings until May 1. Homeowners and homeowners who own 10 or fewer homes can also file hardship reports with their mortgage lender or a court to prevent a foreclosure.

“When the COVID-19 pandemic began, we asked New Yorkers to protect each other by staying at home. As we work our way through the marathon that this pandemic has become, we need to make sure New Yorkers still have homes to provide this protection, “Cuomo said after signing the bill.

Nationwide temporary ban on residential evictions by Centers for Disease Control and Prevention expired early next year. It was due to expire on December 31, but Congress extended this moratorium for an additional month in the latest coronavirus relief bill just signed by President Trump. Federal lawmakers have also invested $ 25 billion in rental assistance programs.

New York, like many states across the country, faces high unemployment rates caused by the coronavirus pandemic. Tenant advocacy groups have been protesting for months, urging lawmakers to do more to prevent people from losing their homes.

A report According to the National Council of State Housing Agencies earlier this year, U.S. renters will owe up to $ 34 billion in unpaid rents by January. This is expected to increase deportation requests and impose financial hardship on millions of people in just a few months, the organization said.

Many of those tenants who struggle to pay their rent in New York are in communities of color, according to Stanley Fritz, political director of Citizen Action of New York. He said in a statement Monday that black and brown tenants were “three to four times more likely to be evicted than their white counterparts.”

He said passing the eviction ban is an “important first step” in helping the 1.4 million renter households behind in rent.

Owner reviews

The long-term economic impact of unpaid rents on landlords has prompted organizations representing building owners to criticize the new law.

Jay Martin, executive director of the Community Housing Improvement Program landlord group, accused tenant advocates of having a broader political agenda pushing the bill.

Days before the bill was signed, Martin tweeted that a moratorium on evictions only “kicked the box.”

He tweeted: “Moratoriums on evictions do not solve the fundamental problem of the cost of housing. A problem for landlords and tenants.”