Cuomo to extend eviction moratorium as N.Y. lawmakers reach deal on expanding protections for renters and homeowners

ALBANY — Gov. Cuomo intends to keep a temporary moratorium on evictions in place as COVID cases continue to climb and New York lawmakers weigh expanding protections for tenants.

Melissa DeRosa, the governor’s top aide, said Wednesday the state will extend current bans on both residential and commercial evictions.

“It’s still in place … through Sunday, so obviously we update these things as we go, and we’re not going to let anybody who’s evicted due to these circumstances be evicted,” DeRosa said during a remote briefing in Albany.

Meanwhile, Cuomo’s fellow Democrats in the Legislature are planning a remote end-of-year session scheduled for Monday to pass protections for tenants and property owners that “goes much further than the current moratorium,” a source said.

At the moment, a collection of about-to-expire executive orders, federal eviction limits and a law passed over the summer called the Tenant Safe Harbor Act protect renters facing economic hardship due to the coronavirus crisis.

Lawmakers have reached an agreement on a package of bills that will prevent evictions and provide small landlords and homeowners with similar protections from foreclosures, tax liens and credit discrimination, according to sources.

One part of the bill prevents landlords from filing evictions or suspends eviction proceedings already underway until July 2021 if a tenant fills out a declaration form indicating they’ve suffered hardship due to the pandemic.

The measure would also fully suspend eviction proceedings for 60 days, allowing tenants, landlords and the courts to become familiar with the new rules.

The legislation will also afford homeowners similar protections from foreclosures and tax lien sales through July.

Housing and tenant advocates have repeatedly called on the state and lawmakers to enact a “blanket moratorium” to prevent evictions as Cuomo issued a patchwork of executive orders and extensions over the past ten months. Some of the governor’s actions halted evictions of tenants who lost income due to the pandemic, allowed security deposits to be used to cover rent and prohibited late fees.

The governor also announced Wednesday that 22,000 residents and staff members at New York nursing homes have received vaccines over the past two days.

Additionally, some vials of the recently approved Moderna vaccine have been found to contain 11, instead of 10, doses, providing for the possibility of additional vaccine administrations in some cases, the governor said.

Cuomo again urged caution in the coming days as New Yorkers celebrate Christmas and New Year’s Eve.

“What we do in the next 10 days is going to be key, so let’s be smart,” he said.

The state reported that hospitalizations increased by 203 patients on Tuesday, meaning that 6,864 people are now being treated at medical centers for the virus. Another 164 New Yorkers died of COVID, a grim number not seen since the spring outbreak.

Cuomo also again ripped into the Trump administration and federal health officials over their lack of action against a newly discovered COVID strain.

The governor repeated his call for the feds to require travelers entering the U.S. from the United Kingdom to get tested, something the state has already requested of three airlines flying into Kennedy Airport after the mutation was reported in England.

“I don’t believe this country is taking it as seriously as it should,” Cuomo said. “And, more importantly, I don’t think this country is taking the action that it should take.”

The governor didn’t hold back as he excoriated federal health officials for not acting swiftly.

“When did common sense leave government? When did government become so bureaucratic, and so apathetic, and so slow, that basic common sense alludes them?,” he asked.

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