New York s New Eviction Ban Unlikely to Survive in Court therealdeal.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from therealdeal.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
RSA’s Joseph Strasburg and Judge Lawrence Marks (Getty, Strasburg via Jeffersons Siegel)
One day after a judge struck down the federal eviction ban, a landlord lobby is taking aim at New York’s statewide moratorium.
The Rent Stabilization Association filed a suit Thursday challenging the constitutionality of the law, which Gov. Andrew Cuomo just extended through Aug. 31. The case seeks an injunction against the ban.
RSA, which represents 25,000 landlords, alleges that the law violates landlords’ first amendment rights by requiring them to distribute a hardship declaration form that forces them to voice their support for the moratorium.
It marks the third legal attempt by landlords against the state eviction ban in the past year. The most recent try a February filing by five landlords against New York Attorney General Letitia James took a near identical approach. The suit was thrown out in April, on the grounds that James wasn’t the proper party to the action.
Sen. Brian Kavanagh and RSA President Joe Strasburg (Getty, Strasburg via Jeffersons Siegel)
Sometime this month, New York landlords and tenants will gain access to $2.3 billion in federal aid allocated by the state.
The catch: They’ll have to work together to get it.
In a year that’s pushed the cat-dog dichotomy of the landlord-tenant relationship to extremes, cooperation could be elusive.
The law allows either party to start an application for relief. But for money to be doled out, tenants must request funds that will go directly to the landlord and the landlord must, in turn, accept them. Both have reasons not to do their part.
Groups representing property owners across New York State say their livelihood is at stake as lawmakers make a push for a blanket eviction moratorium.
The Coalition of New York State Housing Providers penned an open letter to lawmakers Wednesday, pleading with them to not pass a bill which would put a blanket ban on evictions for a year after the pandemic concluded. The group includes Small Property Owners of New York, the New York Capital Region Apartment Association, New York Landlords, the Under One Roof coalition, the New York Chinese Property Owners Alliance and Property Owners Association of Greater New York.