New York Suspends Evictions Amidst Ongoing Spread of Coronavirus

The suspension of evictions begins on March 16 at 5 p.m. according to Curbed report.

On Monday, New York officials announced a suspension of eviction proceedings throughout the whole state amidst the spread of the coronavirus.

According to a memo from the state’s chief administrative judge starting Monday evening, eviction proceedings and pending orders will no longer be valid until further notice. Health officials are currently working to address the spread of COVID-19, wrote Administrative Judge Lawrence Marks. This directly impacts residential and commercial evictions, reports Curbed.

Since the coronavirus is spreading throughout the country, many argued that more individuals being forced to leave their residences would lead to a rise in homelessness in addition to more cases of COVID-19. New York initially announced the halt of evictions would last for a week on Friday, March 13.

On Sunday morning during a press conference Gov. Andrew Cuomo shared that he’d asked Court of Appeals Chief Judge Janet DiFiore to make a plan to lessen traffic through the court system. At the moment, the housing court has no plans to close. Beginning March 16 at 5 p.m. state officials “will be postponing all non-essential functions of the court until further notice,” wrote Marks. The Curbed report also notes landlord lockets, repair orders, in addition to serious code violations will still continue.  

The suspension of evictions would not have happened without a major push credited to Housing Works For All a coalition of the following tenants’ rights groups Make the Road, New York Communities for Change, and the Met Council on Housing. These groups worked on a petition urging Cuomo and DiFiore to announce a ban on evictions, 15,000 signatures were captured.

Source: Curbed