Governor Cuomo addressing the COVID-19 Crisis Image Credit:
Mike Groll/Office of Governor Andrew M. Cuomo

The State has taken several actions to protect residential and commercial tenants. On September 28, 2020, Governor Andrew Cuomo announced that the statewide moratorium on COVID-19 related residential evictions will be extended through January 1, 2021. The moratorium has been in effect since March 20th and has been extended multiple times.

The Governor’s executive order officially extends the State’s Tenant Safe Harbor Act, which was originally sponsored by State Senator Brad Hoylman and signed by Governor Cuomo in late June. The Tenant Safe Harbor Act prohibits tenants from being evicted due to COVID-related financial hardships and creates a defense for tenants to raise if proceedings were brought against them. 

The act and extension are some of several actions the State government has taken to protect New Yorkers during the COVID-19 pandemic. Previous executive orders have prohibited late fees for rent payments, and allowed tenants to use security deposits as rent payments and repay the security deposit over a period of time. The State also previously extended the moratorium on commercial evictions and foreclosures due to COVID-related financial hardships through October 20th. 

Governor Cuomo stated, “As New York continues to fight the pandemic, we want to make sure New Yorkers who are still struggling financially will not be forced from their homes as a result of COVID. We are extending the protections of the Safe Harbor Act through January 1 because we want tenants to have fundamental stability in their lives as we recover from this crisis.” 

CityLand is continuing to cover the City and State’s COVID-19 response and recovery. For more coverage, click here.

By: Veronica Rose (Veronica is the CityLaw fellow and a New York Law School graduate, Class of 2018.)