Eviction moratorium extended to Oct. 1:
There has been some confusion among tenants and their neighbors about where the eviction moratorium stands, but Cuomo’s latest executive order extended it to Sept. 4th, for both holdover cases (i.e. the lease expired and the tenant is still there) and for traditional eviction cases. This is important since Cuomo’s previous E.O. was going to let holdover cases start. Then on Aug. 12, the OCA ordered that no new eviction cases could be begun until Oct. 1, which also applied to all the types of eviction cases, except ones that were begun before Mar. 16 (those could move forward on Sept. 4). The link above has more detailed explanations from the Right To Counsel coalition.
Brooklyn Eviction Defense network:
Because legal evictions are currently paused, there has been an alarming increase in landlords threatening or attempting to perform illegal evictions throughout Brooklyn. In response to this, various tenant groups throughout the borough (including Crown Heights Tenant Union, Bushwick-Bed Stuy Tenant Coalition, Flatbush Tenants Coalition, etc.) have come together to form a network for rapid response to these incidents – the Brooklyn Eviction Defense (B.E.D.) network. If you or someone you know is threatened with an illegal eviction, you can email brooklynevictiondefense@gmail.com or call (917)986-2265. You can also email that address if you are interested in volunteering with the network, which could mean different things depending on what you’re comfortable with, from showing up in person at an eviction attempt to helping out remotely by answering phone calls or emails. We’re working on setting up a website too, so stay tuned 🙂
Three state bills to address the COVID-related housing crisis:
As mentioned in the first link, there are 3 bills in committee in Albany that the Housing Justice for All coalition and the Right To Counsel coalition are endorsing that address the COVID-related housing crisis for public and private rental housing and homeless NYers. So far Zellnor Myrie, Diana Richardson, Walter Mosley, and Latrice Walker have signed onto all 3 bills; Velmanette Montgomery has signed onto the HAVP bill but not the others, and Tremaine Wright has not signed onto any. The bills’ local cosponsors haven’t yet scheduled a town hall or info session to explain what the bills do or how they would work, but I imagine that will be coming soon. In the meantime, I’d be happy to present what the CHTU knows about them so far.