The U.S. Supreme Court’s recent decisions to put an end to eviction moratoriums imposed due to the COVID-19 pandemic were long overdue, according to a Batavia landlord who says months and months of not receiving rent have affected property owners big and small.
“There’s probably 50 percent of the houses in Batavia that are rentals and have landlords, and it really has affected people,” said Duane Preston, owner of Preston Apartments LLC. “A lot of it affects the little guys. If you have one or two houses and have tenants that aren’t paying, that really hurts.
“That’s 50 percent of your income that’s coming from the rent. The other 50 percent, you have to pay taxes and utilities. You’re not going to make the mortgage.”
Preston said that large city property owners with sprawling apartment complexes or housing developments have been severely hampered.
“We’re in a little town of Batavia, where we have a feel of who we have for tenants. But go to the big cities like Buffalo or Rochester, and you have hundreds and thousands of units, that will really affect them a lot more than just little me,” he said.
While landlords across the country are out billions of dollars in back rent, they now have the right to evict tenants due to the Supreme Court’s ruling on Thursday to allow evictions to resume.
The highest court’s Conservative majority blocked the Biden administration from enforcing a temporary ban enacted by the Centers for Disease Control.
The Associated Press reported that about 3.5 million Americans will no longer have these protections, stating the CDC did not have the authority to re-institute the moratorium without “explicit congressional authorization.”
Prior to that, on Aug. 12, the court struck down New York State’s eviction moratorium, known as the COVID Emergency Eviction and Foreclosure Prevention Act, which had been set to expire on Aug. 31.
Per a story in The New York Post:
“Renters no longer can evade evictions “by submitting a hardship declaration form to the state explaining lost income due to the pandemic or that moving would harm their health. A separate measure protecting renters who can prove to a court they’ve suffered because of the pandemic remains in place.”
Preston said New York’s rental assistance program is good in theory but has failed for two basic reasons: bureaucratic red tape in processing and the state holding most of the $2.7 billion in relief for tenants and landlords that it received from the federal government.
“The rent relief program money which is in the hands of New York State – only about 10 percent of that money has gone out, out of $46.5 billion (nationwide) that has been set aside for rent relief.,” he said. “How is that helping the landlord right now? It’s not. That money should be out to stop the evictions.”
He said that he has been stuck between a rock and a hard place.
“It’s not the rent relief program – that’s great if you can get the money – but you’ll still have tenants that just won’t pay and won’t help you get your money (by enrolling in the rent relief program),” he said. “They know they will be getting evicted after a year and a half that they’ve been in your house, and they don’t want to go through that process. So, the landlord is not going to get a dime. Those are the people we can’t get rid of.”
Preston said he regularly works with tenants who are late on their rent, but “it’s when the tenant doesn’t want to work with you; then we have no recourse.”
New York’s new governor, Kathy Hochul, earlier this week said she has a plan to expedite the $2.7 billion.
According to a story in The New York Daily News, Hochul said, “I am not at all satisfied at the pace this COVID relief is getting out the door. I want the money out now, with no more excuses and delays.”
Her office, per the story, indicated that steps to distribute this money include hiring more staff to process applications, implementing a rapid review of the program’s “workflow,” and reassigning 100 contracted staff to work solely with landlords to complete pending applications.
