Cuomo: New Yorkers Cannot Be Evicted for Not Paying Rent Until August
On Thursday, May 7, 2020, Governor Andrew Cuomo said renters in New York cannot be evicted for not paying rent until August 20.
CBS News reports that Governor Cuomo said no one in New York State can be evicted for not paying rent for an additional 60 days. That pushes the date to August 20, 2020. Cuomo has officially extended the moratorium on evictions for people who are facing economic hardships due to COVID-19. Cuomo also said that officials will ban any late-payment fees. They will also allow renters to use their security deposits as payments.
Governor Cuomo said, "The No. 1 issue that people talk to me about probably is rent, and fear about being able to pay their rent, and this just takes that issue off the table until August 20."
In April 2020, one-third of renters did not pay rent in the U.S. during the first week of the month. Only 69% of tenants paid rent between April 1 and April 5. Compared to March 2020, 82% of renters paid their rent within the first five days. In April 2020, unemployment hit 14.7% with 20.5 million unemployed, according to the New York Times. In October 2009, 8.7 million were unemployed during the recession.
Cuomo also announced that New York State is working on relief from banks for landlords.