New York State Legislature Extends Eviction Moratorium to Jan. 15, 2022

On Sep. 2, 2021, Governor Hochul signed into law an extension of the residential and commercial eviction moratoriums through Jan. 15, 2022 (the Moratorium Extension). The new law gives landlords a mechanism to challenge tenants' claims of financial hardship resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic. The Moratorium Extension continues the structure of the moratorium that was in place through Aug. 31, 2021. The applicable Hardship Declaration form still must be included with every written notice required to be served prior to the commencement of an eviction proceeding, as well as with every pleading served on a tenant in an eviction proceeding.

In addition, landlords must file an affidavit of service with the notice of petition and petition demonstrating that it served the Hardship Declaration and attesting that either: (a) at the time of the filing, the landlord had not received a completed Hardship Declaration from the tenant; (b) the tenant returned the completed Hardship Declaration but is intentionally damaging the property or engaging in behavior that substantially infringes on the use and enjoyment of other tenants or occupants or causes a substantial safety hazard to others with an included specific description of the claimed behavior; or (c) the tenant has returned the Hardship Declaration but the landlord "believes in good faith that the hardship certified in the hardship declaration does not exist." The last option was added by the Moratorium Extension law in response to the USSC August 2021 decision in Chrysafis v. Marks (LVT #31566).

In general, if a tenant returns a signed Hardship Declaration, an eviction proceeding will be stayed by the courts until Jan. 15, 2022, and the stay will continue unless the court finds that a tenant's hardship claim is "invalid."

NY Eviction Moratorium Extension, Senate Bill S50001 (9/1/21)[36-pg. document]