Imagine this scenario: You have a tenant living in your property who received a notice to leave prior to COVID. This tenant vandalizes, steals, and defaces your property. This tenant is allowed complete access to your property and all of these actions are deemed civil. This tenant is no longer living at the premise and vacates. Time for court. This tenant asks for a two week adjournment. Next time at court this tenant shows the tenant hardship form, delaying the process another 3 months. In addition, this tenant is NOT IN ANY HARDSHIP DUE TO COVID. These are all stall tactics to make the landlord's life miserable and an attempt to sabotage their life. 

The eviction moratorium issued by Governor Cuomo has caused a huge problem in the state of New York. There is obviously a disconnect between where we are currently as a country in this pandemic and the governor's beliefs. As all other states are opening up and even allowing mask wearing to cease if vaccinated, the governor has again pushed the eviction moratorium until August 31, 2021, affecting landlords the most. After over a year of non-payment from many renters, landlords are fed up! They have no way of evicting these tenants if a tenant shows a hardship declaration form, even if this form is falsified. Some tenants have stole, vandalized property and made properties impossible to sell through bullying tactics. Landlords have no recourse, as most law enforcement agencies are understaffed, and frankly, don't wish to deal with these issues. 

As landlords continue to receive no payment, mortgages are owed, taxes are owed, and general upkeep is still needed. With no income coming in, how can they continue to keep afloat? Why should landlords be forced to provide housing for non paying tenants? Some landlords are facing the reality of having to let their properties go because they don't have income coming in from their tenants. Many of these small landlords rely on this income to survive. 

The state of New York has finally opened up applications for landlords to receive aid. However, the method of allocating these funds is unacceptable. To receive funds, one must keep these non paying tenants in their homes for another year! Who's to say that the non payment won't continue? Landlords have been put between a rock and hard place. Some must choose to let go of their homes, be forced to put up with horrible tenants for another year to gain access to rent relief funds, or forgo these funds. 

The government has allowed for too many loopholes in this system. All criteria is in place to help the tenant criminals, not the hardworking landlords. 

I am asking we stand up and ask for some mandates be put in place to protect landlords and there be ramifications if these hardship forms are falsified! Do not extend the moratorium any longer! Enough is enough. We need to return to normalcy, and no longer should be stymied as a nation.