Housing FAQs during COVID-19

Any eviction proceedings, filed from before March 7, 2020 or commenced by January 27, 2021, will be automatically stayed (postponed) for at least sixty (60) days so that tenants can submit the hardship declaration.

It is a document which a tenant must sign disclosing that either:

(A) You are experiencing financial hardship and unable to pay rent because:

1. Significant loss of household income during the COVID-19 pandemic;
2. Increase in necessary out-of-pocket expenses related to performing essential work or related to health impacts during the COVID-19 pandemic;
3. Childcare responsibilities or responsibilities to care for an elderly, disabled, or sick family member during the COVID-19 pandemic have negatively affected my ability or the ability of someone in my household to obtain meaningful employment or earn income or increased my necessary out-of-pocket expenses;
4. Moving expenses and difficulty I have securing alternative housing make it a hardship for me to relocate to another residence during the COVID-19 pandemic;
5. Other circumstances related to the COVID-19 pandemic have negatively affected my ability to obtain meaningful employment or earn income or have significantly reduced my household income or significantly increased my expenses.

(B) Vacating and moving to new housing will pose a significant health risk because members of the household have increased risk to illness due to age, pre-existing conditions, etc.

The hardship declaration is available to be reviewed, printed, and signed here: http://www.nycourts.gov/courts/nyc/SSI/images/corona/HardshipDeclaration.pdf

· If tenant can prove and submit a hardship declaration, it must be given to the landlord or landlord’s agent promptly. The landlord or landlord’s agent must submit the signed hardship declaration to the court with the case number (index number) on it.

· The tenant may also directly submit the hardship declaration to the court with the case number (index number) on it.

· If this is properly done, the court will stay the eviction until May 1, 2021.

· The court shall stay the execution of the warrant until the court is able to have a status conference.

· If the tenant provides a hardship declaration, the execution of the warrant will be stayed until May 1, 2021.

· If the tenant provides the hardship to the landlord or landlord’s agent, the landlord or agent must submit the signed hardship declaration to the court with the case number (index number) on it.

· Yes, there are some.

· If the tenant doesn’t return the hardship declaration even after it was properly served, then the warrant can go forward.

· If the court found that the tenant was persistently and unreasonably engaging in behavior that is infringing on other tenants’ rights or causes substantial safety hazards to others.

• Note: if this is the case, the court will have a hearing to determine whether or not the tenant has continued to engage in unlawful behavior.
  • If the landlord fails to prove that the tenant is engaging in such unlawful behavior, the warrant can be stayed until May 1, 2021.

If the court issued a default judgment against a tenant, it will automatically be removed and the matter will be restored on the court calendar upon the tenant’s written or verbal request.

No courts shall issue a default judgment without first holding a hearing.

Yes. The legislation did not provide for a rent freeze or forgiveness.

The Governor did not stop rent payments. If you do not pay your rent, you are at risk of being evicted once the moratorium ends for all of the months that you did not pay. Communicate with your landlord about your own situation. It may be helpful to work out an arrangement.

Currently, many local jurisdictions have their own individual rental assistance programs up and running. Please call 211 for assistance with this.

A landlord cannot change your locks without proper court intervention. This is called a constructive eviction or an illegal lockout. If this happens, please contact the Legal Aid Housing Unit at 716-853-9555 x. 453 for immediate assistance. If you are locked out, you can all call the police.

• On April 15, 2020, the Hon. Paula Feroleto, Administrative Judge of the Eighth Judicial District, stated that for defendants not in custody, all non-essential matters are adjourned to a date on or after May 30, 2020.
  • It is unknown if the date will be pushed out even farther due to ongoing public health concerns.
• If you are a current housing court client, please contact the housing unit at 716-853-9555 ext. 453 for any questions or concerns.
  • Once we have a new court date, we will be contacting our current clients.

• If you are in the City of Buffalo, you can still call 311 and report code violations.
• If you are outside of the City of Buffalo, you can contact your local jurisdiction’s code enforcement office.