NYS Eviction Ban Struck Down (For Now): What this Means for Landlords

Last week, the United States Supreme Court, in a 6 to 3 decision, invalidated the New York State eviction moratorium. While this is a victory, of sorts, for my fellow landlords, it may prove to be very short lived. Find out why in this video!

DISCLAIMER: please note that the information contained in this video is for educational and entertainment purposes only. You should always consult your own attorney and your own financial and tax advisors before making any legal or financial decisions. This video is not intended to and does not create any attorney-client relationship between the content creator and the viewer. The views and opinions expressed in this video belong solely to the creator and do not reflect those of his law firm or any of his business partners.

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June 30, 2020: the NYS Legislature passes the Tenant Safe Harbor Act and Cuomo promptly signs it into law. This Act prohibits courts from issuing eviction warrants or possessory judgments through quote un quote the end of the Covid-19 covered period.” This phrase was defined by reference back to the series of Cuomo’s earlier executive orders, which defined the period as starting on March 7, 2020 and running until such time as businesses were permitted to reopen and restrictions on gatherings ceased.

Notably, the vagueness of this definition means that the Tenant Safe Harbor Act remains in effect since not all restrictions have been lifted. At least, this is how the federal courts in the case we are about to discuss have interpreted this Act.

Fast forward to December 28, 2020. The NYS Legislature passes, and Cuomo signs into law, the COVID-19 Emergency Eviction and Foreclosure Prevention Act of 2020, abbreviated as CEEFPA. Part A of this Act imposes a new eviction moratorium.

The scheme created by this Act, incorporated a “hardship declaration” requirement, whereby a tenant who attests to being negatively impacted by the pandemic, is thereby completely protected from eviction until May 31, 2021. The hardship declaration, once signed by the tenant, could not be challenged in court, and conclusively precluded landlords from proceeding with any eviction in court until May 31, 2021.

Additionally, the hardship declaration, which required no proof whatsoever from the tenant of an actual hardship, created something called a rebuttable presumption which would survive the expiration of the Act past May 31, 2021 and could be used as a defense by tenants in any subsequent eviction proceeding.

Fast forward to April 23, 2021. The NYS Legislature passes, and Cuomo signs into law, an extension of CEEFPA through August 31, 2021.

In May of 2021, five landlords and a landlord association filed a complaint in federal court for the Eastern District of NY challenging CEEFPA on various constitutional grounds. In June 2021, the Eastern District Court issued its decision dismissing the plaintiffs’ case.

Plaintiffs subsequently appealed to the 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals. While that appeal was pending, they also petitioned the US Supreme Court for an order temporarily restraining the enforcement of CEEFPA eviction moratorium on the ground that it infringed on their constitutional rights to due process by foreclosing any opportunity to contest a tenant's self-attested hardship declaration.

Surprisingly, the Supreme Court sided with the plaintiffs and invalidated CEEFPA for the duration of the pending appeals.

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