In our practice, we represent numerous landlords who have rental properties throughout Upstate New York. Many of our landlord clients have struggled financially during the Covid-19 pandemic because their tenants have ceased paying rent and know that it has been made significantly more difficult to evict them with pandemic protections which are in place despite the fact that they are not paying rent.

While these protections are well-meaning and intentioned and have been relied on by some tenants who lost their means to provide for their families due to no fault of their own, they have provided an opportunity for some to play games at the expense of their landlords. In some instances, we have had clients who have reported that their tenants continue to work and have bragged to their landlords that they have the money to pay their rent, yet still do not make rent payments. In some instances, we have suggested to our landlord clients that they apply for rental assistance programs created as part of the pandemic relief assistance to obtain funding for lost rent payments, but, up until this point, these programs have required participation and cooperation from the tenant who has not paid rent. For various reasons, tenants have not always been willing to do so.

The good news is the Emergency Rental Assistance Program has been expanded to allow landlords to seek payments despite the fact that their tenants choose not to pay. Landlords who rent out units located in New York State are eligible for this program if they meet the following criteria: 1. The landlord has a tenant who has left the apartment in New York State with unpaid rent/arrears or the landlord has a tenant with arrears who refuses to work with the landlord after three attempts by the landlord to get the tenant to cooperate, including in two attempts in writing. 2. The rental monthly rental amount is at or below 50% of the fair market rent for their location. 3. The landlord has documented arrears owed from the tenant for costs accrued on or after March 1, 2020.

This rent provides for up to twelve months of rental paid arrears from on or after March 1, 2020.

For more information, please visit: https://otda.ny.gov/programs/emergency-rental-assistance/ If you are a landlord who falls into this situation, we recommend that you make this application as soon as possible. We are pleased to work with clients who would like to apply for this assistance.