Legal Services NYC’s Statement on the Extension of New York’s Eviction Moratorium

NEW YORK, NY (September 2, 2021) – Last night, the NYS Legislature passed a bill to extend the state’s eviction moratorium to January 15, 2022 to give thousands of New Yorkers behind on their rent more time to access emergency rental assistance. There are currently more than 228,000 New Yorkers on the brink of eviction, according to Right to Counsel NYC.

Below is a statement from Raun Rasmussen, Executive Director of Legal Services NYC, the nation’s largest provider of free civil legal services which helps thousands of tenants fight evictions each year.

“As legal service providers on the front lines throughout the pandemic, we see firsthand how desperately New Yorkers need help with their rent so they can stay in their homes. Halting evictions while they get that help is the only humane approach. We applaud Gov. Hochul and the New York State Legislature for extending the eviction moratorium, which buys tenants critical time to apply for rental assistance through the Emergency Rental Assistance Program (ERAP). At the same time, we urge the state to continue making improvements to the ERAP application and distribution process so that every New Yorker can get the funds they need to avoid the eviction process, stay safe, and stay in their homes.”

Legal Services NYC is currently helping New Yorkers apply to the Emergency Rental Assistance Program and advocating for the NYS Office of Temporary Disability Assistance to make key changes to the ERAP application process to make it more efficient, accessible, and fair.

For more information on how the state can improve ERAP, read LSNYC’s testimony before the NYS Senate here.
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