In January it will be one year since the eviction moratorium was lifted in the state of New York.
Today, there is still a major backlog of evictions that landlords and property managers are dealing with. The backlog only grew thanks to the pandemic.
There is a major backlog in the courts as well and ongoing cases happening now aren’t put on the schedule until 2023. Low income communities are suffering the most, according to property owners that spoke with Rochester First.
Matt Drouin of Roc Real Capital, LLC explained that he thought there would be more proactive help for those who provide low income housing. He said it’s been a “very difficult process.”
Drouin currently oversees more than 150 properties in the Rochester region.
One has sat empty for nine months after its previous tenants refused to pay their rent for two years then left it destroyed.
Patrick Gallagher of Gallagher Property Management described the debt that property has caused. There were two years of missed rent when the occupants refused to pay, and it will be another $15,000 to get it fixed so it can be rented again.
Gallagher oversees the Selye Terrace property and out of 700 properties he runs, over two dozen throughout Rochester are sitting empty.
Drouin said that people who used to make a business out of providing low income housing are leaving the industry. The locals who were running these places are getting rid of them, and there isn’t anyone to take their place. After they remained responsible, they no longer want to be in this sort of unstable industry.
Evicted tenants are seeing their cases delayed in court and scheduled as far out as February of next year.
New York offered an Emergency Rental Assistance Program and state funded tenants that applied after being behind on rent. They only seen the court process take longer because of it.
As landlords and property owners try to make legal evictions happen, they’re becoming frustrated. This is because the current cases keep getting adjourned and pushed out. This leaves hardly any room for new cases to get resolved.
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