NYC Evictions Begin As Tenants $509 Million In Debt
The public housing authority of New York City, which is grappling with severe financial challenges, is intensifying its efforts to address a significant deficit of rental payments, and as a result, it has issued numerous eviction notices to tenants who have fallen behind on their rent in recent weeks.
The outstanding rent owed by households within the New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA) has surged due to a large number of tenants who ceased paying during the pandemic and did not resume payments once the COVID-related eviction moratorium ended in January 2022.
As of the conclusion of June, around 70,000 out of the city’s 151,000 public housing households were in arrears, accumulating an unparalleled total of $509 million. Prior to the pandemic, the arrears stood at approximately $129 million.
Starting from 2019, NYCHA’s rate of rent collection has plummeted to about 63%, a significant drop from the consistent 95% collection rate that was maintained annually prior to the COVID saga.
Given the insufficient funds to cover operational expenses, the authority has escalated its issuance of eviction notices to households that have significantly fallen behind on payments.
By June 30, as many as 1,250 households had received these notices. To date, only 15 households have been evicted from their apartments, but several hundred more eviction procedures are currently progressing through Housing Court, with a substantial increase likely in the future.
While some of these cases may conclude with tenants retaining their apartments by agreeing to structured repayment plans for their overdue rent, others will undoubtedly result in tenants being forced out of public housing.
Currently, the figures are heading in a singular direction—upward. Upon the conclusion of the eviction moratorium on January 15, 2022, NYCHA’s backlog of unpaid rent amounted to around $350 million. By December, it had risen to $450 million. The current figure stands at $509 million.
This issue is not anticipated to be resolved in the near future. NYCHA is compelled to recover all owed rent as stipulated by the regulations outlined by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), the federal agency responsible for providing the majority of funding to NYCHA and other public housing authorities across the U.S. The outstanding debts cannot simply be disregarded.
While certain tenants did make partial rent payments during the moratorium, those who made no payments throughout the entire 21-month duration from March 2020 to December 2021 are facing substantial owed amounts.
On average, households in arrears owe more than $7,200. With each passing month, the outstanding balance becomes more daunting and less feasible to settle. This is obviously when the chance of eviction susbstantially increases.
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