On Saturday, the Chinese Community Service Center held a “Landlord and Tenant Meeting” at IS 96 School in Brooklyn, inviting many elected officials and professionals to discuss how to resolve issues between landlords and tenants. The meeting attracted two hundred participants, with many landlords expressing their grievances and tenants sharing their difficulties, seeking help. Elected officials present stated that despite current laws being more favorable to tenants, with reasonable actions and government communication in the short, medium, and long term, there is still a chance to change the situation.
Many small landlords at the meeting raised issues such as tenants owing rent and difficulties with evictions. Many landlords face the challenge of tenants owing rent for extended periods but being unable to evict them smoothly. According to current laws, the eviction process is lengthy, often taking a whole year or even several years to complete.
One landlord mentioned that their tenant had not paid rent for four years since the pandemic began and they still couldn’t evict them. Due to laws favoring tenant protection, even when tenants maliciously withhold rent, they can still receive free legal assistance, while landlords have to hire lawyers at their own expense and continue to bear property taxes and maintenance costs, potentially facing the risk of property confiscation due to inability to pay water bills.
Laws and policies have left small landlords caught between housing courts and tenants, unable to protect their own interests and struggling to access legal support. This has resulted in many small landlords being hesitant to rent out properties, further weakening the housing market. One older landlord angrily questioned whether current laws truly respect landlords’ private property rights.
Recent legal changes exacerbating landlord challenges include the passing of the “Good Cause Eviction” Act in the April 2024 budget, further restricting landlords’ rights to terminate leases. Under this law, landlords must provide “good cause” (such as rent arrears or property damage) to evict tenants. While this affects non-owner landlords more, small landlords (with fewer than 10 units) still have some exemptions.
State Assembly member Zheng Yongjia proposed shortening the adjudication time for eviction cases: he is working to push for legislation to reduce the current processing time, which can take up to years, to within a year. However, one attendee felt that a year is still too long and hoped to further shorten it to six to nine months to alleviate landlords’ financial pressure. Zheng Yongjia admitted that he originally wanted to reduce the eviction process to six months, but due to the state legislature’s tendency to support tenants, driving such reforms has been extremely challenging, with related bills being constrained by the proportion of conservative members and political realities.
City Councilwoman Zhuang Wenyi shared a typical case she witnessed. A tenant had not paid rent for three years, residing long-term in Las Vegas, only occasionally returning to rent out the property in New York. Upon one return, he maliciously opened all faucets, causing severe flooding upstairs, completely damaging the floor, leading the landlord to spend $70,000 to repair. After a prolonged process, the landlord finally managed to evict the tenant, but the process was extremely arduous. Zhuang Wenyi emphasized that such issues are not uncommon in the community, causing massive financial burdens for small landlords.
She further noted that landlord-tenant laws in New York City are mainly determined by the state of New York, limiting the City Council’s authority, thus state legislative reforms are crucial. Currently, she is promoting the Intro. 907 bill in the City Council aimed at collecting squatter data, having garnered signatures from 27 council members, but it has not yet received a hearing, making progress difficult. Additionally, there is a severe backlog of court cases, with only 13 judges in the Brooklyn Housing Court, some housing lawyers handling over 300 cases individually, leading to significant delays in court proceedings, further aggravating landlord challenges, necessitating the appointment of more judges to handle cases.
Lawyer George Hamboussi elucidated eviction procedures and legal points: if a property is not rent-controlled, landlords must issue a 30, 60, or 90-day notice to evict based on the tenant’s length of occupancy. However, landlords should note that if the tenant does not vacate, the landlord should not accept rent after the notice period, as it could be seen as automatically extending the lease. Only after a court hearing can a landlord accept overdue rent from the tenant, but not before the hearing to avoid influencing the case outcome.
Regarding undocumented tenants, landlords must make efforts to confirm the identity of all occupants, and if unable to confirm, they can issue an eviction notice using John Doe or Jane Doe as aliases.
A young small landlord shared their plight: the case had been ongoing for three years, with the court ruling in favor of the landlord having possession rights, but the execution process was slow, even witnessing court orders being withdrawn and rescheduled, further delaying proceedings. During this time, the landlord could not collect rent, yet still had to pay taxes and bear the property maintenance costs. They mentioned that the tenant not only owed rent but also caused noise, leaks, and other issues, refusing to allow the landlord to enter for repairs, resulting in neighbor complaints and property damage.
Lawyer George Hamboussi mentioned that landlords have the right to shut off water and electricity in emergencies to protect their property, such as addressing potential damages caused by leaks or fires. Shutting off water forces tenants to call 311, initiating official inspection procedures, accelerating legal proceedings and compelling tenant compliance.
He also pointed out many civil judges formerly worked as legal aid lawyers before running for judgeships, potentially making them more inclined to support tenants’ positions.
Lawyer Wu Jingcong advised that when landlords discover illegal occupiers, they should take action and report within 30 days; otherwise, subsequent handling will be more challenging. Unlike tenants, the eviction process for occupiers is faster, with landlords only needing to issue a 10-day notice to start legal proceedings.
Representative Ling Fei, on behalf of State Senator Chen Xueri, proposed a “Staged Solution Strategy”: the long-term goal is to push for legislative reforms and change unreasonable laws and systems, requiring building support over time. For instance, last year’s Republican reform proposal failed due to insufficient support votes.
The midterm goal involves uniting landlords, forming organizations, sharing legal knowledge and response experiences to increase influence. While individual landlord voices may be weak, collective advocacy can bring about significant change.
The short-term goal is, under the existing legal system, to learn and utilize effective tactics to protect their interests, such as the “fighting law” strategy that Lawyer George Hamboussi introduced, fighting within the legal framework for lawful access to the property for repairs to combat bully behavior.
What can ordinary individuals do? Councilwoman Zhuang Wenyi urged landlords and tenants to actively contact their respective district council members and state legislators, sending emails or texts to officials reflecting issues, urging them to support or oppose relevant bills. Only through unity and cooperation can they wield greater influence to strive for a fairer rental environment.