Small Landlords in NY Sue AG Over Eviction Moratorium; Claim it’s Unconstitutional

By Marty Horowitz

Five small landlords have sued New York attorney general Letitia James, arguing that the new blanket moratorium on evictions is unconstitutional, Real Deal reported.

The lawsuit, filed Wednesday in federal court in New York’s Eastern District, lays out how five small landlords — each of whom owns only a few units — have been impacted by non-paying tenants.

Real Deal revealed the details of the landlord’s lawsuits:

• In the single-family home that plaintiff Pantelis Chrysafis owns in Garden City in Nassau County, the tenants stopped paying in 2019 and now owe more than $70,000 in back rent.
• Betty Cohen owns a co-op in Brooklyn where her tenant stopped paying rent in March 2020. Though she initiated an eviction proceeding in September, it’s now stalled until at least May 1 because the tenant filled out a hardship declaration form
• Another plaintiff wanted to sell one of her properties, but the tenants refused to vacate even after their lease was not renewed. She filed a holdover proceeding in December 2020, which was blocked.

Real Deal Reported:

Randy Mastro, a partner at Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher who is representing the plaintiffs, said in a statement that his clients have “shouldered the entire burden” of a policy that protects tenants from the consequences of not paying rent.

“Now that the State Legislature has compounded the problem by extending this moratorium in ways that clearly violate these owners’ First Amendment and Due Process rights, we’ve gone to court to challenge this unconstitutional action,” Mastro said.

It is important to note, that while many have lost high paying jobs and were forced o make a fraction of their earnings on unemployment due to the pandemic, many have taken advantage of the eviction bans, who are working, collecting full paychecks, but refuse to pay rent.

Meanwhile, radical leftists have also mobilized a new movement looking to permanently “cancel rent” with the goal of eliminating private property. These communist tinged radicals have rallied constantly in the city to “cancel rent”.

Real Deal pointed out:

One real estate attorney observed that “there is definitely big money behind” the latest lawsuit.

It would not be the first example in recent years of deep-pocketed industry players providing financial backing for those with less resources to have their day in court.