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QUEENS WEEKLY, MAY 17, 2020
Small landlords say they need relief, too, as
calls for rent, mortgage forgiveness continue
BY ANGÉLICA ACEVEDO
As hundreds of tenants
across New York City go on
rent strike to push elected
officials to provide economic
relief for those in need,
small landlords say they,
too, will need assistance.
While calls to cancel
rent have been ongoing for
well over two months by
tenant, housing advocates
and elected officials, there
are still little concrete results.
But small landlords
worry that the rent strikes
may cause more harm than
good.
New York City Small
Home Owners Association’s
Director Richard
St. Paul said most of their
members are home owners
with one to five units that
aren’t typically rent regulated
— and many of them
depend heavily on rent to
maintain their properties.
St. Paul believes small
landlords aren’t represented
as well as larger landlords,
who often times have
an easier way of managing
cost and expenses. He said
very little has been done
on the state and federal
level to offer relief for small
landlords.
“I don’t want people
to believe they don’t have
hearts,” St. Paul said. “But
ultimately, it comes down
to the fact that this is also a
business.”
But many argue more
has been done for property
owners, given Gov. Andrew
Cuomo’s mortgage and
eviction moratorium in
March — which was set to
end in June but was extended
to Aug. 20. Cuomo said
tenants cannot be evicted
and late fees cannot be incurred
from non-payment
of rent until the moratorium
is lifted.
Richard Khuzami, president
of the Old Astoria
Neighborhood Association,
is a small landlord with a
three-family building and
a commercial tenant in Astoria.
He said his tenants
have been able to pay their
rent since the pandemic began.
Photo via Getty Images
“I completely understand
there’s an issue and
there are people in situations
that can’t pay rent,
especially with issues collecting
unemployment and
the government checks that
operationally turned into a
fiasco,” he said. “But rent
relief shouldn’t be on the
backs of landlords.”
Khuzami added that he
has no problem deferring
payment, but that he’d only
support canceling rent all
together if landlords would
have their mortgage, taxes,
utilities and insurance forgiven
as well. “It should be
reciprocal,” Khuzami said.
“There should be a tax
holiday for property taxes,”
Khuzami said. “The taxes,
insurance, utilities, all
these items might be much
easier postponed if everyone
knew rent would be recoverable.”
What about the mortgage
moratorium?
Khuzami said it only accounts
for state-controlled
moratoriums while the majority
of mortgages come
from federal agencies like
Fannie Mae and Freddie
Mac.
In March, the Federal
House Finance Agency
directed Fannie Mae and
Freddie Mac to suspend
all foreclosures and evictions
for 60 days due to the
COVID-19 national emergency.
The agencies also
announced they would give
borrowers affected by the
virus forbearance options
that would allow them to
suspend mortgage payments
for up to 12 months.
Khuzami said his bank
told him that while he
doesn’t have to pay his
mortgage and won’t penalize
him, they “can’t guarantee
there won’t be a balloon
payment” once the moratoriums
are lifted.
“But I don’t think it’s in
their best interest to close
homes,” he said.
Echoing St. Paul’s comment,
Khuzami said small
landlords should qualify
for the federal Paycheck
Protection Program, being
that they are a small business
as well.
“I’m retired, and like a
lot of small landlords, this
is our only source of income,”
Khuzami said.
Cuomo said the state is
working on relief from the
banks for landlords, and
that the federal government
and state are working
on plans to “make sure
those banks get relief so
they don’t have to do any
foreclosures.”
Meanwhile, two Queens
representatives are leading
New York’s Congressional
delegation in calling for the
House and Senate to include
rent and mortgage forgiveness
in the next COVID-19
stimulus package.
Congresswomen Grace
Meng and Alexandria
Ocasio-Cortez argue the
rent crisis extends far beyond
New York as nearly
half of all renters spend
more than a third of their
income on rent, while onequarter
of renters spend
more than half of their
monthly earnings.
They also called for the
creation of a Housing and
Urban Development (HUD)
fund that would reimburse
landlords for the cost of
cancelling rent for the duration
of the crisis, and for
an additional six months after
the pandemic ends. This
fund would be extended to
small private landlords,
public housing authorities,
nonprofit organizations or
housing cooperatives.
“Not only does HUD have
the capacity to administer
a program of this scale, but
it would serve as a direct
stimulus for the countless
families that are facing
unprecedented economic
hardship,” the representatives
wrote in the letter to
Congressional leadership.
“We need a universal program
that will cover all
renters without introducing
costly bureaucratic
measures that will slow the
receipt of aid and preserve
the already limited stock of
affordable housing.“
The letter was co-signed
by Representatives Nydia
Velázquez, Carolyn Maloney,
José Serrano, Adriano
Espaillat, Yvette Clarke,
Eliot Engel, Hakeem Jeffries
and Jerry Nadler.