rental payments sometime in November 2021. On February 19, 2022, petitioner issued to
respondent a termination notice based on non-renewal of lease.
The Court is called upon to determine whether the termination notice may be
permitted given the statutory obligation created upon the acceptance of ERAP rental
payments. Absent a proper predicate notice, the holdover petition fails to state a cause of
action and the petition must be dismissed.
Discussion and Conclusion
Upon the
acceptance of ERAP rental payments the property owner must acknowledge and accept
certain terms. Among the terms include an agreement that the property owner will
"not evict for reason of expired lease or holdover tenancy any household on behalf of
whom [*2]rental assistance is received for 12 months
after the ERAP rental assistance is received." Furthermore, the property owner is
required to "notify the tenant of the protections listed in this section."
The Legislature determined that upon an owner accepting ERAP rental payments,
eviction based upon a lease expiration holdover could not lie for 12 months. The
obligation not to evict for 12 months, the window period, was deemed as necessary and
quid pro quo to address widespread evictions, The Legislature found as
follows:
More than two million New Yorkers have been infected by the
COVID-19 coronavirus, and the disease has killed more than 55,000 New Yorkers since
March 2020. Measures necessary to contain the pandemic have brought about
widespread economic and societal disruption. Millions of residents have experienced
financial hardship due to such measures, which closed businesses and schools, and
resulted in income losses across the state.
Petitioner, the property