On June 18, 2020 Chief Administrative Judge Marks issued a memorandum advising that, effective June 20, 2020, the moratorium on filing commercial and residential eviction proceedings is coming to an end, though restrictions remain on proceedings against tenants affected by COVID-19. Beginning on June 20th, eviction proceedings may now be filed in New York landlord-tenant courts via electronic filing or by mail. Tenants must be given a notice that they may be eligible to seek additional time to respond to an eviction proceeding, and hearings in all cases are stayed until July 6th.
Additionally, if a tenant is receiving government assistance or can demonstrate financial hardship due to coronavirus, a prior executive order prevents evictions of these tenants until at least August 20th. However, the memorandum opens the door to commence eviction proceedings for all other tenants, though the process of obtaining a judgment and warrant and effectuating an eviction against a tenant will still take time to complete. This latest step reflects the continuing efforts by the courts to return the court system to pre-Covid-19 operations.
