For the 4th consecutive year, Michael J. Telfer, Esq. has been selected for inclusion in Upstate New York Super Lawyers Rising Stars. Super Lawyers is a rating service of outstanding lawyers who have attained a high-degree of peer recognition and professional achievement and recognizes no more than 2.5% of attorneys in Upstate New York.
Mike has worked for LASNNY since March 2013 and is currently a Senior Attorney with the Disability Advocacy Project. He represents clients who have been denied Social Security Disability (SSD) and Supplemental Security Income (SSI) benefits in administrative hearings, administrative appeals, and federal district court.
Tenants who lost their income due to the pandemic will have slight relief after Gov. Andrew Cuomo extended the eviction moratorium for another 30 days.
Cuomo’s executive order extends the moratorium until Sept. 4, which gives the courts time to stop the proceedings.
“No evictions as long as we are in the middle of the epidemic,” Cuomo said.
Cuomo’s executive order is covered under the Tenant Safe Harbor Act, which provides protection against eviction to tenants who are unable to pay rent due to the health crisis.
The initial executive order that paused evictions during the pandemic expired midnight and could have forced thousands of evictions for failure to pay the rent. The Office of Court Administration is now reviewing the governor’s executive order to determine whether to extend the moratorium through early September.
The end of a statewide moratorium on evictions will move thousands of local renters closer to homelessness, housing and legal advocates say.
The Tenant Safe Harbor Act, signed into law by Gov. Andrew Cuomo on June 30, prohibits courts from evicting residential tenants who experience financial hardship due to COVID-19. The courts may still award the landlord a judgment for the back rent, but the landlord can’t evict the tenant. An eviction moratorium put in place by the state to protect tenants during COVID-19 expires Wednesday. That, on top of the recent expiration of a federal supplemental unemployment payment, could create an even more dire situation for many who are behind in rent.
Robert R. Romaker, a managing attorney at the Legal Aid Society of Northeastern NY, said calls from tenants for help fighting an eviction are ticking up, although the housing specialists at the nonprofit have yet to appear at many court hearings, he said. Expanded tenant-protection laws crafted in 2019 require a 14-day notice before a landlord can start a court case for non-payment, and tenants who notify the court they will fight the case have a right to a 14-day adjournment before trial.
A judge on Wednesday allowed St. Clare’s Hospital pensioners to continue their legal efforts to regain their lost pension benefits.
The Legal Aid Society of Northeastern New York said state Supreme Court Judge Vincent Versaci denied motions by the St. Clare’s Corporation, the Roman Catholic Diocese of Albany and various officers of both organizations to dismiss the pensioners’ lawsuit.
More than 100 former employees of the defunct Schenectady hospital are named as plaintiffs in the case, brought in September by the Legal Aid Society of Northeastern New York, Brooklyn Legal Services, AARP Foundation, David Pratt, and James Reilly.
The move came about a year after the chronically underfunded pension fund reached a crisis point and its managers reduced or eliminated the monthly pension checks paid to more than 1,000 former employees.
Good news for over 1,100 former employees of St. Clare’s Hospital in Schenectady; a judge denied motions to dismiss the lawsuit they filed against the people controlled their pension fund on Wednesday.
Attorneys for St. Clare’s Corporation, tried to get the suit thrown out. They claim it was filed outside of the statute of limitations and that they had the right to terminate the contract at any time, but Judge Vincent Versaci denied all motions to dismiss the case.
“We are not there yet, but we certainly have made some big strides,” co-chair of the St. Clare’s Pensioners Committee Mary Hartshorne said.
Hartshorne and the 172 other former St. Clare’s Hospital employees were thrilled to hear that their lawsuit will continue to move forward.
Each day brings stark news of how the COVID-19 pandemic has worsened hunger in New York State. Seeing as how hunger will remain a challenge throughout the economic downturn, and increased effort needs to continue to enroll people in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP).
New York’s Nutrition Outreach and Education Program (NOEP) provides free, confidential services to help people learn about and apply for SNAP benefits. The Legal Aid Society of Northeastern New York (LASNNY) works with SNAP and NOEP to service its clients, and New Yorkers are at risk due to the non-renewal of NYS contracts for SNAP outreach and application assistance through NOEP.
With unemployment skyrocketing, more people than ever will need to enroll in SNAP. NOEP services are integral in helping newly unemployed people successfully apply for SNAP, and requests for NOEP services have been increasing since the pandemic began, and are needed now more than ever. NOEP services across New York State are at risk and are currently scheduled to end on June 30th. LASNNY’s NOEP contract with Hunger Solutions NY serves six counties: Albany, Clinton, Fulton, Montgomery, Saratoga, and Washington counties.
The Legal Aid Society of Northeastern New York (LASNNY) is encouraging people facing eviction from financial hardships related to the coronavirus pandemic to call them. They say the rules aren’t straight forward and every situation is different.
In March Governor Andrew Cuomo signed an executive order for an eviction moratorium to expire June 20. It doesn’t mean renters aren’t responsible for paying back rent, it simply means they cannot be evicted because they can’t pay.
Attorney David Crossman, a housing expert at LASNNY, says even though eviction courts have resumed business they are focusing on cases opened before New York Pause. He says the 3rd and 4th Judicial Districts, responsible for cases in the Capital Region, say they are not hearing rent default cases but instead are handling eviction cases filed prior to March 16.
As New York seeks to recover from the economic turmoil of COVID-19, thousands of nonprofits that receive state funding are facing financial uncertainty, including many serving low-income families.
Facing what state officials contend is a $13.3 billion shortfall in this year’s budget, Cuomo administration agencies have informed nonprofits in recent weeks that payments are being delayed, and new contracts are on hold, while the state seeks fiscal relief from the federal government.
Doug Sauer, CEO of New York Council of Nonprofits, said “thousands” of nonprofits that get state funding are in jeopardy of seeing it cut or stricken.
Nonprofits that have multi-year contracts with state agencies are being told they may not get the full amount, Sauer said. Others, which have rendered services under existing state contracts, have often not been reimbursed by the state.
Evictions can devastate families. They’re costly. Research shows evictions make people poorer. During the pandemic, New York placed a blanket ban on all evictions, but the moratorium ends today. News reports show renters panicked about losing their homes.
Governor Cuomo issued an executive order last month, extending part of the eviction moratorium until August. But Tara Glynn, senior housing attorney with the Legal Aid Society of Northeastern New York, says, it’s vague about who is covered. Her group represents residents throughout the North Country. Monica Sandreczki caught up with her.
