BUFFALO, N.Y. — A Buffalo Common Council member wants New York State to reintroduce the eviction moratorium for certain zip codes in Buffalo.
Buffalo Common Councilmember Rasheed Wyatt has a resolution on Tuesday afternoon's agenda asking the state to reintroduce the eviction moratorium because of the difficult economic times since the start of the pandemic.
In it, he specifically mentions the 14215 zip code, that's in the University District, where he says there's a high eviction rate. He says other zip codes are also impacted by this and that the goal is to give all residents the opportunity to stay in their homes while they try to work out solutions with their landlords.
Wyatt says he's getting a lot of calls from tenants in his district who are not able to pay their rent since the moratorium expired and some told him they've applied for rental assistance, but haven't gotten help yet.
"So that is really slowing the process down and putting people in jeopardy of being evicted causing them a great deal of stress. I mean, I understand on both sides even for the landlords, they're having stress as well because they're not able to meet their obligations, so I'm just asking for the state to intervene and to work a little bit quicker and also assist in making sure that we help both parties because I know both are hurting at this point in time," said University District Common Councilmember Rasheed N.C. Wyatt.
This resolution can't force the state to do anything, but Wyatt hopes it sends a message to Albany. He's asking for a temporary eviction moratorium for at least six months.
Wyatt expects it will be sent to committee Tuesday for more discussion next week, and he is hoping members of the community show up to talk about it.