Today the Ithaca Tenants Union marched from 9am through 2pm to various property management offices in Ithaca protesting the continued eviction court proceedings and soft evictions. This included Travis Hyde Properties, Mazza and Mazza law offices, C.S.P Management and the Iavocelli office on Seneca & Meadow St.

This comes as today would have been the end to Governor Cuomo's residential eviction moratorium but was recently been extended through the end of 2020.

But the Tenant's Union feels more must be done as the current extension still allows for soft evictions and requires tenants to prove that COVID-19 has impacted them financially in order to qualify.

Meanwhile, property management companies are working to sign future leases for their business in a time where housing decisions may be uncertain for many.

One of the Ithaca Tenants Union organizers Ellie Pfeffer shared, "We're here to say that that extension is deceitful, misleading, and has many loopholes. So really it's not an extension. People can be taken to court and you have to prove financial impact from COVID which does not cover all evictions at all."

While the residential eviction moratorium has been extended through the rest of the year, commercial evictions and foreclosures have only been extended through October 20th.

The Ithaca Tenants Union has also established an eviction response hotline to assist anyone undergoing an eviction proceeding. That information can be found on the union's Facebook page.