The coronavirus pandemic left many residents across the United States jobless and struggling to pay for basic necessities, such as rent. On Monday, New York State Gov. Andrew Cuomo extended a statewide eviction ban until Oct. 20 after protests sprung up across the state calling for an extension from the original date of Oct. 1.

A protest outside the Broome County Department of Social Services was held on Sept. 17 for an extension of the eviction ban, cancelation of rent and demands to hold irresponsible landlords accountable. It was mainly organized by Citizen Action of New York, a grassroots organization seeking to help resolve large social issues. The protest engaged support from Progressives Leaders of Tomorrow (PLOT), a community organization dedicated to social justice, equity and racial issues, and Binghamton Tenants United, a community space aiming to give renters a voice on issues like gentrification and evictions.

Amber Johnson, community organizer for Citizen Action of New York, helped plan the protest and has aided tenants with housing issues. Although Cuomo’s extension relieved some stress placed on residents, Johnson believes it is not enough.

“It’s just really putting a temporary Band-Aid on the situation and doesn’t resolve the huge housing crisis and eviction surge to come,” Johnson wrote.

Johnson said that Binghamton residents were already struggling with rent prior to the pandemic due to gentrification, unaffordable housing and poor management of properties.

“In the beginning of the pandemic, a lot of tenants I worked with were scared of a financially unstable future and a future eviction,” Johnson wrote. “A lot of landlords sent out letters to their tenants reminding them that rent is still due regardless of whatever situation you are in. This alone scares people. It sets a tone that, ‘We don’t really care what you’re going through, we want our money.’ It’s horrible, it’s threatening and it’s violent.”

Although the eviction ban had been implemented in March, landlords found loopholes around it. Gov. Cuomo instated a statewide moratorium during June for another month but retracted part of the ban in July. The full ban was eventually put back in place shortly after. In that slip of time, Johnson said some tenants felt what a lift in the ban could result in.

“I had a tenant with a landlord who threw their stuff out of their window and changed the locks,” Johnson wrote. “Changing the locks is a big thing and some landlords [are] bribing tenants to move. The only recourse for that action, especially since courts [were] closed, was to call the cops, which can be dangerous especially for Black and [people of color] tenants. ”

Moreover, Johnson said the increase in unemployment and the uncertainty of the ban left many worried about paying their rent and remain in “limbo” about their housing situations. Ultimately, late rent payments also fell on landlords, who were behind on their mortgage and facing their own financial circumstances.

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Binghamton, New York had a 12.5 percent unemployment rate by July 2020, despite Broome County entering reopening phases in May and June. At the same time last year, the unemployment rate was 4.8 percent. Out of 389 metropolitan areas listed in a ranking of unemployment data, the city of Binghamton ranked 52nd with the highest percentage of unemployment over the year.

The federal government released pandemic unemployment assistance through the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act to add $600 to regular weekly benefits for unemployed citizens in March. However, benefits ended on July 31, and, since then, many have called on additional action by both state and federal governments for renters.

In August, an application for “rent, utility and mortgage assistance” opened for the city of Binghamton with $991,000 in funding from the CARES Act out of the total of over $1.5 million. According to Johnson, the application is filled with holes that prevent many from assistance.

“Tenants must have been current on both rent and utility payments prior to March 2020 in order to be eligible for the program,” Johnson wrote. ”50 percent of tenants in New York were rent-burdened PRIOR to the pandemic and were already choosing each month which bill to pay, and which to delay. This system ensures that the most impacted tenants will be excluded from assistance.”

According to New York University’s Furman Center, a research organization devoted to housing, 45 percent of households earning $50,000 to $75,000 were rent-burdened in 2018 in New York state, with that number decreasing as wage ranges go up and increasing as they go down. In a 2019 report by the Fiscal Policy Institute, an analytical think tank for issues in New York, many New York state renters pay over 30 percent of their family income to rent, with that number increasing within minority groups.

According to Johnson, the program unfairly puts a percentage of financial burden on a tenant, despite offering to pay 70 percent of back-owed rent.

“However, there are no tenant protections in the policy which protect renters from eviction if they are unable to come up with 30 percent of the rent owed over the numerous months during which they were unable to pay rent,” Johnson said. “Essentially, landlords can receive a check from the city for rent owed by tenants, and the city could still be facing an eviction crisis.”

Jared Kraham, executive assistant to the mayor, could not verify what the rental application process consisted of, but said funds were determined on a case-by-case basis.

“When you go through a coordinated entry program, one of the intents, in addition to [consolidating] all of the resources for a person that’s experiencing homelessness or about to experience homelessness is that they’re getting a non-duplicative assistance and, as it related to the CARES Act money, each individual is [that] there’s a screening process,” Kraham said. “One of the screening processes [is], ‘Have you been negatively impacted by COVID-19 economically, have you lost a job?’ —that type of thing — and there’s a whole host of sort of, different pots of money or different resources depending on an individual’s specific needs and financial hardships as it related to COVID-19 or if it does not relate to COVID there are specific things, programs, that are available.”

Kraham went on to note that there are a number of reasons for why someone could not qualify for the assistance program. Kraham encouraged individuals seeking assistance, including rent aid, to call 211.

These issues are not just a concern for locals, as Johnson noted there were student supporters at the protest. Shira Sarig, a sophomore majoring in human development, said student action is important.

“I think the students of BU that live off campus should be concerned because they contribute to the economy in the Binghamton area,” Johnson said. “A lot of people that live off campus have their parents contribute to their rent either partially or fully, while a lot of them are also occupying jobs off campus. I think the students off campus in particular have the ability to either fundraise or donate part of the money they earn to cover the rent of a lot of families living in the area.”

It’s not just locals experiencing these issues. M Barnett, a senior majoring in biology, noted that some of her friends were finding difficulties paying rent during the pandemic.

“I have friends who are taking out a lot of loans just to be able to afford housing,” Barnett wrote. “They can’t work because they’re immunocompromised or afraid of bringing it back home. Also, schoolwork is piling up in such a strange way, so it’s hard to even maintain a job right now. It’s really a sticky situation.”

Alison Wang, a senior majoring in nursing, said her friend is in a similar situation with loans being used as a payment for rent.

“One of my friends who currently lives off campus is an independent, and she has full responsibility of all her expenses,” Wang wrote. “She’s actually taking school loans for her apartment rent.”

Johnson noted that students are part of the larger and ongoing housing problem.

“I have worked with some off-campus students who couldn’t afford their rent, and they lost their jobs on campus and in local restaurants and stores that have closed at the beginning of the pandemic,” Johnson said. “This also aided in students fleeing out of the area to stay with their families. But let’s not forget those who do not have any other place to go, even though they lived in student housing, this was their primary residence, there was no going back ‘home’ for them.”