A Community Housing and Improvement Program questionnaire revealed that about 15 percent of New York City landlords may not have the money to pay their property taxes or their water and sewer bills come the next deadline in January, according to Crain's New York Business. The reason for the expected shortfall is that, over the past eight months, residential rent collections were 84 percent of the expected amount; in addition, landlords have been challenged by a dearth of new tenants as residents left the city. While landlords were able to hold things together over the summer, this was largely due to the influx of pandemic aid money that allowed their tenants to pay their rent. However with the previous aid money now exhausted for many, and with a new package still uncertain, these tenants will be less able to pay their rents, which means the landlords will be less able to pay either property taxes or utilities.

City Hall, for its part, will respond by selling the properties that are too far behind on their taxes. Such a sale was meant to have taken place earlier this month, but the governor, via executive order, halted lien sales until at least after the beginning of November.