Dentist in New York Claims Hardship to Avoid Paying House Rent

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It can’t be denied that since the beginning of the pandemic.  The State of New York has mishandled many things, from filling to protect the elderly in their retirement home to asking the restaurants to take extraordinary measures to protect their customers from COVID-19, only to force them to close down a few weeks later.

Another bad decision from the State of New York is the blanket moratorium on eviction and its Hardship Declaration Form.  Simply checking a box gave all tenants, rich or poor, a shield from eviction, and being taken to Court.  The law itself was a good option in a hurry to make sure poor people didn’t become homeless in mass until the State of New York managed to get them relief. 

Unfortunately, it also protected people that have never lost money during COVID or regain these losses but still use the Hardship Form to skip on rent.  That’s the case for Doctor Ava Thaw, a dentist, and her husband (Michael Safko), a retiree that continued to receive, his full pension during COVID but stopped paying their small landlord altogether.

If the lawmakers had taken more time to write the law, they might have added a provision for landlords to request the tenants to prove that they were under hardship.  In the eyes of the law, hardship means being impacted negatively to a point where the tenants are too sick to move to a new apartment or work and pay their rent in full.

This video was released yesterday on YouTube and shows how Michael Safko, in May 2020 when the first eviction ban took effect, had already decided and warn his landlord that he wouldn’t pay rent unless his conditions were met.  All that despite the lease being over in February 2020, before COVID arrived on US soil.  Claiming to be Judgment Proof, Michael informed Mario, the landlord, that if he didn’t agree to his terms, they (the landlord) would lose 40,000$ or more as it would take a long time to evict them.   The property, located at 366 Park Hill Avenue in Yonkers, New York, is a single-family home almost new and luxurious.  The rent price is below average, and the tenants and the rent have not increased in the years that Doctor Ava Thaw has lived there.  You would think it would have earned the landlord some respect and honesty from his tenants.  

Fast forward to May 2021, and the landlord has lost 50,000$ already and counting.  All they have received are incredible demands from Michael Safko and his daughter Amanda. The colorful woman doesn’t hesitate to throw her own mother under the bus in the video.  If it was not so tragic, it would be funny.  The latest demands; “give us money so we can move and forget the 50,000$ we owe you already” or “sell your house and pay us the difference in rent at our new place.”

The video is upsetting to watch, whether you are a landlord or a tenant.  It shows that Doctor Ava Thaw doesn’t want to move to a smaller house, something they can afford because she wants to keep operating her pottery business.  The business occupies half the house, in a residential area.   The tenants have unlawfully installed a pottery kiln which has drawn the attention of the city of Yonkers.   As mentioned in the code violation, it is a major risk for fire and needs to be removed.  Something that Doctor Ava Thaw refuses to do.  Of course, the three violations and fines will go to the already struggling landlord, not the tenant.

Dishonest people are everywhere, rich or poor. That’s why a blanket moratorium was doomed to fail to protect the small landlords from the beginning.  Of course, not telling the truth on the Hardship Form is a crime.  My investigation took me all the way to the New York Attorney General and the office of the governor.  It reveals that no one seems to know how to go and stop these bad actors.  Normally, that’s the judges’ job, but the same law that protects these tenants also prevents judges from questioning the honesty of the people who have signed it.

It is even more puzzling that for you and me, a dentist with an opened clinic in Manhattan and a retiree that continued receiving his pension during COVID should be considered in hardship.  By their own admission in the video, Doctor Ava Thaw has lost some income during COVID, but to use that as an excuse to claim hardship and not pay your rent in over a year, dishonesty, plays a bigger role.

Last week, the moratorium on eviction in New York was extended to August 31^st.  The extension doesn’t ask people that might not be in hardship anymore to resubmit a form or prove their hardship.  It is simply assuming that they are, which means 16,000$ of additional loss for Doctor Ava Thaw’s landlord as she still has no intention to leave his property or pay the rent.

Now, I wasn’t sure if I wanted to mention that fact, but Doctor Ava Thaw contributed 7,800$ to the Democratic Party in the past.  Looks like a good investment now.

Link to the video: https://youtu.be/If6BskVIujw

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