One of the first tenants in the new affordable housing apartment building at 645 Main St. might hold the distinction of being the first renter facing eviction.

She is not alone. Of the 81 units rented at the property, where more than 3,000 people applied for an apartment, at least 10 are now facing eviction cases in Peekskill City Court for not paying their rent. Five of the eviction cases are scheduled for a next hearing on April 4 in Peekskill City Court.

Because each applicant had to provide proof of their income and their ability to pay the rent, such a high number of eviction cases in just 18 months since the building opened raises questions about the process used to screen potential residents. 

In a letter from Rosemarie Noonan, executive director of Housing Action Council, applicants were told, “The management staff will further screen for credit, ability to afford the rent and other criteria.”

Only 20 Peekskill people won in the drawing, open to all county residents, as required when a developer receives financial assistance from state and local governments.

Listing as Airbnb, late rent, facing trial for assault

As one of the first residents, R.A. (her initials) moved in when the building opened in September 2023 on a one-year lease. According to documents filed in court papers, 645 Main LP, the building owner, went to court in March 2024, just six months later, for non-payment of rent. 

The back rent was paid, but the landlord then served notice in July 2024 that R.A. was caught listing her unit on Airbnb, in violation of her lease. A second notice charged RA with sub-letting her apartment to a woman with children. A third letter in August 2024 informed R.A. that her lease would not be renewed.

On Feb. 28, 2025, attorneys for 645 Main started an action in Peekskill City Court to evict her. Judge Lissette Fernandez adjourned the case to March 14, 2025, then granted another adjournment until April 4, 2025, when the case presumably will go to trial.

Peekskill Herald has learned that R.A. faces arrest if she does not appear in Yonkers City Court on April 2, 2025, for a jury trial on criminal assault charges, after failing to appear for her scheduled March 3, 2025 trial. She originally was arrested in October 2023, one month after her lease began at 645 Main.

R.A. also is suing Empire City Casino at Yonkers Raceway in Westchester County Court, alleging in an October 2024 filing that she was slammed to the ground by security officers escorting her out of the casino in October 2023 for violating casino rules eight months earlier.

Not paying the rent leads to eviction cases

In the other 10 eviction cases now underway in Peekskill City Court, tenants at 645 Main Street have allegedly failed to pay nearly $64,000 in rent, from August 2024 to this February.

One tenant owes $13,657 over six months at a monthly rent of $2,332. Another owes $9,193 over four months with a monthly rent of $1,984.

In another case, tenant Y.V.R. owes rent dating to October 2023. The amounts listed are $523 in October 2023, $1,000 a month each from November 2023 to February 2024, and March and April 2024 at $829 each, for a total of $6,181.

According to information posted on the 645 Main website, rent for a two-bedroom apartment can be up to $2,496 a month and eligible tenants can have a maximum income of $88,720 annually, or $7,393 a month. One-bedroom rents fetch up to $2,080 a month, with a maximum allowable tenant income of $77,680 a year, or $6,473 a month.

Those selected in the lottery were required to document their income and assets, according to the application residents completed.

The winding road of eviction through the courts

State law gives tenants anywhere from 30 to 90 days before their first court appearance after a predicate notice of intention to evict, depending on the length of the lease. The law allows an adjournment of 14 days after the first court appearance and some judges grant a 30-day adjournment before the case goes to trial.

However, when courts grant multiple adjournments, cases can drag on for a long time. Landlords often won’t be paid rent during this period and rarely recover the money after eviction.

Numerous residents living at another building, 901 Main Street in Peekskill, have complained for months about the dangerous living conditions in the building, citing drug sales, other crime, trespassers and cases of violent behavior.

A member of the management team of Courtyard Housing LLC, the owner, reported that it took 10 months in Peekskill City Court to evict two tenants known to be violating their leases through illegal activity in the building. Other landlords have told the Herald of similar delays, sometimes creating a dangerous situation for tenants in their buildings.

Andrea Gellen, a Poughkeepsie-based attorney who represents landlords in eviction cases throughout the Hudson Valley, told the Herald that court delays cause problems for landlords and other tenants.

“In Peekskill the judges are offering tenants multiple adjournments, so you’re looking at something like six to eight months to complete an eviction,” Gellen said.

“A lot of my cases in the city of Peekskill are tenants engaging in dangerous misconduct, where the landlord is seeking eviction. Getting rid of them is pro-tenant for the other people in the building. My concern is that delays further compromise the safety of other tenants in the building.”

Adding to the affordable housing stock in Peekskill

The affordable housing project at 645 Main Street was developed by Wilder Balter Partners of Chappaqua and the Housing Action Council and opened in September 2023.

William Balter, president of Wilder Balter Partners, said the project brought “much-needed affordable housing for families in upper Westchester that can benefit from a home within walking distance to Peekskill’s vibrant downtown.”

Amenities include a community room with a kitchen, a fitness center, central laundry facilities, computer center and on-site management, along with a parking garage with EV (electric vehicle) charging stations. The building has energy-efficient green design and a lounge with access to a rooftop, landscaped courtyard.

Financing included $6 million in tax credits issued by the New York State Department of Tax and Finance. Westchester County provided $5.7 million from the Housing Implementation Fund and $2.3 million from the New Homes Land Acquisition Fund. There were $8.9 million in permanent  tax-exempt bonds issued, $12.1 million in federal Low-Income Housing Tax Credits, and $12.3 million in subsidy from New York State Homes and Community Renewal, plus funding from NYSERDA, the New York State Energy & Research Development Authority.

Phone calls and emails to Wilder Balter, the owner of 645 Main, Housing Action Council, a partner in the project, and Stephen Paul Dewey, the attorney representing 645 Main in the eviction cases, were not returned to the Herald.