Thousands of families are at risk of being kicked out of their homes in the coming weeks because an order from Governor Andrew Cuomo is set to expire on Wednesday night.

These families had received eviction notices in January, February, and March, prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, but saw them temporarily suspended by the governor's order and court guidance as the COVID-19 public health crisis deepened.

"The courts moratorium on evictions expires tonight at midnight. It's linked to the Governor's executive orders extending certain court deadlines, which also expire at midnight," said Judith Goldiner, the attorney-in-charge of the Civil Law Reform Unit at The Legal Aid Society. "If those two are things are not extended, then there are 14,000 New York City families who had warrants of evictions against them at the time of the PAUSE."

Marshals could start issuing eviction notices to those families as soon as Thursday if the orders aren't extended. Within two weeks after getting the notice, the tenants can be evicted.

But due to ongoing issues with the U.S. Postal Service, Goldiner said that some families might not receive any eviction notice until the marshal shows up at their door.

"What's going to happen to them? How do they know how to fight it? How do they know what their rights are?" Goldiner said. "These are families who likely could have paid their rent from savings or from work employment if the PAUSE hadn't happened and they hadn't lost their jobs, or they would have been able to go to public assistance to get a one shot deal to pay their rent. Or, with respect to the holdover folks, they might have been able to move out in a timely fashion if New York wasn't on PAUSE."

Tenants unable to pay rent due to financial hardship during the COVID-19 crisis have a sliver of protection from getting booted from their homes under the Tenant Safe Harbor Act. The measure, signed by Cuomo in late June, keeps landlords from evicting tenants. But it doesn't prevent landlords from taking them to potentially crowded and indoor courthouses for rental payments during the ongoing pandemic. And the law also does not apply to tenants facing holdover cases or who owed money before the pandemic.

"Anyone paying attention would know that Governor Cuomo signed into law a moratorium on residential evictions for anyone who has suffered a financial hardship, due to the pandemic, for the duration of the crisis," said Cuomo spokesperson Caitlin Girouard, referring to the Tenant Safe Harbor Act.

The Office of Court Administration says it is waiting to issue updated court guidance once Cuomo makes a move, likely Thursday.

"We want to see what the governor does before we make new orders," OCA spokesperson Lucian Chalfen said this week.

"I, again, call upon the State, whether it's through legislative action by the Assembly or executive order to affirm that anyone in that situation where they simply can't pay should be allowed to create a payment plan and pay back their landlord in the future when they have the resources over time," Mayor Bill de Blasio said during a press briefing on Wednesday.

De Blasio also recommended tenants who need legal assistance call 311 for the Office of Tenant Protection.

Goldiner added if these families end up getting kicked to the curb—whether into a new apartment, with family and friends, or into the shelter system—the dislocation could exacerbate the historic public health emergency with coronavirus that has already killed more than 23,000 people in New York City. Other tenant attorneys have said undocumented immigrants are at particular risk for losing their homes.

Of the 14,000 families, about 2,200 are holdover proceedings involving lease violations and other disputes, and 11,500 are nonpayment proceedings, according to the Department of Social Services's Office of Civil Justice. DSS conducted an analysis earlier this summer to prepare for "eviction potentially on the horizon," DSS spokesperson Isaac McGinn noted. The group includes those with no record of legal representation.

"As a result, we’ve been sending targeted mailers this summer to tenants we identified may be at risk and are continuing that outreach, making New Yorkers aware of the resources available to them," including free legal assistance through the city's right-to-counsel program, McGinn said.

The department says families facing holdover cases are at more immediate risk, as there are less options for intervention before an eviction is carried out.

Meanwhile, a group of Brooklyn tenant activists staged protests outside of landlord attorneys' offices Wednesday morning, calling to cancel rent and end evictions, chanting, "No lawyers, no cops, all of this has gotta stop!"

In addition to the potential for an eviction crisis, hundreds of thousands more could be at risk of housing instability after weekly $600 pandemic unemployment payments expired. NYU's Furman Center estimated 279,400 lower-income renters who were getting the payments will face increased rent burdens, as well as 111,500 who lost their job but did not claim unemployment.

Jay Martin, the executive director of the Community Housing Improvement Program, said property owners' hands are tied when they take tenants to court due to taxes owed and legal requirements with their lenders.

"The vast majority are in just a precarious financial situation as their tenants, and they're basically being forced to pursue evictions because the government has failed to provide any direct subsidies of any substance to the renter, they have not done anything to provide true relief from the property owners' side," Martin said.

CHIP, a group of rent-stabilized property owners, estimated 17.7 percent of residential tenants did not pay rent in July, an improvement from April to June, but before weekly $600 pandemic unemployment payments expired.

"When your business model is collecting rent, the inability to collect rent means you don't have a business model anymore," Martin added.