Several New York landlords aren't getting paid amid the coronavirus pandemic and many are fed up. One homeowner in Utica even gave up the rental property she's had for nearly 40 years - a home her son was born in 37 years ago.

Debra Paternoster wrote a letter to Governor Andrew Cuomo to explain the hardships landlords are facing. "Today I gave away my 2 family rental property in Utica, New York because I can not justify or afford to maintain it without any rent coming in," she wrote. "The tenant will not respond to my calls or texts and screams at me when I have approached the house where she has been my tenant for a couple of years."

Paternoster says she finds it hard to believe "that between stimulus checks, unemployment and unemployment bonuses, legitimate employment and working under the table, my tenant has not paid a cent since March 15, 2020."

When the Rent Relief Program came out for tenants who can't afford to pay their rent in New York, Paternoster says "my tenant never even responded to my request that she apply."

Luckily, Paternoster says she doesn't need to count on the rent to pay her mortgage or feed her family but others aren't as lucky. "This is criminal towards hard working people who count on rental income to make ends meet. My heart breaks for those that are struggling due to this horribly mismanaged moratorium."

Giving up her rental property is bittersweet for Paternoster but she says she's "grateful I will no longer be disparaged and disrespected by manipulative, system sucking, unappreciative squatters who know they can live for free at the expense of innocent landlords."

Paternoster is fed up and tired of being taken advantage of. "I've been pushed over the edge to the point that I felt forced to give away this house because of such an awful governmental decision."

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