Protesters gathered Monday in front of Buffalo Housing Court.

Even as they planned the rally they were unsure if the court would be open or not.

"Today we stand here with an order from the courts that is incredibly complex," said John Washington, a Housing Justice organizer with People's Action. "It's taken several lawyers days to figure out exactly what it means and while we appreciate the effort that judges around the state are taking to try to limit the impact of evictions, we need the leader of our state, Governor Cuomo, to step up and make it explicit that there is an eviction moratorium until the end of this crisis."

The governor's original moratorium banning evictions in New York expired Saturday but last month he said nobody could be evicted until August 20. However, there was confusion about whether landlords could start applying to evict tenants for non-monetary reasons.

"We don't know what's going on. No one does," PUSH Buffalo tenant advocate Aminah Johnson said.

Across the state, courts were doing their best to decipher the order. The Buffalo court said Monday it was not processing any applications until it got further guidance. Regardless, advocates said further steps need to be taken at the state and local level.

"These folks are at an increased risk of homelessness and state violence as we enter the ill-defined grace period between moratoriums. Now more than ever we need a Buffalo tenant bill of rights," Housing Justice advocate Eric Maldonado said.

These advocates said they want the governor to waive rent for people struggling financially until the COVID crisis is over. They're also asking for him to waive mortgages to help struggling homeowners and landlords.

"Some landlords can't even afford to make the repairs right now, let alone pay their mortgage because some of the landlords have a job. People are not working," Johnson said.

They said the state also needs to make sure there are resources in place to avoid a wave of evictions whenever the moratorium does end.