Tenants cheer while landlords moan over budget’s rent relief
This year’s state budget includes a $2.4 billion pot of emergency relief for New Yorkers struggling to make rent because of the coronavirus pandemic — but the sizable aid program is getting mixed reviews from tenant advocates and landlords.
Advocates, who have spent months pressing for a direct rental relief fund, praised the multibillion-dollar program on Wednesday as a crucial lifeline for thousands of New Yorkers facing potential eviction and homelessness.
“This relief will help thousands of low- and middle-income New Yorkers avoid the worst financial effects of the pandemic and help stabilize communities of color that have suffered the worst economic and health effects of the COVID-19 virus,” said Edward Josephson, director of housing litigation at Legal Services NYC, a nonprofit law firm. “We look forward to assisting low-income New Yorkers in accessing these essential funds which will allow them to stay in their homes.”
But representatives for landlords and building owners say the program doesn’t have enough guardrails to prevent fraud.
“Without a requirement to prove COVID hardship, thousands of tenants who never lost their jobs will continue gaming the system and digging their hands into the pot at the expense of millions of financially stressed tenants who really need rent relief,” said Joseph Strasburg, president of the Rent Stabilization Association, which represents 25,000 landlords across the city. “Two billion dollars goes fast when hundreds of thousands owe 8, 10 or 12 months of back rent.”
The $2.4 billion program — which will go into effect once Gov. Cuomo signs the state budget into law as early as Wednesday night — provides eligible renters with financial help to cover upward of 12 months owed in back rent and utilities since last March as well as three future months of rent, regardless of immigration status. The program also gives renters a year of eviction protection, extending a moratorium that was set to expire in May.
Applicants must have lost income because of the pandemic and earn less than 120% of an area’s median income to be eligible. Taking New York City as an example, a family of four can’t earn more than $136,440 per year.
The largest chunk of the program, $2.3 billion, is made up of federal cash. The state is kicking in another $100 million to benefit renters who can’t access federal funds because of immigration status or other reasons.
In addition to rental assistance, the program contains $575 million for homeowners facing possible foreclosure because of the pandemic.
Instructions for how to apply were not immediately available, but local governments are required under the budget to provide guidance to reach out to communities in urgent need of relief.
Housing Justice for All, an advocacy group in the city, praised the rent relief program as “strong and robust,” but lamented that the budget doesn’t do more for already homeless New Yorkers.
“Cuomo and the state Legislature must do more to invest in permanent solutions to end homelessness and address the long-term rent affordability crisis,” the group said.