More than 60% (57,000 applicants) of the 94,000 applicants who sought state assistance to cover unpaid rent were rejected for failing to meet the criteria imposed by the Legislature, resulting in less than half of the aid funds for the rent will be distributed to New Yorkers with financial difficulties.
An average of 15,000 applicants received a collective $ 40 million rent relief that will be paid directly to landlords throughout New York State, leaving about $ 60 million in federal funds allocated for the Rent Relief Program on the table.
About $ 19.5 million went to renters in Queens, Brooklyn, The Bronx and Manhattan counties, a report on the program compiled by the state’s Division of Housing and Community Renovation shows. That means a large slice of the funds went to the Big Apple.
YOU CAN SEE THE FULL REPORT HERE.
Governor Andrew Cuomo ordered the shutdown of non-essential businesses in March, resulting in more than 2 million New Yorkers losing their jobs during the height of the pandemic. In response, the state Legislature approved $ 100 million in CARES Act funding for the Rent Relief Program to prevent mass evictions.
Legislators recognized early on that the $ 100 million earmarked for the program would be insufficient to meet the enormous need, but noted that without federal aid, New York could not offer more help.
While less than half of the allocated funds were awarded to New Yorkers in need, state officials continue to review applications to determine if there are more applicants who meet the criteria.
“We continue to issue payments on a weekly basis. To fulfill many requests, we are asking residents and homeowners to respond to our emails and phone calls, and to provide the documentation necessary to approve and pay all claims that meet the criteria, ”the state agency said in a statement. “We continue to evaluate the remaining applications to determine if there are more New Yorkers who meet the strict requirements of the Legislature.”
Legislators are likely to review the program’s criteria to see the large number of rejected forms.
The Legislature requires that the tenant’s household income must be below 80% of the area median income by March 7; a tenant must have lost income between April 1 and July 31; and the tenant must have paid more than 30% of the gross monthly rental income before March 7th.
Manhattan Democratic Senator Brian Kavanagh, who passed the bill, said the initial criteria were created to ensure that New Yorkers most in need were the beneficiaries.
“We want to better understand why people did not meet the criteria,” Kavanagh said. “We are going to find better ways to measure whether the amount of resources that have been allocated in each county is commensurate with the need in that county.”
– .
