August 31 Deadline for End of eviction protection coming soon
New York State received $2.4 Billion in rent relief for tenants and landlords as part of the Federal COVID relief program, under the Emergency Rental Assistance Program. As of July 25, most of the funds have not been dispersed by New York State government, resulting in front page headlines and a call from New York US Senator, and the Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer to say “No More Delay.”
More than 150,000 New Yorker tenants, and their landlords, have yet to receive any assistance. The funds were supposed to be released by the NY State Office of Temporary Disability Assistance, OTDA.
The program will cover up to 12 months of unpaid rent and utilities accrued since March 13, 2020, and “rent burdened” households — or those in which more than 30% of the household monthly income goes toward rent — can qualify for three additional months of future rent.
Standing with tenants and tenant advocates, U.S. Senator Charles Schumer called on the State Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance (ODTA) to move heaven and earth to get much-delayed federal rent relief into the pockets of people who need it before it’s too late. Schumer made public a formal letter to the state agency and said the more than $2 billion he secured for the state and tenants—as part of the larger COVID relief bill he pushed through the Senate—cannot be delayed any further and that the program being utilized by the State of New York to get the dollars out needs to be improved immediately to move even faster, especially as the State of New York’s eviction moratorium deadline of August 31st and U.S. Treasury’s mandated date for beginning to reallocate funds at the end of September approaches. As reflected in the data released by the Department of Treasury for the month of June, New York State was one of only two states that had given out $0 in federal rent relief. Today, Schumer is demanding swift action to reverse this deeply concerning status report.
“Thousands and thousands of New York tenants could be deprived of critical rent relief checks if the state doesn’t move more quickly on getting this money out,” said U.S. Senator Charles Schumer “Today, I am formally asking ODTA to move heaven and earth to fix the mess, pick up the pace and get this federal money out the door before it’s too late for tenants and landlords. The message today is: tenant relief now. No more delay.”
Schumer lamented with tenants and state lawmakers that only a pittance of the federal funds have gone out—in light of vast public pressure. He said it is good the State is finalizing its process for disbursing dollars and some funds are trickling out, but that we will need a waterfall of funds to avoid the looming deadlines, both related to evictions and Treasury mandates at the end of September.
“How it works with federal funds is that if you don’t use them, you could potentially lose them, and that would be very bad,” Schumer added. “New York already sends enough money to the feds. These dollars are meant for New Yorkers. That’s why I fought so hard for them, and our tenants, in the first place.”
“New York State tenants have been suffering since the beginning of this unprecedented pandemic with both an economic and health crisis. The over $2 billion in rent relief that Senator Schumer obtained for tenants and landlords has the potential to be life saving for our clients. However, since the program opened, our clients are experiencing a challenging application process, glitchy website and opaque rules and procedures and almost no money has been paid out. We thank Senator Schumer for his leadership on this issue and call on the state to fix the problems and spend this money,” said Judith Goldiner of the Legal Aid Society.
“If the State Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance doesn’t figure out how to send money to New Yorkers in need soon, tens of thousands of our neighbors will be evicted. The Federal Government sent us this money for a reason, now we must get it to those who qualify. I’m greatly appreciative, as all New Yorkers should be, of U.S. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer for securing these funds in the first place, and for his efforts to unlock them to help our neighbors stay in their homes once eviction moratoriums are set to lapse at the end of August,” said NYS Senator Brad Hoylman.
Schumer explained that these dollars were a hard fight at the federal level and that they were fought for so people who needed them could get the assistance they needed fast to avoid the threat of eviction or overwhelming debt piling up. Schumer said more than 100,000 New York City residents and about 1,000 on Long Island have already applied for these funds and need the dollars flowing and that further delay could cost New York. According to a survey of rent-regulated apartments by the Community Housing Improvement Program, NYC renters owe over a billion dollars in rent. New York lags far behind other states in delivering rent relief, with Texas already having distributed 388 million to 61,100 households, according to the Associated Press.
Nearly half of Americans either missed at least one rent or mortgage payment in 2020 during the pandemic. That amounts to nearly $6,000 in back rent for the average household, according to the Urban Institute. Schumer, today, said New York must immediately fix this issue so that people with rent and utility bills that piled up amid the worst of COVID can make back payments and get back on their feet with landlords and their lives.
The New York State Association of REALTORS, 64,000 members, called on Governor Andrew Cuomo to direct all resources necessary to the State Office of Temporary Disability Assistance so that the disgraceful delay in sending aid to renters and landlords can end immediately. Based on reported comments from OTDA, no funds are likely to be expended for another two weeks, making the total delay almost two months. Families and small businesses need this aid and state government inaction is the only thing standing in the way.
The state Legislature extended the eviction moratorium to Aug. 31. The State OTDA is hoping to get checks out for the first 100,000 applicants by early August.
