NY Rent Relief Begins To Slowly Trickle In, But Landlords Say Not Fast Enough

New York is beginning to deliver emergency rental assistance to landlords and tenants statewide. It comes nearly 18 months into the state’s eviction moratorium, and, to landlords, it is long overdue.

New York opened applications for its $2.7 billion Emergency Rental Assistance Program (ERAP) in June. Almost two months later, help is just now trickling in.

“It’s just taking forever—I don’t know why they’re taking so long,” said Jim Walley, a landlord with a few dozen properties in Broome and Tioga Counties. “Do they want the tenants to be in there, not paying their rent, putting the burden on the landlord? What is the motive behind not expediting this program?”

Addition from Dan Clark:

Over the weekend, Sen. Chuck Schumer penned a letter to the Cuomo administration, urging officials to expedite the distribution of federal rent relief funds before they're subject to reallocation at the end of September.

Those funds are particularly important now, Schumer wrote, because the moratorium on evictions due to COVID-related financial hardship expires at the end of August.

Here's the full letter from Schumer to the commissioner of the state Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance, the agency responsible for doling out those funds.

Dear Commissioner Hein:

I write to express dire concern over the slow rollout of New York’s Emergency Rental Assistance Program (ERAP), created with $2.3 billion in funds from Congress, and to urge the Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance (OTDA) to take the immediate action necessary to fix the application and disbursement delays with the ERAP program. This program’s intent is to provide funds for New York’s hard-hit tenants, including individuals and families who have lost income, to help cover rent, utilities, and other housing costs. Of course, this will also help many struggling building owners, who are also struggling to overcome COVID-19’s economic challenges. Those families are struggling, and are in desperate need of those funds to be able to stay in their homes and avoid huge accumulating debt. These problems need to be fixed as soon as possible or the state will risk having these critical federal funds we fought so hard to deliver be returned to Treasury and reallocated to other states and municipalities, as early as September.

This program was funded primarily through the $46 billion rental assistance provisions Congress passed in the omnibus spending bill from December of 2020 and the American Rescue Plan from April 2021, of which over $2.4 billion went to New York State.[1] In passing those pieces of legislation, and in the formation of the subsequent program rules and guidelines, it was Congress’s and the Biden administration’s clear intention that these funds be accessible to tenants in need as quickly as possible.

On June 1st, OTDA set up the ERAP online portal for renters and landlords to apply for funds. However, as of July 21, according to a recent Treasury report, New York is only state that has not distributed any funds to households.[2] Subsequent to this report, OTDA disburse some relief funds, but this was a miniscule amount and not nearly the level or pace to address the profound need the program was established to ameliorate. [3] Additionally, AP News has reported that thousands of New Yorkers are experiencing glitches and technical problems when trying to apply online.[4]  Technical problems and glitches include:

• Lack of a ‘save and resume’ function allowing applicants to return to an incomplete application. This is forcing many applicants to complete the application process multiple times.
• Difficulty or inability to upload supporting documents
• Insufficiently accurate translations of FAQ sections for applicants with limited English proficiency.

It is of critical importance that this assistance reaches families in need who have been struggling, through no fault of their own, before New York’s eviction moratorium expires on August 31st.[5] Delaying these funds any longer will result in a massive wave of preventable evictions. Many families, individuals, and landlords applying for funds will possibly need to make corrections in their applications, so it is also critical we allow time for them to reapply.

Additionally, New York’s allocation of Emergency Rental Assistance will be subject to reallocation to other grantees if they have unobligated funds by September 31st.[6] OTDA must take any steps necessary to ensure this does not happen and that funds are used for their clear purpose – to help struggling New Yorkers.

It is not only renters that have been harmed through the delay of the rental assistance, but landlords as well. Smaller landlords depend on their rental income for their livelihood and property tax expenses. Any further delay of these funds from reaching tenants and landlords will have serious and long-lasting on the broader rental and housing markets.

One June 24rd, the United States Department of Treasury published a set of best practices to ensure that state rental assistance programs are as effective and efficient as possible in getting funds to eligible individuals and families.[7]

These include:

• Providing equal access by removing language and cultural barriers in securing emergency rental assistance.
• Partnering with housing courts to actively prevent evictions and develop eviction diversion programs.
• Providing a streamlined payment option for utility providers and large landlords to make accessing emergency rental assistance on behalf of multiple tenants easier and more attractive.
• Reaching out to landlord associations to build relationships and identify barriers to landlords’ participation in the ERA program, and possibly creating separate applications for landlords for a more efficient process for grantees.
• Data-driven strategies that support ongoing reporting to key stakeholders within the community, including local government representatives, the media, local citizens, and non-profit providers.

I’m requesting that you again review these best practices to ensure that OTDA’s policies and procedures are equipped to provide relief to renters and landlords as quickly and efficiently as possible.

Thank you for your time and attention to this matter, if you have questions please do not hesitate to contact my staff.

[1] “Emergency Rental Assistance Program.” U.S. Department of the Treasury, 15 July 2021, home.treasury.gov/policy-issues/coronavirus/assistance-for-state-local-and-tribal-governments/emergency-rental-assistance-program.

[2] “Emergency Rental Assistance Program.” U.S. Department of the Treasury, 15 July 2021, home.treasury.gov/policy-issues/coronavirus/assistance-for-state-local-and-tribal-governments/emergency-rental-assistance-program.

[3] Villeneuve, M. (2021, July 23). NY Releases Some Rent Aid, But Lawmakers Say It's Too Little. NBC New York. https://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local/ny-releases-some-rent-aid-but-lawmakers-say-its-too-little/3169378/.

[4] Villeneuve, Marina. “New NY Rent Fund Sees Website Glitches, but Tenants Hopeful.” AP NEWS, Associated Press, 30 June 2021, apnews.com/article/nyc-state-wire-ny-state-wire-business-health-coronavirus-pandemic-8e59caa61058394780169de9ce08aafb.

[5] S6362A, New York State Senate, 2020-2021 Session, (2021)

[6] Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021, H.R. 133, 117th Cong. § 501(d) (2020)

[7] “Promising Practices for ERA Programs.” U.S. Department of the Treasury, 24 June 2021, home.treasury.gov/policy-issues/coronavirus/assistance-for-state-local-and-tribal-governments/emergency-rental-assistance-program/promising-practices.