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New York Reopens Rent Relief Site, however, Gov. Hochul Said Federal Money has Nearly Run Out

New York Reopens Rent Relief Site, however, Gov. Hochul Said Federal Money has Nearly Run Out

By Yehudit Garmaise

As New York’s eviction ban expires on Jan. 15, the state Office of Temporary Disability Assistance will open its application portal on 10 pm on Tuesday, however Gov. Hochul revealed yesterday that the state does not have much money for those who apply.

Applicants can, however, potentially receive protection from eviction while the state reviews their cases.

The state has received $1 billion worth of claims from struggling New Yorkers, however Gov. Hochul found out this week that she will only be receiving from the federal government: $27 million, which falls far short of what New Yorkers claim they need.

“That [amount] is not going to get us over the finish line,” said Gov. Hochul, who revealed that she that she had requested $978 million. “As everyone knows, this [relief] had to be shut down at a time when the money ran out.”

Although the federal government had previously promised to send to states, like New York, where the demand was greater, rent-relief funding that remained unused by other states, Gov. Hochul said that has not yet happened.

So far, neither the Biden administration nor leaders in Congress have said that they plan to send more rent relief funding to New York.

Gov. Hochul added that she didn’t want to offer “false hope” to applicants whose landlords will not receive rent relief without a deluge of financial aid from Washington, DC.

Last week, a state judge ordered New York to reopen the application portal, while the court considers a lawsuit filed by tenants and the Legal Aid Society, who argue, along with tenant advocates that the state government should not leave thousands of still-struggling New Yorkers without eviction protections.

Landlords, of course, argue that they should be paid, like any other businesspeople who provide goods and services. 

Yesterday, Gov. Hochul, along with other governors, including Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) of California wrote the federal government to ask them “to replenish the coffers,” as if federal money should arrive in unceasing supplies.

Like former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher once famously said, “the problem with other people’s money is that it eventually runs out.”

New York has already spent approximately only half of the $2.4 billion that the US federal government has already provided for emergency rent relief, the state said, because it is having trouble contacting both landlords and tenants.

Existing state law allows tenants to argue in court that they cannot pay rent because of COVID-19 financial hardships, however, Joseph Strasburg, the president of the Rent Stabilization Association, which represents 25,000 owners and managers housing over 2.5 million people in New York City, told 1010 WINS, “It’s time to…put an end to tenants skipping the rent because there are no repercussions for not paying.” 

With state's eviction ban expiring on Jan. 15, New York lawmakers are now considering new ways to make it much harder for property owners to evict tenants, as a new form of tenant protection.

Photo by: Flickr


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