Laws that protect us during
the pandemic
I. STATE RENT RELIEF PROGRAM –
deadline to apply: FEB. 1, 2021.
Previous applicants for New York State’s COVID
Rent Relief will not have to reapply to be reconsidered.
NY State Housing and Community Renewal (HCR)
will re-evaluate all applications that were denied
according to the new criteria and issue revised
determinations to applicants.
The COVID Rent Relief Extension Program will provide
eligible households with a one-time rental subsidy
that will be sent directly to the household’s landlord.
Applicants will not need to repay this assistance.
The COVID Rent Relief Extension Program is not
first come, first served. Applications will be accepted
throughout the application period. HCR will prioritize
eligible households with “greatest economic and social
need."
Eligible households must meet all of the following
criteria:
· Must be a renter and have a primary residence
in New York State;
· Applicants must have lost income during the
period of April 1, 2020 to July 31, 2020;
· Before March 7, 2020 and at the time the
application is submitted, household income
must be at or below 80% of the Area Median Income,
adjusted for household size; and
· Households must be paying (or asked to pay)
at least 30% of their income in rent during the
months they are applying for assistance between
April 1, 2020 to July 31, 2020.
Applications will be accepted through
Monday, February 1, 2021.
The subsidy for eligible applicants will be calculated as:
the difference between the household’s rent burden on
March 1, 2020 and the household’s rent burden during
the months of April, May, June and July of 2020 (coverage
period), except that for applicants whose rent burden was
lower than 30% on March 1. The subsidy will be sized to
reduce their rent burden to 30% for the lowest month
during the coverage period.
EXAMPLE: You were paying 15% of your income
in rent on March 1. Then you lost your job but have
found some small gigs to pay part of the rent. Your
rent, if you were able to pay it in full, would come to
40% of your current income. So the subsidy would
be 25% (the difference between 40% and 15%) of
the rent amount, paid directly to Stellar.
For help, applicants can contact HCR’s COVID Rent Relief
Extension Program Call Center for assistance at
1-833-499-0318 or covidrentrelief@hcr.ny.gov.
II. Eviction Moratorium
If you fill out hardship declaration!
The COVID-19 Emergency Eviction and
Foreclosure and Prevention Act of 2020 says no one can be evicted (except for creating a nuisance or hazard) before February 26, 2021,and
offers eviction protection until May 1st for those who fill
out this tenant hardship declaration form(English
and Spanish available). It can go to fschiff@stellarmanagement.com.
Anyone who
is behind on rent and falls into one of the two protected
categories listed on the form itself should fill out the form as soon as
possible, even if you don’t currently have a case in housing court. That
will
(1) shine a spotlight on how many people are suffering nearly a year
after the pandemic began, and
(2) guarantee you two more months of eviction
protection.
