rental assistance

“Let's put an air mattress in there, and let's get this done,” a top city official said Tuesday about the program. “Somehow people don't have the same sense of urgency I think that we do.”

During the first nine months of 2022, the city rejected two-thirds of the 50,585 applications it received from tenants seeking “One-Shot Deal” loans to cover rent arrears.

The bills have been criticized as too expansive, but come amid an ongoing housing crisis.

The general welfare committee’s oversight hearing comes at a time when the city is facing an affordable housing crisis and its shelter system is swelling with a record number of homeless people.

Judge orders New York State to reopen rent relief application process for struggling tenants. Court ruling mandates resumption of the Emergency Rental Assistance Program after advocates challenged the state's decision to close applications, providing new hope for renters facing eviction.

“By applying for rent relief, you will have an eviction moratorium. Your case cannot move forward while the state is processing that application.”

"There's been problems all along, but they've known this was coming. They knew how many people haven’t been paying rent — it's not a mystery.”

The Legal Aid Society welcomed the news, but cautioned that "the devil is in the details, and Albany has just weeks to recalibrate this program."

The current cost is estimated at nearly $1 billion, up from $604 million eight years ago.