What is going on with the emergency rental assistance program in New York?

[BlueLucy]

The Biden administration gave states money to deal with this issue 4 months ago. My cousin who is a single mother said today that she has several panic attacks a day stressing out about her rent. She says the stress of the delay and not knowing is taking a toll on her mental health. I live on the west coast, things are running pretty smooth on this issue here. This is shameful! What is going on?




SNIP~ The governor said last week that nearly 5,000 pending cases would be reviewed and cleared by Wednesday, but nonprofits told Rozner there has been no movement.

The state said they were all processed and most were sent for payment, but still, Legal Aid said only one or two applicants have been approved out of hundreds it has helped since June. And out of the roughly 300 applicants the Borough Park Jewish Community Council has assisted, “Nobody, as far as I know, has ever called us back, that they were approved for this program,” director Sender Schwartz said.

The complicated application process prompted a teacher to seek his help Wednesday. She said her pay got docked and her husband lost his job as a barber. The family, which has four kids, is $15,000 behind on rent.

She asked that CBS2 hide her identity.

“This is always at the back of my mind, like, what are we gonna do? Where are we gonna live?” she said.~


https://newyork.cbslocal.com/2021/08/04/new-york-eviction-moratorium-rental-evictions-emergency-rental-assistance-program/

[choie]

1. It's a complete shitshow

And an embarrassment for NY State. I’ve helped a number of our clients (who are mostly older adults) apply for the program and none of them have received a response yet. For a state that already administers housing subsidy programs through the Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance (OTDA) this should not have happened. California seems to have been able to provide these funds to desperate tenants and landlords, but not NY.

[BlueLucy]

2. Oregon and Washington have as well.

This is unacceptable. People who are hurting the most are given more pain and stress. This should be bigger news than it is. This is a big fucking deal!

[choie]

3. Agreed

State lawmakers are mulling over the possibility of extending the eviction moratorium - which is scheduled to be lifted on 8/31 - to October.

[brush]

4. They should be constantly calling their Congresspersons.

AOC should be on top of getting this money released. It's heard city, her state.

[BlueLucy]

5. Cuomo is in charge of this not AOC.

I'm not a fan of AOC and I defended Cuomo until the investigation was completed. This is not about politics. People are seriously hurting over this. A lot of people. This is a catastrophe. People are waiting to get their rent paid, landlords also need their money for their own living expense and repairs.

[brush]

6. She has influence and should use it, make the problem know...

to people in authority who can help. That's what representatives do.