By Roy HoFebruary 20, 2021
Second Rent Relief and One More Crack on Moratorium
The second federal stimulus act affords NY state $1.3 billion toward residential rent relief efforts. The “COVID-19 emergency rental assistance program of 2021” bill (Senate 2742 A) now invites comments in English. Both landlords and tenants may have an interest in responding to this bill.
The greatest difference between this bill and the earlier rent relief program created by Governor Cuomo is that the landlord can be the applicant for the relief this time. The second federal stimulus act defines eligibility as follows:
New York tenant;
Household includes at least one individual who qualifies for financial hardship;
Demonstrates risk of experiencing homelessness or housing instability;
Household income is at or below 80% of the AMI as adjusted for household size;
Priority will be given to households with an income that is at or below 50% of HUD’s AMI and which at least one member of the household is and has been unemployed for at least 90 days on the application date.
Family Size and AMI
Roy Ho of poagny.com emphasize this rental relief is open to tenants of all immigration status. However, students who have been living away from parents less than a year or continue to be a dependent in the parents’ tax filing are not eligible.
Roy Ho of poagny.com identifies several weaknesses of the bill:
The landlord cannot raise the rent for 1 year after the first rental assistance payment from this program is received; and
The landlord cannot evict a holdover tenant for 1 year after the first rental assistance payment is received;
The landlord will have to wait for a determination of ineligibility is made in order to proceed with a pending nonpayment eviction, if the tenant and landlord are in the process of applying to this program.
Roy Ho of poagny.com says that since the beginning of the moratorium, living environment has been deteriorating. There are occasions where healthy units became unhygienic and hazardous to others due to the moratorium. This bill now proposes to formalize rental market into a much finer new legal environment, as if it will be a new normal. Thus POAGNY welcomes all parties to collaborate on the comments to this bill.
紐約小房東 新聞稿：租金補助第二案，驅趕再開一線門
何德鄰 301-300-3357
聯邦第二輪聯邦濟世法案向紐約州提供了13億美元用於住宅租金減免補助。現“2021年新冠緊急租金援助計劃”法案（州參議院2742A）接受選民反饋，以修議案。紐約小房東歡迎與各方合作對此法案做出回應。蓋紐約六成人口為房客、華人人口大概佔六十七萬，估計此法案將影響四十萬以上紐約市內的華人人口。
該法案與Cuomo州長較早的租金減免計劃之間的最大區別在於，這次房東可以自己申請租金補助，雖然需要房客簽字。而且房東客直接收到租金補助，但如房東失聯，租金補助可發給房客。對資格的定義如下：
紐約州房客；
房客家庭包括至少一個有資格獲得失業或家庭減少了收入，歸因於新冠疫症的其他財務困難；
有無家可歸風險者；
2020年家庭收入等或低於AMI（地區中位數收入）80％的房客，如用月收入，將僅有資格獲得符合該月份的租金補助；
將優先考慮家庭收入低於HUD地區中位數收入50％的房客、房客家中最少一人已失業90天或以上、家庭暴力受害者、房客與房東聯合申請者、有待審驅逐案件者等。
家庭人數的地區中位數收入的50％和80％
紐約小房東的何德鄰強調此議案適用於所有移民身份的房客，包括無證移民。但是，與父母分居不足一年或仍在他人稅表中為依賴者（dependent）的學生不合資格。
何德鄰並言此議案在粗讀之下有數項缺點：
在收到第一筆租金補助金後一年內不驅逐過期（holdover eviction）房客。只让房東或房東家人將以該物業為主要居所为例外；
如房客申請該租金減免計劃，有欠租驅趕（non payment eviction）庭案者，需待該租金減免計劃不合資格斷定後方議。
何德鄰強調因過去近一年間無法驅趕房客，做成各房客生活品質下降。有時候更令本來健康衛生的居住環境變成傳染新冠的溫床。而今此議案都比前閉庭令（Moratorium）、2020年緊急驅趕止贖法（Emergency Eviction and Foreclosure Prevention Act of 2020）和新冠租金補助計劃（Covid-19 Rent Relief Program）寫得更詳細，故此法有成常態化之虞、敬請各方參與選民反饋，而紐約小房東欢迎協寫。 https://online.flippingbook.com/view/5428716/18/