New York State in Danger of Losing Federal Rental Funds
Thanks to the CARES Act and the American Rescue Plan, more than $2 Billion in Federal money has come to New York State to help homeowners and renters who have been negatively impacted by COVID-19 with financial assistance to pay their rent and/or mortgage. However, it appears that New York State may lose a significant portion of these funds if some things do not change in the State government.
According to a report by WHEC-TV in Rochester, the United States Senator from New York, Chuck Schumer, issued a warning to officials from New York State.
Based on information released by Senator Schumer, the federal relief programs require a certain amount of funds to have been spent by the end of September 2021. New York State has received at least $2.3 Billion for rental relief, but so far has released approximately $130,000 in payments under its Emergency Rental Assistance Program (ERAP).
The ERAP Program, which is managed by the New York State Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance (OTDA), offers up to 15 months of rental assistance for tenants who have been impacted by Coronavirus. In addition to rental assistance, tenants can also receive assistance with their utilities if they are past due as well.
The program began on June 1, 2021, and officials said that applications would take approximately 4-6 weeks to be processed. Now two months into the program, there have been many complaints about how slow the program is moving.
State officials have approximately 2 months to issue more payments before the federal deadline hits.