The Office of Temporary and Disability Administration (OTDA) has sent out more than 26,000 notices informing property owners that they will miss out on money they qualify for because they haven’t claimed the cash within 180 days.
Sadef Kully
The scene from a June protest by Housing Justice for All.New York could soon redistribute more than $250 million in rent relief checks not yet claimed by landlords, state officials said Tuesday.
Barbara Guinn, executive deputy commissioner of the Office of Temporary and Disability Administration (OTDA), said her agency has sent out more than 26,000 notices informing property owners that they will miss out on money they qualify for because they haven’t claimed the cash within 180 days. Under New York’s Emergency Rental Assistance Program (ERAP) rules, low-income tenants can apply for funding to cover arrears that built up as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, with the money going directly to their landlords. To receive the money, landlords must send in an application of their own.
In some cases, property owners have opted not to make an application, but in many other instances, the state has struggled to match renter and landlord submissions, tenant and property owner groups say.
About 20,000 tenant applications submitted between June and August and approved by OTDA have not yet been connected to a landlord, according to agency data. The payouts for those applications would cover roughly $250 million in arrears.
Regardless, Guinn said the state could redistribute unclaimed checks to a backlog of applicants still awaiting payment if property owners do not claim the money they are approved for.
“The goal is to continue with outreach over that period to resolve those arrears,” Guinn told assemblymembers at a hearing on homelessness Tuesday. “To the extent that doesn’t happen, those funds are certainly available.”
The agency said it will not automatically clawback the approved money after 180 days and will instead consider each application on a case-by-case basis.
“Each rent relief application is unique and the process of getting both the proper landlord and tenant submissions can be time consuming,” said OTDA spokesperson Justin Mason. “OTDA continues its outreach efforts to connect landlords to provisionally approved applications. We do, however, anticipate that a majority of these provisionally approved applications will ultimately result in a payment to a landlord.”
Gov. Kathy Hochul ordered OTDA to close the ERAP portal last month after the amount of money owed to applicants exceeded the program’s $2.4 billion allotment, which mostly came from the federal government. More than 288,000 households applied for ERAP funding before the portal closed, and the state has so far paid $1.13 billion to property owners, according to a Dec. 6 ERAP report from OTDA. The agency has approved another $924 million on behalf of 73,884 tenant households, but has not yet sent that money to their landlords.
Hochul has asked the federal government to replenish the ERAP fund with nearly $1 billion to at least cover applicants who got their submissions in before she closed the portal. Guinn said Tuesday that the unclaimed money will go to applicants stuck on what amounts to a waiting list for unpaid property owners.
“We have a number of applications in house that cannot be covered by the funds available,” she said.
Guinn also told lawmakers that if the state does receive substantial funding from the federal government, it would only take “a few days” to reopen the portal. That pledge may encounter skepticism from New Yorkers who recall the program’s slow start as well as persistent failures by the politically-connected firm contracted to stand up and operate the web portal.
Tenant advocates and state lawmakers have urged Hochul and OTDA to reopen the portal immediately even without a federal infusion, in part because an ERAP application serves as a defense against eviction in Housing Court.
The Legal Aid Society sued OTDA in Manhattan Supreme Court on Monday to force the agency to resume accepting ERAP applications.
The class action lawsuit earned the support of Assemblymember Linda Rosenthal, chair of the Social Services Committee that held the hearing Tuesday.
“The state’s closure of the program, particularly in light of the fact that it has requested and is likely to receive billions in additional ERAP funds from the federal government, is baffling as it unfairly denies tenants this protection,” Rosenthal said in a statement.
Legal Aid Housing Attorney Ellen Davidson said she fears tenants blocked from applying for ERAP may end up getting evicted before the program reopens at a later date. The state’s eviction protections expire Jan. 15.
“I think we’re going to see people who are eligible for the program get evicted and then the program will reopen,” Davidson said. “And people who would have been eligible for rental arrears payments will be homeless.”
An OTDA spokesperson said the agency does not comment on pending litigation.
The vast majority of tenant applicants in New York City are among the most vulnerable to homelessness, OTDA reports show.
Across the five boroughs, 90 percent of ERAP applicants earn less than 50 percent of Area Median Income (AMI), or no more than $53,700 for a family of three. About 71 percent of all ERAP applicants reported earning less than 30 percent of AMI—or $32,200 for a family of three.
Still, an untold number of eligible renters did not apply before the portal closed, BronxWorks Assistant Executive Director Scott Auwarter told City Limits last month.
“I am very concerned that some of the most needy tenants have not yet applied and won’t until the eviction moratorium is lifted,” said Auwarter, whose organization received a $5 million city contract to help Bronx tenants apply for rent relief.
Landlord groups have also asked the state to reopen the application portal to ensure their members can recoup money lost during the pandemic, and to get a clearer picture of just how many tenants owe rent statewide.
“That’s the only way that the government will know the extent of the need, and then we can have a bigger conversation about permanent solutions,” said Jay Martin, president of the rent-stabilized landlord group Community Housing and Improvement Program.
Martin said few of his members have elected to forego money available to them. Instead, he said, ERAP has failed to match many tenant applicants with their landlords, leaving them unable to collect the cash. Those owners could miss out on funds they may never be able to replace, he said.
“There may be a handful of owners who aren’t trying to get this money, but there are tons of tenants and tons of owners who are trying to get it,” he said.
Under ERAP rules, property owners who accept the state payment must renew their tenant’s lease for at least another year—a provision that has made some property owners think twice about the program. But a housing court backlog and the pace of proceedings mean tenants can likely stay in place another year with or without the ERAP money, which makes rejecting the cash a bad business strategy, Martin added.
“If you’re getting an eviction, you’re not getting that money,” he said.
29 thoughts on “New York May Redistribute 20,000 Unclaimed Rent Relief Checks, Top Official Says”
All the relief is spend on employees of contractors who answer the phone all day just to say your application is pending
Exactly!!!
beyond frustrating when you here the parrots on the phone !! No reason to hire them when they have no access questions and have no interaction with case managers!!! just another city dept doing what they feel like!
I am a landlord. My tenant applied in June. I have checked weekly for the status of the application and cant get any straight answers accept that they have all the required information. We have done all that was asked of us and still no money has come our way. 6 months and still waiting!
Im one of those people qho did everuthing correctly and still my landlord (NYCHA ) has not filled out there application on my behalf.
My Housing manager keeps relling me that she has to wait on the ERAP people to contact her… but when i call the ERAP customer service they just tell me that they are waiting on info from my landlord.
Its frustrating and i supposed that my 2 kids and I are going to be put out soon… but no one really cares.
Tenant: Waiting since since September and they have everything requested. Status still under review
Waiting Since June. Call every 2 weeks – just tell me its being reviewed even with provisional approval email sent to me.
Hi, how long did it take for your approval after the provisional email status update?
Ultimately ridiculous. I’m a landlord with the same scenario. All documents are in but still waiting on payments. Home sick with Covid all savings depleted. Kids needs care bills are still posting. How are we to survive. But yet billions goes to other countries and illegal immigrants. Why isn’t China being held responsible. Where is Governor Coumo. Hurry. And get Diblasio out!!!
You could apply for an actual job
Or you could sell your properties, which are your responsibility and no one else’s. Nobody is forcing you to be a landlord. Get a job.
Adding to the comments of ridiculous and lengthy process for contractors to make money…I think as every program alot of politics is involved. thoughts are that the process is made slower especially now since Gov Hochul requested more funding from feds . so they need to justify the need and high number of applications pending. even thiugh they have money to cover alot of applications which are verfied already. We as landlords are getting screwwwed everyday paying all expenses out of pocket for tenants to live. Just a F…d up system and beurocracy!! sometimes i find BLUE states more worse then RED cuz of their policies and demoting landlords and business!!! its just frustrating and anxiety is all time high!!
Let’s go Brandon-the slurring, senile, two time brain aneurysm, election-rigging plagiarist has given billions of dollars of US tax payer funds to import and house, feed and clothe hundreds of thousands of alien, hostile, high birth rate Afghans throughout the USA. The scumbag has even monetarily rewarded similar invaders flooding the Southern border…
Yet Americans are left high and dry and commanded to once again wear their government mandated face hijabs like good Goyim.
Sir, you’re views on these issues seemingly comes from a hateful place when you describe the people at the center. No one can take you seriously when you call people coming from South America “invaders” or use childish catch phrases like “Let’s Go Brandon.” Moreover, non of that has anything to do with the topic of this article. The people responsible in this instance are our local state officials. My point being, you’re not helping. If you can’t contribute to making things better in an intelligent and professional manner, at least let the rest of us have an adult conversation without you injecting biased and hateful rhetoric.
I called and they told me its approved. They will send payment out Wednesday. Called back 5 mins later and it’s not approved and she didnt know when payments were processed. I’ve called governor office and head of erap. Not one person has given the same answer.
do you have contact to head of erap by chance? or anyone higher up? Check was mailed out May 5, Still no check in mailbox and being threatened with foreclosure. Phone support no help at all!
Please Help!
I called and they told me its approved. They will send payment out Wednesday. Called back 5 mins later and it’s not approved and she didnt know when payments were processed. I’ve called governor office and head of erap. Not one person has given the same answer.
I totally agree, beyond frustrating. I applied in June,2 weeks after the ERAP portal opened. I called several times, just to hear it’s pending. I received I was approved and then a month later, I received I’m provisionally approved. That mean you have to wait to see if there’s funds left in order for landlord payment. All my documents were submitted the same day I applied. I’m being asked to pay a certain amount from the landlord, with this provisionally approved letter, to vacate the property. with that being said where is that going to leave me with my 3 kids. Someone that’s an American, who have to wait where as immigrants, gets first choice on help than your very own American citizens, I get is try to apply to other agencies just for me to get denied. We have to do better helping our own before others.
I’m sick of hearing the caseworker open my file 1 time in 10/29 and they never opened it again and I applied in Sept my question is what is she getting paid for nothing was done when she opened I have over 29 emails 3 tickets put in to expedite and none are open and I’ve call every 2 days to check since Sept these people are getting paid to do nothing while we stuck about to be homeless thank you nyc and im disabled
You don’t have to renew leases under ERAP or LRAP just not evict for rent. You can still evict if you want the rental unit for personal use and if the payment doesn’t cover all the arrears.
I have been waiting since June 2021. I call every 2 weeks. I am told my application is still under review. However, I am also being told NYCHA had NOT submitted the documents on their end. My sister lives in the Bronx in subsidized housing, she received her payment 3 months after she applied, go figure……Also, they don’t update their website. I have submitted all my documents and it say under tenants documents received……..No.
And I would like to add, HRA will not help you with a One Shot Deal to cover your rent arrears. They tell you have to apply for ERAP first and wait for a final decision.
Some of us landlord actually care about our tenants that’s why we are still waiting for payments. I applied the 2nd week the EARP program opened up that’s June 2021 and the applications are still pending although all documents has been verified. I work all through the pandemic to keep a roof over our heads however “the struggle is real.” Something difinately need to be done like yesterday. Some people are struggling out here.
Hi Mar,
Have you received any resolution? I see you applied in June. That is horrible. My 90 hear old father/ landlord cannot understand why his tenants are allowed to stay for free with no information AT ALL from NYS he can expect payment. All he get is the documents are being reviewed, your application is in top of the pile, blah blah blah,
My father will be 90 this month and his tenants haven’t paid rent in 5 months. NYS wants to protect its residents, FINE, but can NYS get its act together!? My goodness, can you imagine if we all worked the same way NYS does. Has anyone received any money from ERAP ?????
Rascist I bet you love hateful trump black heart
I’m a landlord and they sent my money to another landlord by “mistake” now I’m in Service Ticket Hell!
How long did it take to get sorted if you don’t mind me asking.
do you have contact to head of erap by chance? or anyone higher up? Check was mailed out May 5, Still no check in mailbox and being threatened with foreclosure. Phone support no help at all!
Please Help!