Lawmakers Poised To Pass $2.4B Rent Relief In NY Budget

NEW YORK CITY — Long-awaited rent relief is poised to ease a major coronavirus pandemic worry for hundreds of thousands of New Yorkers.

Lawmakers on Tuesday struck a deal with Gov. Andrew Cuomo that includes $2.4 billion in relief for tenants and landlords in the upcoming state budget.

The budget itself still awaited a final vote as this story was published, but the deal likely will remain.

Housing advocates who spent much of last year at the forefront of widespread calls to "cancel rent" expressed support.

"In particular, we’re proud of the fact that we won a strong and robust $2.4 billion rent relief program that will help tenants across the state pay off their rent debt accumulated during the COVID crisis," Housing Justice For All, a group of low-income tenants and homeless coalitions, said in a joint statement. "This rent relief program will be available to undocumented New Yorkers, reduces barriers to accessing the money, and includes a year-long rent freeze and protection against evictions. None of that would have happened without our organizing over the past year."

The deal sets aside $2.4 billion in funds to pay for up to 12 months of past due rent from March 13, 2020, plus three more months of payments for tenants currently struggling to pay.

Landlords and tenants alike are eligible for relief, regardless of their immigration status, if they make 80 percent or below of adjusted median income and can demonstrate risk of experiencing homelessness or housing instability. They must also be eligible for unemployment or experience other financial hardships amid the COVID-19 pandemic, according to the bill.

Past rent will be paid directly to landlords, who are expected to waive any fees or past due charges.

"We are very pleased to see that undocumented New Yorkers will have explicit access to the benefits afforded by the Rent Relief Program, and that tenants who receive the benefits will gain a year of tenant protections," the Legal Aid Society said in a statement. "This has been an extremely hard year for our clients who have experienced both a health crisis and a financial crisis."

Advocates did note that the deal dropped some protections for homeless New Yorkers and failed to extend an eviction moratorium. The moratorium itself could be important as the state sets up payments, according to a Legal Aid Society release.