BUFFALO, N.Y. — On Monday, Attorney General Letitia James sent a stern reminder to landlords that they are not to raise rents if they accept Pandemic Rental Assistance from the state's Emergency Rental Assistance Program.
Unfortunately, as so stated in a press release sent from her office, reports from tenants throughout the state landlords who accepted their ERAP payments are sending renewal leases with rent increases during the 12-month grace period - which is illegal.
"This program was created to support struggling tenants and keep New Yorkers in their homes during the pandemic," James said. "Landlords who accepted payments from the state yet are still raising rents are double-dipping and breaking the law."
According to the state, the rent relief program provides support to low and moderate-income tenants statewide who struggled to pay or keep up with rent during the pandemic. ERAP has provided hundreds of thousands of New Yorkers with financial assistance since June 2021.
Michael Culeton is a real estate agent with Hunt Real Estate and says he often works with clients on owner-occupied rentals, like duplexes.
"The rent has to go up to cover the cost for the owner-occupied homeowner, and with construction costs going up, among a lot of larger developers especially, that cost is being sent down to the tenants to cover it as well at this point," Culeton explains. "It's a scenario where a lot of people are realizing that they're paying often in many cases more in rent than what they could be paying in a mortgage if they were to buy a home ."
Meghan Zickl is a legal tenant advocate at PUSH Buffalo and says every day she talks to someone dealing with an eviction notice.
"We are still dealing with the reality that there aren't enough resources, tenants are panicked," Zickl explains. "Steps are being skipped and lots of tenants protections that they have under e rap are being glazed over, it seems."
According to the agreement, Landlords who accept ERAP payments cannot:
- Not to increase the monthly rental amount for one year from receipt of the ERAP payment;
- To waive any late fees due on any rental arrears covered by the ERAP payment; and
- Not to evict ERAP recipients when their lease expires. This does not apply if the apartment is in a building of four or fewer units and the property owner or owner’s immediate family members intend to immediately occupy the unit for use as a primary residence.
Zickl tells 2 On Your Side, "As a state government and a federal government, we haven't been willing to say that housing is a basic human right. We really can't expect much to change unless we're ready to stabilize people in homes, where they can root down."
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