Governor Kathy Hochul today announced a series of changes to both attract more applications and accelerate payments within New York State’s Emergency Rental Assistance Program. Under the Governor’s direction, the state will invest an additional $1 million in marketing and outreach efforts to raise awareness about the rent relief program, the available funding, and the strong tenant eviction protections in place for those who apply. The Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance, which administers the program, will analyze application data to target areas of the state with relatively low numbers of applications.
Governor Hochul is also ordering a rapid review of the rent relief program’s workflow, as well as the reassignment of 100 contracted staff to work solely with landlords to complete pending applications, which will accelerate payments. They will conduct direct outreach, work with landlords one-on-one, clarify and obtain missing information, and resolve outstanding issues so that more rent relief funding can be disbursed. Additionally, new data breaking down rent relief payments by county will be posted on OTDA’s website later this week to increase transparency. The website currently shows where applications are originating and basic demographics.
To read the full press release, please click here.
AUG
2021