NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF LEGISLATION submitted in accordance with Assembly Rule III, Sec 1(f)
BILL NUMBER: A5514A
SPONSOR: Rosenthal L TITLE OF BILL:
An act to amend the social services law, in relation to removing the
requirement that rent arrears be repaid
PURPOSE:
To remove the requirement that social service districts must recoup rent
arrears.
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:
Section one amends section 131-w of the social services law.
Section two establishes the effective date.
JUSTIFICATION:
The housing and homelessness crisis in New York State has only worsened
since the COVID-19 pandemic. In New York City alone, more than 90,000
New Yorkers sleep in City shelters each night, and more than 30,000 of
these individuals are children. Homelessness has reached levels not seen
since the Great Depression and the lack of affordable housing is a major
cause.
Concurrently, we are also facing an affordable housing crisis in the
state. More than 50 percent of renter households in the City are consid-
ered rent burdened, meaning that they spend more than 30 percent of
their monthly income on rent. More than a quarter of all households are
considered severely rent burdened as they spend more than 50 percent of
their income on rent. Individuals who fall behind on rent payments
and/or are at risk of becoming homeless may be eligible to obtain an
emergency assistance grant from their local social service district,
often referred to as a "one shot deal," which will cover rental arrears
and prevent eviction, provided that they can supply proof of their abil-
ity to pay rent going forward.
However, current law requires that emergency grants of rental arrears be
repaid, a requirement that many low- and moderate-income families simply
cannot meet. The repayment requirement likely discourages many otherwise
eligible people from applying for this vital form of eviction prevention
assistance. Such emergency assistance grants are intended to provide
individuals a lifeline and enable them to remain in their homes, but a
requirement to repay rental arrears can cause further financial
distress, essentially preventing a renter from ever getting ahead. This
legislation would remove the requirement that individuals repay rental
arrears and forgive any arrears provided during the COVED-19 pandemic.
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
2021-22: A.7048 - Referred to Ways and Means; S.6845 - Referred to
Social Services
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:
Undetermined.
EFFECTIVE DATE:;
This act shall take effect immediately.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
5514--A
2023-2024 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
March 15, 2023
___________
Introduced by M. of A. L. ROSENTHAL, DAVILA -- read once and referred to
the Committee on Social Services -- recommitted to the Committee on
Social Services in accordance with Assembly Rule 3, sec. 2 -- commit-
tee discharged, bill amended, ordered reprinted as amended and recom-
mitted to said committee
AN ACT to amend the social services law, in relation to removing the
requirement that rent arrears be repaid
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Section 131-w of the social services law, as added by chap-
2 ter 41 of the laws of 1992, is amended to read as follows:
3 § 131-w. Limitations in the payment of rent arrears. [Districts] Local
4 social services districts shall not provide assistance to pay rent
5 arrears, property taxes or mortgage arrears for persons not eligible for
6 home relief, aid to dependent children, emergency assistance to needy
7 families with children or emergency assistance for aged, blind and disa-
8 bled persons, except to persons who are without income or resources
9 immediately available to meet the emergency need, whose gross household
10 income does not exceed one hundred twenty-five percent of the federal
11 income official poverty line [and who sign a repayment agreement agree-
12 ing to repay the assistance in a period not to exceed twelve months.
13 The districts shall enforce the repayment agreements by any legal method
14 available to a creditor, in addition to any rights it has pursuant to
15 this chapter]. Local social services districts shall not require a
16 recipient to repay assistance provided to pay rent arrears. The depart-
17 ment shall promulgate regulations to implement this section which shall,
18 among other things, [establish standards for the contents of repayment
19 agreements and] establish standards to ensure that assistance is
20 provided only in emergency circumstances.
21 § 2. This act shall take effect immediately and shall be deemed in
22 effect on and after March 13, 2020 and shall apply to any assistance
23 provided to pay rent arrears on and after such date.
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD05561-03-4
