$125 million available in rent relief for New York landlords

SYRACUSE N.Y. — Governor Kathy Hochul announced that $125 million in state funding is now available for landlords that couldn’t participate in the New York State Emergency Rental Assistance Program.

Starting Thursday, Oct. 7, the State Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance will be accepting applications for the Landlord Rental Assistance Program.

The program will provide up to 12 months of past-due rent to landlords who are ineligible for the federally funded program. Priority will be given to landlords who own small to medium-sized properties.

“Getting pandemic relief money out the door to New Yorkers has been a top priority for my administration since day one," said Gov. Hochul. “I am proud that our state's rental assistance program has already provided much-needed relief to tens of thousands of New Yorkers, but there are still many small landlords ineligible for that relief because of federal rules who also need our help. This funding is a critical tool to close that gap and help more New Yorkers recover from the pandemic."

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Chair of the New York State Senate Housing Committee Senator Brian Kavanagh sponsored the bill that authorized the funding.

The eviction and foreclosure moratorium and the Emergency Rental Assistance Program are already offering enormous relief and we're continuously pushing to improve the effectiveness of these initiatives,” said Senator Kavanagh. “The new State funding to pay rent arrears that are ineligible to be paid under our federally funded ERAP program demonstrates our commitment to a truly comprehensive approach.”

To be eligible for the program, landlords must own units leased for at or below 150% of fair market rent for their location and must have documented the rental arrears accumulated as of March 1, 2020, that are owed by a tenant who either vacated the unit or is declining to participate in the Emergency Rental Assistance Program.

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Priority will be given to landlords who own a building with 20 or fewer units and who apply within the first 45 days of the program's opening date on Thursday. Assistance is first come, first served.

So far, the program has approved over 63,000 direct payments to landlords, totaling $804 million.

Landlords that have applied to the state’s rental assistance program can complete an application for state funding through their existing account. Find more information here.