Letter to the Hon. Michael G. Hein, Commissioner of New York State Office of Temporary and Disabiltiy Assistance - Joining Republicans and Democrats to Demand NYS Distribute Emergency Rental Assistance Program Payments Immediately

Letter

Dear Commissioner Hein,

We write to you today regarding the extreme delays in the disbursement of funds through New
York State's Emergency Rental Assistance Program (ERAP). We urge the Office of Temporary
and Disability Assistance (OTDA) to take every step necessary to accelerate application
processing and begin issuing rental assistance payments to qualified tenants immediately.

In June, New York launched its rental assistance program with over $2 billion set aside to
provide significant economic relief to help low- and moderate-income households at risk of
experiencing homelessness or housing instability. Since then, 160,000 applications have been
submitted by tenants in need of rental assistance. However, after nearly two months, New York
has been one of the slowest states in distributing these relief funds.

With the moratorium on evictions scheduled to expire at the end of August, our constituents who
have been financially impacted by COVID are worried that they will not receive this rental relief
in time to remain in their homes. Every state in the country has already started issuing payments
to qualified tenants, with several disbursing tens of millions of dollars. It is inconceivable to us
that New York would be the only state in the country to have not yet issued any rental relief
apart from a few test payments.

The Department of the Treasury has the authority to reallocate funds from states that are not
being used. As the entirety of New York is currently a zero-distribution area, this puts much, if
not all, of the over $2 billion earmarked for rental relief in jeopardy of being reallocated
elsewhere. This is particularly concerning given that New York has more renters than any other
state in the country. The Treasury has guidance, tools, and best practices to offer the State, and
we strongly encourage you to work closely with the Department in order to distribute this relief
as quickly as possible.

Once again, we would like to urge the OTDA to take every step necessary and utilize all
available resources offered by the Treasury Department to issue rental relief payments to
qualified tenants immediately. We ask for a written response with the steps OTDA is taking to
distribute payments by close of business on Friday, July 30. If we can be of assistance going
forward, please contact Tom Curry in Rep. Rice's District Office at (202) 505-0424 or
tom.curry@mail.house.gov.

Thank you in advance for your attention to this matter.