BILL NUMBER: S1458A
SPONSOR: KAVANAGH
 
TITLE OF BILL:
An act to amend the social services law, in relation to removing the
requirement that rent arrears be repaid for social services districts
located in a municipality with a population of five million or more
 
PURPOSE:
This bill would remove the requirement that New York City must recoup
emergency rental assistance for covering rent arrears.
 
SUMMARY OF SPECIFIC PROVISIONS:
Section 1 amends section 131-w of the social services law to specify
that the requirement to recoup rent arrears would apply for social
services districts located in a municipality with a population of less
than five million.
Section 2 establishes the effective date.
 
JUSTIFICATION:
New York state is facing an affordable housing crisis in the state.
According to an August 2021 report released by the NYS Comptroller and
using data from the 2019 American Community Survey, 78% or 946,000 of
New York City's 1 2 million low-income rental households were rent-bur-
dened, defined as households with an annual income at or below 80% Area
Median Income (AMI) paying more than 30% of their income towards rent.
The same report also stated that 47% of all renter households in New
York state were rent-burdened.
In New York City, an analysis by the Community Service Society on the
city's 2021 Housing Vacancy Survey data found that 55% or 1,196,100
households were rent-burdened in 2021, with a third of New York City
renter households -- overwhelmingly low-income tenants -- deemed severe-
ly rent burdened or paying more than half of their income towards rent.
For these New Yorkers, any circumstances that put them behind on rent
would put them in the difficult situation of not being able to repay
their arrears. Rental assistance can be a lifeline that keeps them from
homelessness.
This legislation removes the requirement that emergency grants for
rental arrears must be repaid in New York City. 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," covering
rental arrears provided that they can supply proof of their ability to
pay rent going forward. However, current statute states that emergency
rental assistance must be repaid. Many low- and moderate-income families
simply cannot meet this requirement, which likely discourages many
otherwise eligible people from applying for this vital form of eviction
prevention assistance. Such emergency assistance grants are intended to
help individuals remain in their homes, but a requirement to repay
rental arrears can cause further financial distress, essentially
preventing a renter from ever getting ahead.
Outside of New York City since October 2024, the Shelter Arrears
Eviction Forestallment program (SAEF), administered by OTDA, provides
emergency rental assistance for the payment of rent arrears. SAEF
assistance is not subject to repayment or recoupment unless the applica-
tion submitted was fraudulent, or otherwise identified as ineligible.
 
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
2021-2022: S6845 (Kavanagh) / A7048A (Rosenthal) -- Social Services /
Social Services
2023: S6181A (Kavanagh) -- Social Services reported to Finance / A5514
(Rosenthal) -- Social Services
 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:
To be determined.
 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect immediately and shall be deemed in effect on
and after March 13, 2020 and shall apply to any assistance provided to
pay rent arrears on and after such date.

Statutes affected:
S1458: 131-w social services law
S1458A: 131-w social services law