There will be a rental housing emergency through April 1, 2021, according to legislation approved by the New York City Council, Thursday. The Council extended the local declaration of emergency for three more years, subject to State renewal of local authority in 2019.
The emergency in public housing continued with thousands of tenants losing heat and hot water before and during this week’s snow storm and the Governor and Mayor bickering over who will pay for repairs and manage the work, and when.
Subsidized housing programs will get increased federal aid under the bi-partisan budget deal announced this week, including more Section 8 vouchers, increased capital funds for public housing, and the option to use income averaging in determining Low Income Housing Tax Credit eligibility.
LIHTC eligibility is at issue in a Mount Vernon property where the non-profit that vetted tenants is being sued for mistakes that cost the developer tax benefits, and tenants who don’t meet the criteria are fighting eviction…a cautionary tale for other projects.
The Kushner Companies were attacked this week for allegedly failing to disclose regulated tenants in occupied buildings for which they sought building permits. Failure to check the right boxes on the PW-1 application is a common problem that was explained in detail in the November 2016 New York Housing Journal.