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PUBLIC TESTIMONY
Testimony by Alex MacDougall, Staff Attorney at Legal Aid Society, on NYCHA Rent Arrears and ERAP Implementation
1:26:09
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3 min
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Alex MacDougall, a staff attorney at the Legal Aid Society, testified about the impact of ERAP implementation on NYCHA tenants and issues with the arrears payment process. She criticized the state's decision to deprioritize tenants with income-based subsidies for ERAP and highlighted problems with applying for arrears from HRA.
- MacDougall called for all levels of government to address the burden of arrears on NYCHA tenants
- She discussed a 2018 memorandum of understanding between NYCHA and HRA that is not being fully utilized
- Issues with ERAP approval and fund crediting for PACT tenants were also raised
Alex MacDougall
1:26:09
Good morning.
1:26:10
My name is Alex McDougal, and I am a staff attorney at the legal aid society.
1:26:15
So the the impact of the state's decision to deprioritize tenants with income based subsidies for ewrap was devastating for night shift tenants.
1:26:24
I I, you know, I agree with you council member, Milley, that they were shafted.
1:26:30
And we know that many collateral consequences have flowed from that decision.
1:26:35
Including the accrual of arrears beyond what ewrap would have covered.
1:26:40
I do want to acknowledge NICE's efforts, particularly those of Brian Hounen and Albany to push the state for additional funds to pay arrears.
1:26:48
And we call on all levels of government to step up, to ease the burden, to ease the burden of these arrears on night attendants.
1:26:56
So in the interest of time, I just wanna raise a couple of issues.
1:26:59
We run a helpline at legal aid, that's available for all nitrile and pack tenants.
1:27:04
And, you know, we hear about a ton of issues.
1:27:07
And the first I wanna talk about is the process for applying for arrears from HRA, and we spoke about this a little bit earlier.
1:27:14
People are needlessly denied.
1:27:15
They're sent back and forth for documents.
1:27:17
They're unnecessary delays in processing.
1:27:20
You know, in my own experience assisting clients, I get asked, you know, to produce rent ledgers from NYCHA in multiple formats.
1:27:29
I'll give I'll hand one in.
1:27:30
They'll say, no, we need a different one.
1:27:31
And I don't have that experience when I'm working with clients in private housing.
1:27:36
So, you know, NYCHA and HRA entered into a memorandum of understanding in 2018.
1:27:44
We're going to attach that with our testimony.
1:27:47
And the sole purpose of this memorandum was to facilitate payment of rental arrears for Night attendants.
1:27:54
Facing termination or eviction.
1:27:56
So it clearly lays out a system for the exchange of information between NYCHA and HRA.
1:28:02
And, again, this is solely for the purpose of facilitating the payment of arrears.
1:28:08
Facilitating HRA's payment of arrears for NICA tenants.
1:28:11
So I just wanna wrap this up.
1:28:13
I just we strongly encourage that the system actually be used because it doesn't seem like it is being used too frequently, and it seems like the infrastructure, the plan is there.
1:28:23
And it would just go such a long way in helping people get access to funds that they need without, as I said, being needlessly denied, getting awards that don't cover what they actually need, and being sent back and forth, and having days lost, just trying to apply for a one shot deal.
Gillian Connell
1:28:38
Sorry.
1:28:38
Could I just
Alex MacDougall
1:28:39
very, very quickly just
Eva Trimble
1:28:40
I think it's been important
Alex MacDougall
1:28:41
to have this on the record.
1:28:42
This is second issue is that we hear from PAC tenants that were approved for ERAP that, you know, that the arrears or the funds are not credited to their accounts.
1:28:53
So they get the approval.
1:28:55
They see that they've been approved.
1:28:56
And when they go to their pack landlord, the pack landlord doesn't really know what's going on.
1:29:00
They can't give them a clear answer, and then there's not really easy access to Nieta on that subject.
1:29:05
So we know that the money was paid.
1:29:07
It's there.
1:29:07
That's not the issue.
1:29:08
It's just it needs to be credited to them.
1:29:10
Thank you so much.