State legislation would require that a tenant be given formal notice on potential eligibility for SCRIE and DRIE rental assistance program
Bill would assist many seniors and people with disabilities living on limited incomes and facing high rent burden
New bill could help up to 26,000 seniors and people with disabilities access rental assistance
New York City Comptroller Scott M. Stringer, State Senator Liz Krueger and Assemblymember Linda B. Rosenthal announced the introduction of new legislation (A.7730) to raise awareness of the Senior Citizen Rent Increase Exemption (SCRIE) and Disabled Rent Increase Exemption (DRIE) programs that assist seniors and New Yorkers with disabilities who are living on limited incomes in making rent payments. The legislation would require that seniors and tenants with disabilities be given formal notice of potential eligibility for the program at the same time as they receive routine communications from landlords or government agencies regarding such issues as an application for a rent adjustment due to a major capital improvement, a rent increase, or notice of a new lease or renewal of a lease. The programs enable income eligible tenants to have their rents frozen at one-third of their incomes, or the rent paid on the lease before they applied, whichever is greater. Both SCRIE and DRIE are under-enrolled, with less than half of all potential beneficiaries registered in the program. The legislation introduced today would help bolster enrollment in these critical programs and ensure more who qualify for assistance actually receive it.
“We need to help the New Yorkers who built up our communities and ensure they can afford to stay here, with access to affordable housing that will allow them to age in place and thrive in their golden years.” said New York City Comptroller Scott M. Stringer. “That’s why we must tackle our City’s affordability crisis head-on by providing direct support to New Yorkers with disabilities and our City’s seniors — those who are struggling the most to make their monthly rental payments. Increasing enrollment in the SCRIE and DRIE programs is a much-needed subsidy that must be extended to serve every New Yorker that needs it. As the original sponsor of DRIE legislation during my time in the New York State Assembly, I want to thank State Senator Liz Krueger and Assemblymember Linda Rosenthal for sponsoring this important legislation and for working to ensure that our most vulnerable tenants receive the rental assistance they need to make ends meet.”
”The SCRIE and DRIE programs have allowed thousands of older New Yorkers and people with disabilities to stay in their homes and age in place with dignity,” said State Senator Liz Krueger. “But thousands more are struggling to pay the rent without even knowing these programs exist. This bill ensures that some of our most vulnerable neighbors will get the vital information they need to ease their rent burden. Thank you to Comptroller Stringer and Assemblymember Rosenthal for championing this important effort.”
“The Rent Freeze Program is a critical lifeline for this city’s senior and disabled tenants, but only if senior and disabled tenants know it exists,” said Assemblymember Linda B. Rosenthal. “This bill will help promote awareness of the existence of the Rent Freeze program, and provide so many vulnerable tenants with desperately needed rent relief. I look forward to working with Comptroller Stringer and State Senator Krueger to see this bill become law.”
The new bill stems from a 2017 report by Comptroller Stringer, entitled “Aging with Dignity: A Blueprint for Serving NYC’s Growing Senior Population,” which outlined recommendations regarding the City’s plan to respond to changing demographics on a neighborhood-by-neighborhood basis to better serve New York City’s growing senior population. One of the proposals in the report was to help promote awareness of the City’s SCRIE and DRIE programs to freeze rent levels for eligible seniors and New Yorkers with disabilities struggling to pay their monthly rent.
S.6210/A.7730 also requires routine communication from landlords or government agencies such as an annual certification required by Section 31 of the Private Housing Finance Law, a lease rider, a lease containing an escalator clause, a maximum base rent adjustment or heating fuel cost adjustment, or an annual or otherwise periodic 2.2 percent rent increase for buildings receiving benefits pursuant to Section 421a of the Real Property Tax Law, to include formal notices about potential eligibility for SCRIE or DRIE.
To qualify for the SCRIE program, individuals must be 62 years of age or older, earn $50,000 or less annually, pay more than a third of their monthly income in rent, and reside in an apartment that is hotel-stabilized, Mitchell-Lama, rent-controlled, or rent-stabilized. New Yorkers with disabilities can qualify for the DRIE program if they are not able-bodied and are 62 years of age or younger. Based on New York City Department of Finance (DOF) data, in FY16, 59,524 persons were enrolled in SCRIE and 10,743 in DRIE compared to the population of an estimated 121,729 potentially eligible SCRIE recipients and 33,637 potential recipients eligible for DRIE. A notification expansion of this scale could increase SCRIE enrollment from its current 49 percent participation rate to approximately 70 percent, benefiting 26,000 seniors.
“Aging with Dignity: A Blueprint for Serving NYC’s Growing Senior Population” Report
Comptroller Stringer’s report, “Aging with Dignity: A Blueprint for Serving NYC’s Growing Senior Population,” outlined three main recommendations to address the needs of the City’s growing senior population including creating safe, healthy, and affordable housing options in which seniors can grow old; developing livable communities for seniors, and supporting the wellbeing of older New Yorkers. It also found that:
- Between 2005 and 2015, the City’s population of adults over 65 increased by about 182,000 – from approximately 947,000 to 1.13 million – a rise of more than 19 percent
- In 2015, adults over 65 composed about 13.2 percent of the City’s population, up from about 11.9 percent in 2005 with the population being most significant in Brooklyn, followed by Queens, Manhattan, the Bronx, and Staten Island
- Between 2005 and 2015, the number of working seniors in New York City grew by 62 percent, and during that same time, the share of seniors in New York City’s labor force grew from 13 percent to 17 percent
- Over 40 percent of New York City senior-headed households depend on government programs (including Social Security) for more than half of their income, while more than 30 percent depend on these programs for three-quarters of their income
- A higher percentage of seniors receive government assistance than the general population:
- Nutrition assistance (25.5 percent)
- Supplemental Security Income (14.6 percent)
- Seniors are more likely to pay in excess of 30 percent of their income on housing than the total population, regardless of whether they rent or own their homes
