Housing Benefits

To qualify for SCRIE, New Yorkers must meet the following requirements:

• Be 62 years old or older.
• Have a household income of $50,000 or less.
• Be living in a rent regulated, rent stabilized, rent controlled unit, or single room occupancy (SRO) and be listed on the lease or rent order.
• Be spending more than one third of their income on rent.

To qualify for DRIE, New Yorkers must meet the following requirements:

• Be 18 years old or older.
• Have a household income of $50,000 or less.
• Be living in a rent regulated, rent stabilized, rent controlled unit, or single room occupancy (SRO) and be listed on the lease or rent order.
• Be spending more than one third of their income on rent.
• Receive one of the following benefits: Federal Supplemental Security Income (SSI); Federal Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI); S. Department of Veterans Affairs disability pension or compensation; United States Postal Services (USPS) disability pension or compensation; or Disability-related Medicaid if the applicant has received either SSI or SSDI in the past.

The owner of a building in the Bronx passed away two years ago and the building's ownership is currently being debated in surrogate court. Given the uncertainty, tenants were concerned that utilities would be shut off and they would lose their SCRIE/DRIE benefits without new leases. PEU heard about the issue from community members and Tenant Support Specialists Hakim, Maria, Jose and Mike canvassed the building to speak with tenants directly. PEU's Tenant Support Unit then coordinated a meeting with the New York State Division of Homes and Community Renewal (HCR), the New York City Department of Housing Preservation and Development (HPD), the Public Advocate's office, and the Mayor's Community Affairs Unit (CAU) to discuss next steps. Now, the Team is ensuring that essential services are not cut off in the building, repairs are made, and leases are obtained for those without them. The team also worked with HCR to help tenants obtain their rent registration histories (in order to have a record of their last registered rent), connect with legal service providers, and submit SCRIE/DRIE applications and renewals.The main step was to keep the lights on in the common areas and not have any other essential services cut off. We are still working on getting leases for those who did not have one, repairs done, and providing rental arrears assistance. This will be an ongoing building-wide process, given that the case is still in surrogate court.

PEU Specialist Hakim called a client who could not renew his rent freeze benefit because his landlord failed to provide a renewal lease. Thankfully, Hakim knew that when landlords fail to provide tenants with a lease, clients can still keep their rent freeze benefit by submitting a "SCRIE Certification of No Renewal Lease" form. Hakim was able to renew the client's rent freeze application by substituting the missing document with the applicant's ConEd bill as proof of address. Thanks to Hakim's efforts, the client's SCRIE benefit was renewed six weeks later.

To qualify for SCHE, New Yorkers must meet the following requirements:

• All owners of the property must be 65 years of age or older by the end of the year, unless the owners are spouses or siblings.
• The combined annual income of the property owner and spouse or co-owner cannot exceed $58,399.
• All owners must occupy the property as their primary residence. The applicant's name should be on the deed.
• The client must have owned the property for at least 12 consecutive months prior to the date of exemption, unless they received the exemption on their previously-owned residence.

To qualify for DHE, New Yorkers must meet the following requirements:

• The combined annual income of the property owner and spouse or co-owner cannot exceed $58,399.
• All owners must be persons with disabilities, unless the home is owned by spouses or siblings, in which case only one homeowner must have a disability.
• All owners must occupy the property as their primary residence. The applicant's name should be on the deed.
• Proof of disability: The homeowner will need to submit documentation of a disability.