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State officials say it will be weeks before rent relief payments go out

Posted on July 14, 2021 at 9:07 am by Brett Levine

FILE - In this Jan. 13, 2021 file photo, tenants' rights advocates demonstrate outside the Edward W. Brooke Courthouse in Boston. An estimated 8.8 million Americans are behind on their rent, according the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. While relief efforts have staved off some of the housing crisis, rent is still going to come due. The federal government has approved two rounds of rental assistance, worth more than $46 billion total; the $21 billion in the second round will begin going out in May. (AP Photo/Michael Dwyer, File)

ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — State officials say it will be weeks before New York issues any payments from the state’s $2.4 billion COVID-19 rent relief fund, adding to delays in a program that has been beset by technical glitches with its online application portal. At least 1.1 million New York households that rent have at least one family member who was economically impacted by the pandemic. New York launched an online application portal June 1 and said it’d take four to six weeks to process applications. Agency spokesperson Anthony Farmer said Tuesday that first payments are “expected to go out in the coming weeks.”

Photo: FILE – In this Jan. 13, 2021 file photo, tenants’ rights advocates demonstrate outside the Edward W. Brooke Courthouse in Boston. (AP Photo/Michael Dwyer, File)