Relief for landlords delayed

The Enterprise — Michael Koff

“Landlords continue to struggle to make ends meet,” Albany County Executive Daniel McCoy said at his Friday press briefing. “They’re having a hard time because people aren’t paying the rent.”

ALBANY COUNTY — The county’s executive, Daniel McCoy, said on Friday that he is frustrated landlords aren’t getting the funds they anticipated.

In January, the county had received a $9 million check from the United States Department of Treasury to help landlords who have tenants not paying rent.

Some landlords haven’t collected rents in 10 months, McCoy said then, since protections were put in place to keep tenants from being evicted in the midst of the pandemic. President Joe Biden extended that protection “and rightfully so,” said McCoy but, he went on about landlords, “They still have to pay their bills.

Property taxes, McCoy noted, are among landlords’ expenses so the county budget is affected. He went on, “It’s not like they’re all millionaires. They’re going through their savings.”

Counties with populations of at least 200,000 — Albany County has about 310,000 residents — were eligible to apply for the federal funds.

“Landlords continue to struggle to make ends meet,” McCoy said at his Friday press briefing. “They’re having a hard time because people aren’t paying the rent.”

He said the county is waiting for guidance from the state.

“We had to wire that money back to the state by April 27 … . So they figured out [how] to take our money back out of the county but what they haven’t figured out is how the money is getting out [to landlords].”

McCoy said he’d heard a website would be “up and running” by May 23 so landlords can apply for funds.

“But the state has been sitting on almost a billion dollars since January,” he said, concluding, “I have landlords that call me all the time, text me, wonder where this money’s at.”

 

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