Res 1384-2020

By Council Members Rosenthal and Chin Whereas, The Senior Citizen Rent Increase Exemption program (SCRIE) and the Disability Rent Increase Exemption (DRIE), also known as the New York City Rent Freeze Program, provide rent exemptions from all or part of certain rent increases for seniors and persons with disabilities respectively with a combined household income that is $50,000 or less; and Whereas, The current qualifying income limit of $50,000 was first temporarily increased in 2014 from the previous $29,000 for SCRIE and $20,412 for single-person households or $29,484 for two-person or more households for DRIE following New York State and City Council legislation, renewed in 2016, and is now set to expire on June 30, 2020; and Whereas, According to the 2018 Report on the New York City Rent Freeze Program, between 2014 and 2017 the was a new enrollment growth of 26 percent and a net enrollment growth of about 10 percent after attrition; and Whereas, As of 2016, the most recent year for which complete data is available, 73,299 of an estimated 130,314 eligible households were enrolled in SCRIE or DRIE benefits; and Whereas, Seniors and persons with disabilities who are currently enrolled in the abovementioned programs are stably housed and protected against displacement from their homes and should remain so; now, therefore, be it Resolved, That the Council of the City of New York calls upon the New York State legislature to pass and the Governor to sign legislation to renew the qualifying income limit of $50,000 for seniors and persons with disabilities who are eligible for the Senior Citizen Rent Increase Exemption program and the Disability Rent Increase Exemption program. LS #13634 02/24/20 AR