Help keep our public housing neighbors in their homes
The Center for Law and Justice altered Albany County in early January 2022 that 1,472 Albany Housing Authority households were set to be evicted due to the Emergency Rental Assistance Program’s backlog of applications and funds. These are households that had applied or qualified for ERAP, but because the policy stated public housing residents or households that using a Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher to make their home affordable on the private market would be the last to receive assistance regardless of when an application was submitted.
The CFLJ saw a solution to keep thousands of our neighbors in their affordable homes: HELP — Housing Emergency Legislation Package, in which they propose Albany County allocated $3.1 million (enough to satisfy AHA tenants’ back-rent, or about $2073 per household). HELP has been proposed not just to keep families in their homes, but as a fiscally responsible move from the County, as millions more would be required to fund support services for the evicted households, immediately after eviction, and possibly for years or even generations after.
Below is the statement we sent to the Albany County Legislature. We had sent a nearly identical statement in early January to affirm our support of HELP, citing Habitat’s deep concern for housing stability in our community.
Learn more about HELP, sign the petition, and find a template emails to send to the Legislature and County Executive at cflj.org/help.
February 9, 2022
Good afternoon,
On behalf of Habitat for Humanity Capital District, I am writing to express our full support of the Housing Emergency Legislation Package (HELP), proposed by the Center for Law and Justice.
Habitat for Humanity is dedicated to helping build a community where all our neighbors have an affordable, stable place to call home. Without immediate action, thousands of our neighbors are now at risk of a stable, affordable home being taken away from them in the middle of winter, a public health crisis, a housing crisis, and staggering inflation.
Protecting public housing residents from eviction will safeguard their housing stability thereby reducing chronic homelessness. Additionally, an eviction record can keep potential homebuyers from qualifying from a mortgage – just another barrier for so many low-income households. Additionally, a single eviction can impact a family for generations -- especially when a family is losing a home that was affordable and otherwise stable through public housing.
I’m asking that you use a portion of the ARP funds to prevent the eviction of close to 1500 households in Albany Public Housing. 63% of these households are extremely low income. Yet, the ERAP policy prevented Albany Public Housing residents from accessing the same benefits as private renters.
A one time, lump-sum payment of about $2000 per household paid directly to the Albany Housing Authority from county ARP funds would immediately end this crisis and protect the most vulnerable residents in Albany County.
The majority of public housing residents see their homes as stable places to stay and make a life – with 31% staying in public housing over 10 years. If evicted, the services required to support and stabilize the children, adults and elders, will require millions in additional spending by Albany County over multiple years.