What's happening
This bill requires the New York City Housing Authority to create a priority public housing waiting list and website for adults 65 and older.
Why it matters
Creates a streamlined, online application process for seniors. By mandating a dedicated website, the bill aims to make it significantly easier for adults 65+ (or their advocates) to apply for public housing, bypassing traditional, often complex paper processes that can be a barrier for older adults.
Provides seniors with priority access based on need. The bill establishes that seniors applying through this system are prioritized over others, and their applications are further sorted by urgency (such as medical status), potentially accelerating housing for those in greatest need.
Increases transparency and accountability in housing allocation. Applications are tracked via anonymous case numbers, and the Housing Authority must regularly update applicants' priority status and publicly report on housing outcomes, helping to ensure fairer and more efficient allocation.
Improves oversight of available senior housing. Landlords must report vacancies promptly, and the Housing Authority is tasked with monitoring for potential discrimination or improper denial of housing to seniors, which could deter bad practices and expand access to critical housing resources.
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Who cares
Headline styles
Senior Housing Waitlist Website
Plain English, a few words. Used as the page title.
Sponsors
1 Co-sponsor
History
- Referred to housing
- Referred to housing
Full text
2 pagesUnderlined is new[Struck] is removedOfficial text on nysenate.gov ↗
STATE OF NEW YORK
2515
2017-2018 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
January 20, 2017
Introduced by M. of A. SIMOTAS, ROSENTHAL -- read once and referred to the Committee on Housing
AN ACT to amend the public housing law, in relation to the establishment of a priority senior housing waiting list and website through the office of the New York city housing authority for use by adults sixty-five years of age and older
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assembly, do enact as follows:
Section 1. The public housing law is amended by adding a new section 402-d to read as follows:
§ 402-d. Priority senior housing waiting list and website. 1. The New York city housing authority shall develop a website through which individuals sixty-five years of age or older may apply in order to be placed on a priority waiting list to obtain public housing. The website shall be made available through and maintained by the housing authority.
2. Any individual sixty-five years of age or older, or an agent acting on behalf of such individual, including but not limited to, a relative or guardian, the state department of social services, the New York city department of homeless services, the New York city department for the aging or a medical provider, may submit an application for housing through the website. Applications submitted through the website shall be given priority by the housing authority over housing lotteries and applications submitted by other means, and over applications submitted by or on behalf of persons under sixty-five years of age. All applications shall be assigned a priority code based upon the information provided as to medical status and need, and, following an eligibility interview, shall be placed on a priority senior waiting list for available housing. Final assessment as to priority shall be determined by the housing authority following the eligibility interview. No priority status shall be assigned or any housing assignment made until completion of the eligibility interview, unless a comparable interview was
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[ ] is old law to be omitted.
LBD04203-01-7
A. 2515 2
conducted by the housing authority within thirty days prior to the submission of the website application.
3. Applications submitted through the website shall be assigned a case number which may be used to track the progress of the application through the website. Applications shall not be tracked through the website by name or social security number of the applicant or a member of the applicant's household.
4. Website applications shall be re-evaluated every three days in order to determine priority given to applicants who have completed the eligibility interview. Re-prioritization shall be based on changes in medical status or need.
5. (a) The website shall include a list of rental properties which the New York city department of housing preservation and development has determined to be eligible for the J-51 program and which have current or anticipated vacancies. The website shall include a separate list of rental properties which do not qualify for the J-51 program, but which have current or anticipated vacancies and accept tenants using Section 8 federal housing allowance program vouchers or certificates or senior citizen rent increase exemptions. The housing authority shall coordinate with the department of housing preservation and development to develop and maintain a listing of J-51 properties. Vacancies shall be listed on the website without charge to the property owner or manager.
(b) The owner of rental properties as described in paragraph (a) of this subdivision, or his or her agent, shall notify the housing authority of an impending vacancy within ten days of learning or first becoming aware of the impending vacancy, and shall, by March first of each year, provide the housing authority with a list of vacancies that occurred at each property during the previous calendar year and the date upon which the vacancies were filled. Such list shall be in a form as determined by the housing authority. The housing authority shall monitor the lists to assure that vacancies are being reported promptly to the housing authority and that housing is not being improperly denied by the property owner to senior citizens. The housing authority shall report any suspected improper denials of housing in J-51 buildings to the New York city department of housing preservation and development.
6. The housing authority shall maintain information concerning the overall number of website applicants, the number of applicants provided with housing accommodations as a result of website applications and the length of time between the applications and the assignments, and shall provide this information in all filings required by law to be made by the housing authority.
§ 2. This act shall take effect on the one hundred eightieth day after it shall have become a law; provided, however, that effective immediately, the addition, amendment and/or repeal of any rule or regulation necessary for the implementation of this act on its effective date are authorized and directed to be made and completed on or before such effective date.
Reflowed for reading: line numbers and page breaks removed. Cite the official text.
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