What's happening
This bill eliminates rent and income contributions for homeless shelter residents and imposes penalties on providers who collect them.
Why it matters
Reduces financial barriers for homeless individuals and families. by ensuring they no longer have to pay rent or contribute income/resources to access shelter, which could make shelters more accessible and help stabilize vulnerable populations.
Creates accountability and stronger oversight for shelter providers. by introducing civil penalties (up to $500 per violation) and requiring the return of improperly collected funds, which could deter exploitative practices.
Enables the state to cut off public funding to noncompliant providers. after repeated violations (five or more within a year), potentially improving overall shelter quality and protecting residents from predatory or abusive organizations.
Provides a path to rehabilitation for penalized providers. by allowing them to apply for reinstatement of funding if they demonstrate meaningful changes and removal of responsible staff, encouraging systemic improvement rather than just punishment.
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Who cares
Homeless individuals and families
The bill would prohibit requiring them to pay room and board or contribute income, benefits or resources as a condition of receiving temporary housing assistance.
Temporary housing providers
Providers collecting prohibited contributions would have to refund them and could face civil penalties of up to $500 per violation, with repeated violations potentially leading to loss of public funding for up to five years.
State and local governments and agencies
The bill would bar them from requiring homeless applicants or recipients to contribute income, benefits or resources toward temporary housing assistance.
Domestic violence, youth and veterans shelter operators
The bill explicitly includes their shelters among the temporary housing settings covered by the prohibition on required payments and contributions.
Headline styles
End Shelter Rent Charges
Plain English, a few words. Used as the page title.
Sponsors
History
- Enacting clause stricken
- Referred to social services
- Referred to social services
Companion bill
The same bill in the other chamber. A bill becomes law when one version passes both houses and the governor signs it, so either number can carry it.
End Shelter Rent Charges
In Senate Committee · Finance · Sponsor Zellnor Myrie
Full text
2 pagesUnderlined is new[Struck] is removedOfficial text on nysenate.gov ↗
STATE OF NEW YORK
745
2025-2026 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY (Prefiled)
January 8, 2025
Introduced by M. of A. HEVESI, LAVINE, CRUZ, SIMON, HUNTER, EPSTEIN, FORREST, PAULIN, ROSENTHAL, SLATER, DE LOS SANTOS -- read once and referred to the Committee on Social Services
AN ACT to amend the social services law, in relation to eliminating rent for homeless shelters; and to repeal certain provisions of such law relating thereto
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assembly, do enact as follows:
Section 1. Section 36-c of the social services law is REPEALED.
§ 2. Section 131 of the social services law is amended by adding a new subdivision 21 to read as follows:
21. a. Any temporary housing assistance provider found to be collecting income, room and board or any other type of contribution in violation of subdivision sixteen of section one hundred thirty-one-a of this title, shall, after notice and an opportunity to be heard by the department, be required to return any funds collected in violation of this section to such recipient and may be subject to a civil penalty not to exceed five hundred dollars for each violation. The department shall adopt procedures in accordance with the state administrative procedure act for assessment of penalties pursuant to this section. Such procedure shall include the opportunity for an administrative appeal. Any provider found to have violated this section and who is subsequently found to have violated this section five or more times within one year of the initial finding may be determined, at the discretion of the department and taking into consideration the geographic availability of similar services, to be ineligible to receive public funding for a period not to exceed five years.
b. Any provider which has been deemed ineligible to receive public funding pursuant to this section may apply to the department for an order discontinuing such disqualification. The application shall set
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[ ] is old law to be omitted.
LBD01368-01-5
forth the grounds, including that the provider has taken sufficient actions to remove from responsibility officers and employees who engaged in the actions that formed the basis of the violation, that the provider has taken appropriate and sufficient actions to ensure that the actions that formed the basis of the violation are unlikely to recur, and that it will not be in the public interest to continue the disqualification.
§ 3. Section 131-a of the social services law is amended by adding a new subdivision 16 to read as follows:
16. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, rule or regulation to the contrary, a homeless individual or family applying for or receiving temporary housing assistance shall not be required to pay to any local or state government or agency or any provider, room and board or contribute any earned or unearned income, available benefits or resources to eliminate their need for temporary housing assistance or as a condition to receive temporary housing assistance. For the purposes of this subdivision, temporary housing assistance or short-term housing shall include, but not be limited to, a family shelter, an adult family shelter, a cluster site apartment, a shelter for adults, a United States Department of Housing and Urban Development assisted transitional housing shelter, a public home, a hotel, an emergency apartment, a domestic violence shelter, a runaway and homeless youth shelter, a room and board shelter, a safe haven shelter, a veterans short-term housing shelter, a criminal justice short-term housing shelter, or a safe house for refugees, asylees, or trafficking victims operating in New York state.
§ 4. This act shall take effect on the thirtieth day after it shall have become a law.
Reflowed for reading: line numbers and page breaks removed. Cite the official text.
Summaries, headlines and scores are AI-generated from the official bill text. How we score bills. Source: NYS Open Legislation.