OLA To Help East End Residents Gain Access To Rental Assistance - 27 East

Real Estate News

Real Estate News / 1789634

OLA To Help East End Residents Gain Access To Rental Assistance

authorStaff Writer on Jun 14, 2021

Suffolk County has designated OLA of Eastern Long Island to help East End residents gain access to rental and utilities assistance through New York State’s Emergency Rental Assistance Program.

The relief is available to low- and moderate-income households at risk of experiencing homelessness or housing instability and includes help for paying back rent, future rent and overdue utility bills.

The Emergency Rental Assistance Program also includes a method for the landlord to apply directly. Either way, payments will be sent directly to landlords.

“Immigrant community members, especially if they are undocumented, can be extremely vulnerable to exploitation by landlords,” said Sandra Dunn, the associate director of OLA, in a statement. “The pandemic has created further insecurity, with landlords threatening to evict tenants, in some cases even when tenants have been paying their rent. The pandemic is also prompting landlords to sell the properties that they have always been renting out. For our longtime local residents this means the place where they’ve lived for over a decade in some cases is suddenly no longer available. We are looking at an acute housing shortage as a result of the pandemic and want to do everything possible so that people will not be out on the street and homeless. We strongly encourage tenants and landlords alike to participate in ERAP. If landlords don’t participate, they won’t be able to get the back rent they are due from the state.”

The state will distribute up to $2.7 billion through the program. Qualifying households may seek financial assistance for 12 months of past-due rent and three months of future rent, plus 12 months of outstanding utility payments.

The application window opened June 1, and during the first 30 days, the program will prioritize the unemployed, those with income at or below 50 percent of area median income and other vulnerable populations. After the first 30 days, applications will be processed on a first-come, first-served basis, as long as funds remain available.

Visit otda.ny.gov/erap for more information on the program. For help applying, go to olaofeasternlongisland.org and visit “Eviction and Rent Support” under the COVID-19 tab.

You May Also Like:

Water Mill Property Where Hal Buckner and Dorothy Lichtenstein Left Their Marks Is for Sale

A Water Mill property that hosts a former dairy barn turned artist’s studio and a ... 30 Jun 2025 by Brendan J. O’Reilly

Sundays on the Bay Hits the Market

Sundays on the Bay restaurant and marina on Dune Road in Hampton Bays has hit ... 29 Jun 2025 by Staff Writer

Hamptons Rental Market Remains Alive and Well

To paraphrase Mark Twain, reports of the demise of the Hamptons summer-rental market are greatly exaggerated. “Any hint that the Hamptons rental market is anything but robust is completely wrong,” said Corcoran associate broker Gary DePersia in East Hampton. An interesting dynamic is stirring in the Hamptons vacation-rental market. Although there has been an unprecedented rise in short-term rentals and the aftershocks of the COVID-19 pandemic linger, it has been a bumper crop year for Wall Street, interest rates have remained steady and a new breed of demanding customer is emerging. Despite it all, the Hamptons vacation-rental market remains as ... 19 Jun 2025 by Joseph Finora

Jon Vaccari Joins Noble Black & Partners at Douglas Elliman

Jon Vaccari, a longtime resident of Sag Harbor, has joined Noble Black & Partners at ... 18 Jun 2025 by Staff Writer

Appeals Court Sides With Landowner Over Southampton Village ZBA

Southampton Village has lost an appeal that sought to reinstate a Zoning Board of Appeals ... 12 Jun 2025 by Brendan J. O’Reilly

Last Parcel of Startop Ranch in Montauk Sells

The last plot of land at Startop Ranch in Montauk, 107 Startop Drive, has sold ... by Staff Writer

Hamptons Real Estate Roundtable, Memorial Day Weekend 2025 Edition

With Memorial Day weekend about to kick the Hamptons into high season, The Express News ... 22 May 2025 by Moderated by Brendan J. O’Reilly

Au-Delà Real Estate Vows To Go 'Beyond'

Au-Delà Real Estate, a new boutique real estate firm based in East Hampton, is now ... 20 May 2025 by Brendan J. O’Reilly

AI Helps Rental Seekers Find Homes That Match Their Aesthetic Preferences

Consumers increasingly have an expectation of superior, more personalized service based on their own particular ... by Steven Loeb

New Construction in Montauk Sells for a Nonwaterfront Record Price

A newly constructed modern home in Montauk just set a record for the highest price ... 9 May 2025 by Staff Writer