NEW YORK (1010 WINS) – Tenants in the city's rent-regulated apartments owe $1.14 billion in back rent as the pandemic stretches into its 11th month, a new survey shows.
Between 175,000 and 185,000 of rent-regulated tenants—19.4%—are behind at least two months on rent, according to the survey by the Community Housing Improvement Program (CHIP). That's a 300% increase from last February.
The average debt for the tenants was over $6,000, the survey shows, but roughly 50,000 owe more than $15,000, or about 11 months, in back rent.
Rent-regulated units make up nearly half of the city's rental housing stock.
CHIP executive director Jay Martin told the Wall Street Journal that the debt for the rest of the city's apartment inventory could be even greater. In all, the city's renters may owe over $2 billion.
"It's not an insurmountable amount," Martin told the Journal. "The numbers tell us that, probably, if we could get an additional billion or two dollars in the city, we could probably pay off every single renter's arrears in the entire city of New York over the last year of the crisis."
Under the latest COVID relief package passed in December, New York state is expected to receive $1.3 billion in rental assistance from the federal government. The city's total share of that amount is still unclear.
The state's eviction moratorium was extended to May 2021 by Gov. Andrew Cuomo last month.
