The New York City Department of Consumer Affairs Commissioner Lorelei Salas and the New York City Department of Housing Preservation and Development Commissioner Maria Torres-Springer recently announced five new Housing Ambassador locations as financial counseling host sites for Ready to Rent, a program providing New Yorkers free one-on-one financial counseling and assistance with affordable housing applications.
Residents can access housing-focused financial counseling and application assistance at five specific Housing Ambassador locations across the city—Churches United for Fair Housing, Los Sures-Southside United HDFC, Legal Hand Jamaica: Center for Court Innovation, We Stay/Nos Quedamos and Acacia Network: East Harlem Council for Community Improvement—that will host regular counseling sessions from now through June.
The City Council-funded Ready to Rent program, which is run in partnership with the financial counseling provider Ariva, was first implemented in the spring of 2017 to assess whether financial counseling could help affordable housing applicants submit a stronger application.
To schedule a free appointment or to contact a Housing Ambassador, New Yorkers can call 311 and say “Ready to rent” or visit nyc.gov/housing-ambassadors.