For more than 20 years, Beridiana Calderon has lived in her modest apartment in Washington Heights with her daughter and granddaughters. Like thousands of New Yorkers, she worried about keeping her home. She is not alone.
Against the backdrop of inflation and global economic uncertainty, the city was able to protect tenants in rent-stabilized housing from higher and more unsustainable rent increases, locking in rent rate increases at approximately 3%, while ensuring small property owners still have the necessary resources they need to maintain their buildings. Yet, Calderon doesn’t have to worry: Her rate increase will be 0%.
Fortunately for Calderon, an older New Yorker living on a fixed income in a rent-stabilized apartment, she found out that she qualified to freeze her rent.
While Calderon’s story is common, its ending is rare. The most recent Rent Freeze Ombudsperson report revealed a concerning statistic: In 2020, only 71,665 income-eligible seniors and New Yorkers with disabilities froze their rent, representing a 5.1 percent decrease in Rent Freeze recipients from the previous year, despite the fact that an estimated 135,000 households were eligible.
As one part of the mayoral administration’s approach to make sure eligible New Yorkers know they qualify for this life-changing benefit, the Mayor’s Public Engagement Unit (PEU) is partnering with the Department of Finance and the Office of the Taxpayer Advocate to encourage residents to take advantage of the Rent Freeze Programs. Qualifying applicants will receive either the Senior Citizen Rent Increase Exemption (SCRIE), which supports eligible older New Yorkers over age 62, or the Disability Rent Increase Exemption (DRIE), which helps those with disabilities.
These exemptions enable recipients to freeze their rent—usually at the rate paid in their prior lease—and the city will offset the rent increase by applying a tax credit to their landlords’ property taxes. It’s important for New Yorkers to sign up for Rent Freeze as soon as possible: The longer that qualifying New Yorkers are in the program, the more they benefit. A New Yorker who enters the program now and continues to renew their benefit could pay the same rent in 20 years as what they pay today.
The Office of the Taxpayer Advocate, an independent office in the Department of Finance, works on behalf of New Yorkers to resolve tax issues when all other avenues have been exhausted. The office makes recommendations to improve programs such as Rent Freeze.
In addition to the Office of the Taxpayer Advocate and the Department of Finance’s Rent Freeze outreach efforts, the Public Engagement Unit’s Rent Freeze specialists also have a hotline and do direct outreach to at-risk New Yorkers to ensure that those who qualify are getting the benefit.
We recognize that navigating government bureaucracy and paperwork is no easy task, especially for older New Yorkers and New Yorkers with disabilities. That is why our teams will go door-to-door this month to reach thousands of eligible New Yorkers and help them enroll in the Rent Freeze program. But don’t wait for us to come to you: New Yorkers can call the Public Engagement Unit Rent Freeze Hotline at 929-252-7242 to speak with one of our trained and compassionate Rent Freeze Specialists.
With rents reaching all-time highs or close to such levels throughout the boroughs, it is more important than ever for residents to be informed and contact the hotline to inquire about eligibility. Together, the Public Engagement Unit, Department of Finance, and Office of the Taxpayer Advocate offer the Rent Freeze Programs to keep families in their homes and ease the burden of financial and housing instability. This builds off the Department of Housing Preservation and Development’s tenant protection efforts to keep people in their homes by creating and preserving affordable homes through a variety of tools, including empowering tenants with more resources and aggressively enforcing city codes.
Our collective work is not just about saving money; it is about ensuring New Yorkers can remain in their homes.
Older New Yorkers and New Yorkers with disabilities do not have to suffer in silence. Calderon reached out to the Rent Freeze hotline and trusted us to solve her rent issue, resulting in being able to continue living in the home where she raised her family. She now saves more than $900 a year on her rent, and with each renewed year, she saves even more. Others can do the same.
Jasmin Batista is the outreach director of the Tenant Support Unit with the Mayor’s Office of Public Engagement Unit.
Robin Lee is the taxpayer advocate for the New York City Department of Finance’s Office of the Taxpayer Advocate.