Good Morning:

New York State is in the process of finalizing the Emergency Rental Assistance Program’s policies and procedures as well as developing on online portal where the public can apply for assistance. Once the program is ready to receive applications for rent/utility assistance another email will be sent to you with where to go to apply for assistance. Now is the time to prepare for when the program is ready to accept applications.

This program will require tenants and landlords to work together to provide the necessary documents for assistance payments. Since the benefits will be paid out on a first come/first serve basis now is the time to gather all the necessary documents so when the program is open there is less of a delay in landlords receiving payment and tenants avoiding potential eviction.

Tenants should gather:

• Contact information for your landlord, including your landlord’s name, phone number and most importantly email address.
• Proof of identity for all members of the household, such as driver’s license, birth certificate, passport, government issued ID and social security cards.
• Proof of income for all members of the household, such as paystubs, W-2s, 2020 Tax Returns, attestations from employers, bank statements showing regular income, proof of eligibility and income from Unemployment Benefits.
• Proof of rent and residence, such as a current lease, proof of rent payments (bank statements, cancelled checks), utility bills, a written attestation from your landlord stating your address and rent obligation.
• Proof of rental and utility arrears, such as a ledger from your landlord and utility bills.

Landlords should:

• Share with the tenants all contact information including name, address, and email address for all communication for the program.
• Work with their tenants to ensure all proper documentation is available to them so he or she can apply for this program once applications can be submitted. Including leases, history of rent payments, and eviction notices if any
• Landlords should also have a current W-9 filled out so it can be submitted once the program is open, which is available here: https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/fw9.pdf

Also, as a reminder below are the eligibility requirements for the program that a Rockland County tenant will need to meet:

• One or more individuals within your household has qualified for Unemployment Benefits or experienced a reduction in household income, incurred significant costs, or experienced other financial hardship due, directly or indirectly, to the COVID-19 pandemic

• One or more individuals within the household can demonstrate a risk of experiencing homelessness or housing instability
• The household has a household income at or below 80% of Area Median Income, which is currently:

This information is also available on the Emergency Rental Assistance webpage on Rocklandgov.com here: https://rocklandgov.com/departments/social-services/emergency-rental-assistance-program/. Updates will be posted on this webpage as they come in, but you will also receive direct notification as well. You will be directly notified once applications for the program can be submitted.

Thank you for your interest in the Emergency Rental Assistance Program,

M. Domen

Program Director

Emergency Rental Assistance Program

Rockland County Department of Social ServicesGather Documents Flyer (002).pdf Gather Documents Flyer - Spanish (002).pdf