Mayor Bill De Blasio
Aug. 21, 2019 By Allie Griffin
The city has lowered the requirements necessary to enter its affordable housing lotteries, lessening barriers that discourage undocumented immigrants from applying.
Starting later today, applicants will no longer need a Social Security number or tax ID number for each adult member of the household to be considered for the lottery, as NY1 first reported.
While undocumented immigrants could already apply to the lotteries, they previously had to submit an individual tax identification number called a TIN. Undocumented immigrants need to apply to the federal government for a TIN, but many don’t have one.
The requirement for each adult family member of a household to submit a Social Security or TIN number to apply is viewed by the administration as a barrier to many undocumented immigrants.
“These new changes are a step towards promoting greater racial equity in our housing market and greater access to affordable housing, regardless of immigration status,” said Bitta Mostofi, Commissioner for the Mayor’s Office of Immigrant Affairs. “By eliminating requirements that unnecessarily and disproportionately impact working class immigrant families and people of color, HPD continues to show our City’s commitment to racial and immigrant justice.”
The new changes also allow applicants to wave a landlord-initiated credit check. Instead applicants can show proof that they have paid past rent on time for a year.
“For too long, families without access to credit have faced barriers to the affordable housing they need,” de Blasio said. “By allowing New Yorkers to submit rental history instead of credit checks, we are creating a fairer system for all New Yorkers.”
The new policies reduce the chance of a tenant denied on the basis of poor credit, according to the mayor’s administration. In addition, the city has increased the number of household occupants permitted per unit.
Ana Nuñez, a housing ambassador who works for the nonprofit Churches United For Fair Housing which helps people apply for the lotteries praised the city’s decision on NY1. She said now many more of her clients can apply.
“It completely opens the floodgates,” Nuñez said. “So now this is a truly, truly a sanctuary city.”
In April, the odds of winning an affordable housing lottery were one in 600. With the deletion of the Social Security or TIN requirement, this number is likely to go up.
Queens has the highest number of undocumented immigrants in the city at 184,000 and about 477,000 undocumented immigrants live in all five boroughs, according to the Mayor’s Office of Immigrant Affairs 2018 report.
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55 Comments
We wouldn’t have this problem if we had The Great Wall.
Is new yorkers became racist Trump supporters?
I think DeBozo is a racist since he does not care about people who were actually born here! Fredo would be ashamed.
I wish they would at least try something subtle.
Can you use passable English???
Based on some income requirements many affordable housing units are really for people who temporarily stay in NYC and have good paying jobs. Those who plan on staying in NY and make that much end up buying homes with better school districts elsewhere when its time to start a family. This was done all for show to please some democratic voters. This is what I can only conclude unless there will soon be an increase in affordable units that are being built and the income requirements go down.
They need to take this a step further and allocate a certain percentage of Affordable Housing to go only to undocumented immigrants.
Like what? >5%?
Why does he care so much about them. It’s not like they vote.
Because a good number of people who do vote and will soon be able to vote do care! These undocumented immigrants could be our relatives, friends, acquaintances, neighbors, co workers, employees, etc. Many are families that we interact with at schools, places of worship, parks, streets and shops. They are a part of our daily lives especially here in Queens. We need to protect them.
Because some people aren’t fixated on self-gain but a wider well-being of the community. You clearly wouldn’t understand, I feel bad for your lack of morality.
They most certainly will vote for him.
How can they when they can’t vote to begin with???
If you thought it was hard to land one of these before, it will now be impossible. Not that they were a good deal anyway.
This seems like a hollow gesture to me, designed to pander but achieving little in terms of practical results. These housing lotteries, from what I understand, require more or less a middle class income. I doubt illegal immigrants are filing tax returns and reporting 75-125K of income.
I’ve been applying for more than 7 years, they have raised the AMI’s- now they say btwn $80k- over $175k for some of these lotteries- IMO if you earn that much you have no business applying for affordable housing, let alone the city thinking it’s even fair to set AMI’s that high….
The city will only become even more unaffordable as the pool of people vying for limited housing resources just went up by a significant number.
Democrat politicians are clueless
I’m not even surprised. But by the way these lotteries are set up they won’t get in anyways. What undocumented makes 100k.. Even a college graduate with a good city job doesn’t even make that much unless they have 20 years in. It’s all a joke.
This takes away from our poor that were born here. Where are THEY supposed to go? They don’t have any other countries to go to. Take care our of poor citizens FIRST!!
Plus it makes these buildings less safe. If landlords can’t check peopke out, they could be violent
NYC is a sanctuary city. People should have every right to fair and equal education, housing and health access in this city no matter what your immigration status is.
Housing isn’t a right. If it were, homeless Americans wouldn’t be homeless.
Soon there will only be two classes of people in this city; people rich enough to afford outrageous taxes and people totally at the mercy of the political machine for the roof over their head and their daily bread. This is the road to serfdom, cloaked in the guise of compassion and charity.
Yup we go full circle back to Ancient Rome or Monarchy . Then more people will look at Communism as the way to go only to fall under their control and them who will come to help those? There wont be any cavalry coming to the rescue.
Good mayor douche bag get worse. Help the homeless of nyc first. You are squeezing the working people for this,
How can an illegal non documented immigrant without a social security number can show proof of income to be able to rent an “affordable” apartment when they ask for an outrageous income level? SMH
Show proof that they’ve been paying rent and getting rewarded with an apartment. Tbe whole time prob working off the books and not paying taxes like tbe rest of us
Not paying taxes “makes you smart.” Was Trump wrong when he said that?!
This is what happens when you allow illegal immigrants from the third world to migrate into a country. The result will be a population with an avg IQ OF 90 that is so dumb to grasp anything but intelligent enough to work..
It’s bad enough American born middle class citizens, Blacks and Hispanics have a hard enough time sieving on this poor economy due to
Price of living, high taxes , Inflation, Etc. But now these immigrants can come here and have the Red Carpet rolled out for them. What a country this has become. Anything else we can do for them?
And most likely NOT paying taxes Bec they work off the books
When oh when are you going to bow out of the race for President?
De Blasio is the reason people need to turn out and vote.
Or flood the streets before it’s too late.
He’s one the reasons people need to turn out and vote for someone other than the 24 Communist idiots the DNC has put forth.
deBlasio is a disgrace. Giving people who break our laws the right to new affordable housing that hard working citizens can’t get. We can’t control people coming into this country illegal because of morons like deBlasio. Misguided liberal jerk. Not helping poor people just trying to attract the Hispanic vote.
Arrest and prosecute all sanctuary city governors and mayors!!
What about the people hiring illegals?
I am sure JVB is a happy camper about this.
It doesn’t matter. Nobody wins those lotteries anyway.
The land owners/developers win with a reduction on their taxes for these “affordable” apartments.
Build that Wall.
Ah… I’m guessing that’s a knee jerk response. Update the laws to “don’t fee the pigeons” like “no free food or housing for illegals”. One should never want a wall built because the walls to keep people out will be the same walls to trap people in. History says to look at communism… You were murdered if you tried to escape.
Why are we waiting on the “one time payment?” Why can’t he even get the Democrats to give him money? Sad!
Break the law, get rewarded.
“Let me mess it all up before I leave” How could they say “regardless of immigration status”. Why do we pay thousands of dollars in taxes yet still drive through messy roads, dark streets, bad and dirty transportation? So our tax dollars go to some random developer to build a 20 story building with promise of “affordable housing”? You want affordable housing, move out of NY.
Since you think NYC is so awful, YOU move out of NY. Then we’ll have 1 more apartment for rent! 🙂
Bye, Felicia.
deBlasio is a disgrace. Giving people who break our laws the right to new affordable housing that hard working citizens can’t get. We can’t control people coming into this country illegal because of morons like deBlasio. Misguided liberal jerk. Not helping poor people just trying to attract the Hispanic vote.
God i cant wait to see the end of this idiot. Homeless Americans living on the streets and we are literally bypassing them in support of non Americans. The whole democratic party is now one big Socialist organization. their whole ideology is Socialism. History will show that Trump saved america from themselves.
God Bless Trump
God help us.
Why am I not surprised.
Please describe your plan to combat homelessness among American citizens and how you intend on funding it.
Does part of your plan call for a lottery system in which the only winners are the real estate developers who receive tax breaks and tax incentives for designating a handful of ‘affordable housing’ units?
It’s nit just him. It’s all democrats. All of them will do this and worse