Westchester Rent Control Guidelines Board (WRBG)

Good News!!! The WRGB met last week to pass the rent adjustment for next year (for leases that begin between 10/1/23-9/30/24.) The guidelines for Westchester Rent-Stabilized Tenants are 1% increase for a one (1) year renewal, or 2% for a two (2) year renewal. This was despite the landlords’ requesting guideline increases of 6% and 10%! After the full WRGB passed the 1% and 2% guidelines the two (2) landlord representatives got up and walked out of the meeting in protest! Did you say “Isn’t that like a little kid taking his baseball home to stop the game when he didn’t like the way the game was going?” Yes, the two (2) landlord representatives are adults – go figure!

Special thanks to the two tenant representatives who did such a powerful job for us, MVUT’s own Tamara Stewart, and Sylvia Hamer of New Rochelle. Their compelling presentations were invaluable to the public members. Likewise Genevieve Roche of MVUT destroyed much of the landlords’ arguments in her presentation and analysis of their claims. Thanks to all three (3) ladies!

Mt. Vernon Comprehensive Plan

The second Comprehensive Plan Public Workshop was held on the same evening as the WRGB vote (June 29) and MVUT was not able to be represented as a result. We’ll follow-up with staff from the Mt. Vernon Department of Planning and Community Development (MV-PCD) and get back to our members and friends in the next mailing.

$ FOR MVUT

We need your support! Please give generously. We had included a fundraising notice in our last mailing. Many of you responded. THANK YOU! We’re enclosing another envelope for your convenience for those who have not as yet given.

PLEASE GIVE!! 
Support Tenants’ Rights!
Support Affordable Housing!!
Support MVUT ! !

Download PDFs from Mailing:

MVUT Early July Mailing page 1

MVUT Early July Mailing page 2

Westchester Aims to Give Tenants Attorneys in Eviction Cases

Homelessness Prevention Program (HPP)

Our HPP remains our biggest program activity. Day-in, day-out, we’re filing funding applications for tenants facing non- payment petitions. Since the pandemic, many tenants who had lost income during the shutdown (loss of job, reduction in hours, etc.), have not been able to get their income level back to where it was pre-pandemic. MVUT have assisted literally hundreds of tenants in accessing the Emergency Rental Assistance Program (ERAP) funds. The ERAP funds could pay up to twelve (12) months’ back rent and additionally three (3) months’ rent going forward, for a maximum of fifteen (15) months. Many tenants however lost more than fifteen (15) months of income as a result of the pandemic. We see numerous tenants who still owe $10,000.00, $15,000.00 and more! Even after they’ve received the maximum ERAP funds! The work in processing Westchester County “Universal” applications for rent arrears assistance is especially time and energy intensive. Karen Heim has been particularly outstanding in working with the tenant clients in applying for and receiving financial assistance to pay their rent arrears. Way to go, Karen! We also continue to utilize various methods, in fighting their evictions. Just recently via Zoor we’ve helped represent tenants in Westchester Human Rights’ Commission and New York State Division of Housing and Community Renewal (NYS-DHCR) Conferences to maintain their tenancies.

Tenant Action Project (TAP)

A few new building organizing campaigns on the horizon are 159-165 East Third St., 256 New Main St. in Yonkers and Greater Centennial Homes. We’ll be doing some city-wide flyering of the enclosed fund-raising flyer: “Attention Mt. Vernon Tenants” and we’d expect that we’ll get requests for organizing assistance from that. We’ll keep you posted. As part of our TAP we helped organize a “Rally and Court Watch” in Yonkers on March 24. We’re enclosing a copy of a 3/31/23 article in the Journal News regarding this.

“Fair Housing Month”

April was “Fair Housing Month” and MVUT participated in a number of events in recognition of “Fair Housing.” “Fair Housing” is a twelve (12) month issue and if people have experienced any form of discrimination or know someone who has experienced discrimination, please call the MVUT office at (914) 699-1114 and we’ll direct them who to call.

Mt. Vernon Comprehensive Plan

Mt. Vernon United Tenants (MVUT) has been on the Advisory Committee for Mt. Vernon’s Comprehensive Plan Committee and has been participating with them the last few months. On April 25 there was a city-wide Public Workshop on the “Comp Plan” at the Mt. Vernon Boys and Girls Club. There are five (5) different subcommittees for the “Comp Plan”. They are:

1) Open Space & Parks
2) Mobility and Transportation
3) Business & Economics
4) Housing
5) Downtown Revitalization

There will be subsequent meetings of the “Comp Plan.” If you or someone you know would like to get involved with the “Comp Plan,” call the Associate Planning Commissioner Katherine Mella at (914) 508-8086.

Support Tenants’ Rights!

Support Affordable Housing! !

Support MVUT!!!*

*Please fill out the enclosed Funding Appeal and return it to MVUT!

Download Early May 2023 News and Update:

MVUT – Early May 2023 Update
Funding Appeal Form and News Clip
LoHud Article on Good Cause Eviction

MVUT Annual Meeting

At our Annual Meeting held on Tuesday October 12, we re-elected two (2) sitting board members to three (3) year terms: Deborah Carter of 300 Gramatan Avenue, and David Locklear of 60 East First Street. A third open seat was not filled and an additional seat became open as a result of Vivian Spady (of New Rochelle) having been hired as a staff person to work on the Emergency Rental Assistance Program (ERAP). We thus have two (2) vacancies on our board. We’d like to have at least one (1) if not both of those vacancies filled by tenants from the southside as our major state funding source, the Neighborhood Preservation Program (NPP) requires that a third of our board be residents of the southside, our “Neighborhood” according to the NPP.

As always, we reviewed the many accomplishments of the past year and previewed the upcoming challenges of the New Year. Key on both points is the pandemic and our ERAP efforts.

Emergency Rental Assistance Program (ERAP)

MVUT cosponsored two (2) workshops on various housing issues with a primary focus on IERAP: Thursday October 7th at St. Mary’s Church on South High Street in Spanish, and Thursday October 21″1 at Greater Centennial Church on South 8th Avenue in English. The City of Mt. Vernon co-sponsored both events along with Legal Services of the Hudson Valley (LSHV) , Hudson Valley Justice Center (HVJC), Catholic Charities and the Human Rights Commission of Westchester. The workshops were primarily attended via ZOOM and included tremendous amounts of important and vital tenants’ rights information. We mentioned above that Vivian Spady has come onto the MVUT staff to work on processing ERAP applications. As of October 22 MVUT had already completed three hundred twenty-seven (327) ERAP applications, uploaded documents for an additional two hundred twenty-five (225) clients, and referred a further six hundred sixty-five (665) tenants to the ERAP e-mail and/or Hotline!

We are enclosing a two (2) sided flyer on ERAP with instructions on how to apply and specific contact info on MVUT, LSHV and Catholic Charities. Please share it with your neighbors.

$$ For MVUT

As always we ask that you support MVUT financially to enable us to build on our successes. Especially at this time, around the end of the calendar year, many people are looking to make tax-deductible donations. Maybe you can make such a contribution? Or maybe you know someone who can ? A parent? An aunt or uncle? A friend? A friend of a friend? Any “person of means” could be looking to make a year-end contribution. MVUT is a 501(c)(3) organization and donations from any person are fully tax-deductible under the Internal Revenue Service (lRS) Code! Please put an)’one who may be in a position to make such a contribution in touch with us. We could really use it!!!

We’re enclosing an October 27,2021, Journal News Article on the City of Newburgh, New York, passing a “good cause” eviction law. MVUT is working in coalition with various other organizations on this issue, both locally and statewide, and similarly for a “Right To Counsel” ordinance both county-wide and state-wide. More in an upcoming mailing.

SUPPORT TENANTS’ RIGHTS !
SUPPORT AFFORDABLE HOUSING ! !
SUPPORT MVUT !!!

Download MVUT ERAP Application

Newburgh Passes Good Cause Eviction Law