Erie County announces the opening of the portal for the New York State Emergency Rental Assistance Program. The New York State Emergency Rental Assistance Program (ERAP) will provide income-qualified renters who experienced financial hardship due to COVID-19 with up to 12 months back rent and up to three months future rent. Utility arrears assistance will also be available in some cases.
The NYS ERAP application portal opened on Tuesday, June 1, 2021 at 9 AM. OTDA also has a call center dedicated to the ERAP program open 7 days a week from 8 AM to 7 PM at 1-844-NY1-RENT or 1-844-691-7368. Information about the program is available now on the NYS Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance (OTDA) ERAP website.
During the first 30 days of the program, priority will be given to applications from households at or below 50 percent of the Area Median Income, and households with veterans, people currently unemployed, pending eviction cases, mobile home residents, and people living in communities disproportionately affected by COVID-19 . Therefore, Erie County urges low income applicants to submit applications to the program as soon as possible during the month of June to receive priority evaluation. ERAP payments will be made directly to the landlord on behalf of the tenant. Tenants will be notified of the payments made on their behalf.
NYS Emergency Rental Assistance Overview Flyers are available in multiple languages:
Instructions for Landlords to apply on behalf of their tenants.
Instructions for Landlords in Arabic
Instructions for Landlords in Nepali
Instructions for Landlords in Spanish
Instructions for Landords in Burmese