Bloomberg Will Charge Rent to Homeless With Jobs

Flickr user J. Yung

Homeless shelter residents with jobs will have to start paying rent later this year, thanks to a new plan to end "open-ended handouts" from the city. Though the city hopes that this will encourage residents to save money and move out, critics say the plan would keep the homeless from saving enough. According to the Daily News, residents would have to pay 30% of their gross income as rent in the first year of the program, and the highest of either 30% of the resident's income or 50% of the cost of their housing the second year.

The plan would likely start in September, earning an estimated $2-3 million a year. Deputy Mayor Linda Gibbs said, "This is not a moneymaker. We're not doing this to close budget gaps. It's really the principles that are involved." The city tried to implement a plan like this before since state law actually requires New York to charge rent to shelter residents who can afford it, but the Legal Aid Society threatened to sue the city. They're doing the same this time around, saying the plan won't benefit anyone. "It makes far more sense to allow those families to save their meager funds in order to be able to get out of the shelter system sooner," said Steven Banks, chief attorney of the Legal Aid Society. The prices do seem pretty steep. Though a family of three making $10,000 a year would just pay $36 a month in rent, one making $25,000 would have to pay $946 in rent, which doesn't leave much for savings.

Albany is reportedly working on legislation that would reverse the law requiring workers in shelters to pay rent. Coalition for the Homeless senior analyst Patrick Markee said, "You don't balance budgets in the middle of the greatest economic crisis since the Great Depression on the backs of homeless families and children."

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By Jaya Saxena in News on April 13, 2010 6:20 PM

Comments [rss]

BDS=(Boycott.Divest.Sanction)

this is what our soldigers are fighting for.

they're fighting for free speech zones and the right to be arreseted to if you dont get a permit when you assembly with more than 5 people.

bomb, bomb iran so that companies can off shore your job, so that you have the right to be uninsured, unemployed, homeless, and still be considered a leech on society.

god speed soldiger, go and fight so that we can spend more money on bombs than on ....well, anything.

rah, rah. usa. usa.

Darrell

What kind of fucked up city do we live in where it costs almost a thousand dollars a month to live in the homeless shelter?

LB

NYC !

Falulah Baker

Another way this could backfire: might actually discourage shelter residents from getting and keeping jobs.

Sorry, but I really feel like most people who end up homeless have something pretty seriously wrong with them..theres something more powerful at work here than being just "down on their luck". I'm not convinced these people can be rehabilitated, ever.

I'm not a big fan of the taxpayers footing the bill either, but I'm not sure this is the solution.

Nyctini11

Is it $946 a month or annually?

Sounds like all this is gonna do is force more people onto the streets, out of shelters.

Politburo

This is stupid, but if it's the law then it's the law.

My question would be who voted for the law in the first place, and why is it such a big deal to overturn it today?

CaptainMXC

$946 to sleep on a cot and have a curfew? That's nice. Then they wonder why there is so much illegal subdividing in apartments. It's better to rent a room than deal with this. Why not have them pay into a state run savings account and then, once they have enough money, pay the check out to the landlord and the furniture store? That's real help. Just take their money so they can never leave...that's that's really nice and evil...

disembodied cat head

he's a little late for April Fool's Day.

[seriously, paying 'rent,' money used to inhabit A HOME from month to month, in order to BE HOMELESS sleeping in a shelter where one's every move is monitored / restricted is a joke - especially if it's for "the principle." FAIL]

LB

Just plain stupid ! If those homeless that have jobs could afford rent I doubt they would stay in a shelter where you have no privacy, have to be on guard your entire time their, And lets not even talk about the conditions .

Fadlo K. Shell

There are people within our government who are truly evil.

I wonder how they can even stand to look at themselves in a mirror.

JacqueMehoff

exactly, the fact that linda gibbs actually said This is Not a Money maker says a lot about this administration.

now watch them used the buzzwords of responsibility and accountability. we can say the same about his administration.

FelixtheCat & Christine Quinn'

This asshole mayor should have the shelter take the money and put it in a savings account so they can muster enough for deposit and rent for future housing but to charge them to live in a filthy overcrowded dangerous shelter is a crime. and by the way it isn't just the crackheads but there are children and seniors in these shelters. Bloomberg is fucking sick

Beeman

i agree with this idea. asking the shelter residents who have jobs to pay something towards their own care and feeding and then when they are able to move into their own places, give them back all the rent they paid. Maybe even have the city match the funds.

Give these people a real hand up.

Paying rent may be beneficial to the residents. I am not a psychologist, but I would think it might help these people in some subtle way. Double the rent money gives these people a goal and an incentive to help themselves.

This would have to be done very carefully. Most of these people are vulnerable.

Beeman

for example, If someone pays $10/month rent, when they move out, give them back $20 per month that they were in the shelter. Wasn't sure if that was clear in my original post.

potsmoker

LOVE IT! its a great idea...pay %50 of your measly salary to live and pay rent in a homeless shelter where you have all these rules or be forced out and be homeless...hahha

or be forced to move out to pay 50% or more of your measly salary in a home risking once again....homelessness...

gl;oomberg you da man....you biyotch, only a cabla of evil devil worshipping elite could think this is a great idea,,,oh yeah and the cold hearted suckers who believe that gloomberg and his lying cheating rich cronies know how to run anything.

ribaldry

AND THE BANKS KEEP FORECLOSING. THE MIDDLE CLASS IS DECIMATED. SEE YOU IN THE SUBWAY STATIONS SLEEPING WITH THE MOLE PEOPLE

Spirit of 76

"Open-ended handouts"? I can't imagine anyone actually wanting to stay in a shelter any longer than they have to, even if it is free. When was the last time Bloomberg actually visited a shelter and spoke with anyone there?

moonbeam

You'd be surprised. Some people would prefer to live in a shelter, rent free, so they can spend their money on alcohol and drugs.

lizzie d

Bingo! I think this is a great idea. I'm not a fan of Bloomberg but this idea is fantastic. Do you think these homeless shelters are free? Who do you think is paying for them? We are? Is it really too much to ask to get homeless people into the idea of budgeting and paying for something they are receiving? I think it's a great first step to get them into the swing of society.. I am afraid this could backfire and prevent some homeless from getting jobs, though.

Mike1901

u are truely a moron. many ppl now a days has no work and are struggling. that is why they are in the shelter in the 1st place. if u make dish out money to stay at shelters, they will have to stay at these shelters longer, so either way, u will continue to pay taxes anyway. Maybe u outa see what how being poor is really like then u can say "BINGO! I THINK ITS A GREA IDEA" u probably have all the money in the world to burn but MANY people dont.