The state funding is now available to help landlords that couldn’t participate in the New York State Emergency Rental Assistance Program due to a federal requirement for tenants to participate in the application process.

The application process opened Thursday with the Landlord Rental Assistance Program providing up to 12 months of past-due rent to landlords who are ineligible for the federally funded program because their tenants either declined to complete an application or vacated the residence with arrears. Priority will be given to those landlords owning small-to-medium-sized properties.

Eligible landlords must own units leased for at or below 150 percent of fair market rent for their location and must have documented the rental arrears accumulated after March 1st, 2020 that are owed by a tenant who either vacated the unit or is declining to participate in the Emergency Rental Assistance Program. Priority is given to those landlords owning a building with 20 or fewer units and who apply within the first 45 days of the program’s opening date of October 7th.