Ariel Hirsch testifies for UHAB on HDFC and Mitchell-Lama impacts
Ariel Hirsch of UHAB urges passage of the full suite of bills, focusing on Intro 978A and Intro 307's impacts on HDFC and Mitchell-Lama cooperatives, citing cases of seniors waiting months for SCRIE approval through HPD's paper-only process and language barriers in documentation requirements.
Good afternoons, Chair Zhuang, Hanif, Lee, thank you for holding today's hearing.
My name is Ariel Hirsch, and I am the Director of Policy at UHAB.
For over 50 years, UHAB has helped low- and moderate-income New Yorkers become homeowners in the buildings where they already live.
We provide technical assistance.
assistance and training to 1,200 HDFC cooperatives and 24 HCR supervised Mitchell-Lama co-ops.
And we're here today to urge the council to pass basically the full suite of bills, but I want to focus my testimony specifically on 978A and Intro
307 and talk a little bit about how they impact HDFC shareholders and Mitchell-Lama shareholders specifically.
I think Intro 978, we've talked a lot about.
We need to update this to be in line with state law.
It is a cruel thing to be on a fixed income but not poor enough to be protected from rising carrying charges, especially in a place with
rising inflation and compounding operating and carrying charges that put cooperatives, Mitchell-Lamas, HDFCs, in particular vulnerabilities for their overall financial and physical health.
Intro 307 would make it easier for residents to apply and keep their benefits.
HDFC and Mitchell-Lama cooperators, as we heard earlier, are still using paper applications with HPD.
I think we talked a bit about Mitchell-Lama.
We talked a little bit less about HDFC co-ops.
We work with many, many folks working through SCRI and RE applications and recertifications.
A few just sort of standout examples.
We've been working with a senior who's been trying to apply for SCRI since February of this year and still has not received approval.
We understand there is one person in HPD asset management approving these HDFC applications and is wildly...
oversubscribed for the amount of requests they are getting.
And we're also working with a senior who needed to provide additional IRS documentation for their SCRI application and had real difficulties procuring this due to language barriers, lack of support.
Overall, we can do a lot, but we can only do so much.
And we really need a focus in this overall legislative package on the ways that this impacts especially Mitchell Lama and HDFC cooperatives and the overall financial and fiscal health of their buildings.
Thank you.