Deutsch Reminds about Senior Citizens Homeowners Exemption
Councilman Chaim Deutsch (Sheepshead Bay, Manhattan Beach, Brighton Beach, Homecrest) updates his constituents that if you currently are utilizing a tax exemption for property taxes, the deadline to renew that exemption is March 15, 2021.
Some More information:
- Senior Citizens Homeowners Exemption (SCHE) is required to be renewed every two years.
- Disabled Homeowners Exemption (DHE) is required to be renewed every year.
- Clergy Exemptions are required to be renewed every year.
- Questions can be emailed to my office at CDeutsch@council.nyc.gov, or you can call us at 718-368-9176. You can also email the Department of Finance directly at recertify@finance.nyc.gov.
- The most efficient way to submit your renewal application is online. Click here to proceed.
For New applicants:
- If you are a homeowner who has not received a property tax exemption in the past, I encourage you to peruse the eligibility requirements below to determine if you qualify. If you think you do, you can apply by clicking here, or by contacting my office at 718-368-9176. The deadline to apply is March 15, 2021.
SCHE Eligibility Requirements:
- All owners of the property must be 65 or older, unless the owners are spouses or siblings. If you own the property with a spouse or sibling, only one of you must meet this age requirement.
- The total combined annual income of the property owner and spouse or co-owner cannot exceed $58,399. Income includes, but is not limited to, Social Security, retirement benefits, interest, dividends, IRA earnings, capital gains, net rental income, salary or wages, and net income from self-employment.
- You must own the property for at least 12 consecutive months prior to the date of filing for the exemption, unless you received the exemption on your previously-owned residence.
- All owners must occupy the property as their primary residence except in cases of divorce, legal separation, or abandonment. Owners receiving in-patient care at a residential health care facility may be eligible for the exemption.
AG James Challenging Rule Facilitating ‘Rent-A-Bank’ Schemes
New York Attorney General Letitia James filed a lawsuit against the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) over a rule that would undermine New York’s efforts to prevent predatory lenders from charging high interest rates on loans and bypassing state interest rate caps — or usury laws — already in place.
The new rule would enable predatory lenders to circumvent these caps through ‘rent-a-bank’ schemes — arrangements in which heavily regulated national banks act as lenders in name only for the express purpose of enabling payday lenders and other non-bank lenders to evade state consumer protection laws.
“This rule would be a mistake at any time, but the Trump Administration’s attempts to unleash predatory lenders on unsuspecting New Yorkers in the midst of a pandemic is cruel and heartless,” said James. “Rather than stem the tide of exploitative and predatory loans that trap vulnerable consumers in cycles of debt, the Trump Administration wants to open the floodgates by sanctioning schemes that allow the financial services industry to target New Yorkers and paint a bullseye on their backs. Rent-a-bank schemes make a mockery of federal law, and the administration’s sanctioning of these schemes undermines the sovereignty of the states where legislatures and voters have told payday lenders, in no uncertain terms, that their ‘services’ are not welcome here.”
Adams to Demand Vaccine for Care Workers
Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams, Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer, and City Council Member Ydanis Rodriguez (D-Manhattan) today will urge the city and state to prioritize an immediate and robust COVID-19 vaccine deployment for home care workers and nursing home staff who are operating in high-risk environments, amid the slow rollout of the immunization effort.
They will address their concerns and their bipartisan plan of action to speed up vaccination and expand access outside the NYC Health + Hospitals/Gotham Health Dyckman clinic in Washington Heights, one of the hardest-hit communities in this pandemic where seven-day test positivity rates have exceeded ten percent in recent days.
This event is slated to take place at 11:15 a.m. today, Jan 6 at NYC Health + Hospitals/Gotham Health Dyckman, 175 Nagle Avenue in Manhattan.
Gillibrand Announces First Bill will be Health Force
U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand announced that her first bill in the new Congress will be her Health Force, Resilience Force, and Jobs to Fight COVID-19 Act in order to aid the country’s lagging vaccine distribution campaign.
The Health Force, Resilience Force, and Jobs to Fight COVID-19 Act (Health Force), championed by Gillibrand and others last year, would invest billions in local public health infrastructure and recruit, train and employ hundreds of thousands of Americans to administer and distribute vaccines, particularly in underserved communities.
“New York’s health systems are stretched to the limits and as the virus surges across the state, federal support is necessary to effectively distribute and administer vaccines,” said Gillibrand. “Implementing my Health Force proposal is a critical step for the new Congress, and new administration, to combat this pandemic. By enacting a robust federal plan we will be able to train hundreds of thousands of public health workers, create jobs in struggling communities, and ensure that every community has the resources to reach every American in need of the vaccine. Every day without a Health Force is another day that we’re falling behind. I will continue fighting for the creation and implementation of this life saving program.”
Cornegy to Give out More Food
Council Member Robert Cornegy (D-Bedford Stuyvesant, Northern Crown Heights) has been hosting Wellness Wednesdays starting in the darkest times of the Covid-19 pandemic, and he continues to do so in 2021.
After giving out more than 10,000 boxes of food in 2020, he will bring free food to neighbors. Sponsors include the Campaign Against Hunger and Met Council.
This event is slated to take place at 11:00 a.m. today, Jan. 6 at NYCHA’s Louis Armstrong Houses, 415 Lexington Avenue at Tompkins Avenue in Bedford-Stuyvesant.
