Tenants who are 62 years old or older may qualify for full or partial exemption from rent increases, depending on their rent amount and income.

Senior citizens are eligible if their incomes are below a maximum limit set by the municipality, and they are paying at least one-third of their income for rent.  In NYC, the SCRIE program is administrated by the DFTA.  Tenants must apply for the exemption, then the DFTA sends the Landlord another application to fill out and return, which includes information regarding the ownership of the building and documentation of the legal rent.  If the application is approved, the Landlord receives a real estate tax abatement, which is now automatically applied by the Dept. of Finance (DOF).  Many Landlords continue to have problems with regard to unused certificates from prior years and credits being revoked years later after a DOF audit finds alleged duplicate certificates.  (Note: The DOF has revoked credits from the 1980's and added interest, which, in some cases is more than the amount of credit that was revoked.)  Outside NYC, in participating ETPA counties, applications for SCRIE exemptions are made to the D.H.C.R. on the Tax Abatement Certificate and Senior Citizen Rent Increase Exemption Application and Order.  If approved, Landlords receive certificates for real estate tax payment.

Municipalities with a SCRIE program are listed below.

Westchester : City of Mount Vernon; City of New Rochelle; City of White Plains; City of Yonkers; Town of Greenburgh; Town of Mamaroneck; Village of Mamaroneck; Village of Pleasantville; Village of Tarrytown; Village of Larchmont.

Nassau : Town of North Hempstead; Thomaston; Great Neck; Great Neck Plaza.

Landlords with SCRIE tenants frequently have other problems related to the SCRIE abatements, including escrow overages on mortgages, miscalculation of rent roll, incorrect filing of Annual Rent Registrations and mistakes in Renewal Leases.

DHCRexpert.com processes SCRIE applications and SCRIE credits.  We also correspond with lenders to resolve escrow problems and handle other SCRIE related problems.

Click here to Order SCRIE related paperwork.

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