City Officials 'Outraged' at Public Housing Authority Rent Increases

The following is a letter that Mayor Mary Foster sent to Mr. Luigi D'Ancona, Director of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and also sent to Patch. It is dated June 20, 2012. 

Dear Mr. D’Ancona,

I am writing on behalf of myself and the City of Peekskill Common Council to express outrage at a process that allows flat rents at a Public Housing Authority complex to be raised 50% in a single year. It is unfathomable that working families can be allowed to be hit with monthly rent increases of $140 to $1,085 for units at the Towers, depending on the size of the unit, and $350 to $800 for units at the townhouses and garden apartments. Residents of the Peekskill Housing Authority have received notices this past week indicating monthly rent increases of 18% to 76% and I know that 1 or 2 residents have contacted your office inquiring about their tenant rights. This new increase is on top of a 25% rent increase last year.

 Families are being hit the hardest. The new monthly flat rents have created a situation where the Housing Authority is no longer maintaining affordable rental units for working families. The new monthly rents of $1,375 and $1,615 for a 2 bedroom apartment and $2,050 and $2,168 for a 4 bedroom apartment represent a one-year increase ranging from 26% to 56%.  A 5 bedroom apartment at the Towers is now $2500. This new rent is $1085 more than the current rent and represents a 76% increase in one year. This is unconscionable.

 We ask that this process be reviewed immediately by your office and that any rent increase be deferred until this matter is thoroughly reviewed.

 If this system of double digit annual rent increases is allowable under the Federal process, then we will ask that our Congressional representative, Nan Hayworth, meet with your office and address a system that is seriously flawed.

 Respectfully,

Mayor Mary F. Foster