By Yepoka Yeebo
DNAinfo Reporter/Producer
MANHATTAN — A $50-a-month-rent program designed to keep families out of homeless shelters is failing because of bad management, according to a report by the city comptroller, the New York Times reported.
The Department of Homeless Services' Advantage program has given rent subsidies to thousands of homeless breadwinners who found jobs and left shelters, but a report by Comptroller John Liu found that poor management put families in dangerous buildings with faulty wiring and rodent problems, and landlords pressured some tenants into illegal side deals, forcing them to pay as much as $400 extra a month, the Times reported.
“I don’t begrudge the Department of Homeless Services for tackling a problem that is very difficult,” Liu said, the paper reported. “But this audit shows that there have been significant issues in management.”
The signature Bloomberg administration program has been called one of the most generous housing subsidies in the country and is funded by city, state and federal money. Most families pay $50 in rent a month and the rest is paid for by city vouchers for up to two years.
“The comptroller ignores the issue of critical importance — that thousands of families are returning to safe and suitable housing in the community,” Seth Diamond, commissioner of the Department of Homeless Services told the Times.
Diamond also denied families were being placed in dangerous buildings, the paper reported.
