How to Get Welfare to Help You Pay the Rent

What Welfare Pays For Rent

If you receive public assistance (“welfare”), you should receive a “basic allowance” for food, clothing, transportation, utility bills and other expenses and a “shelter allowance” for rent.

The shelter allowance is sometimes combined with your basic allowance. Other times it is “restricted,” that is, sent directly to you or your landlord in the form of a rent check.

The amount of the shelter allowance is based on your family size. The maximum shelter allowances (where heat is included in rent) are:

Household size

$215
250
286
312
337
349

If your shelter allowance is less than your rent, you may be able to get welfare to pay the rest of your rent the (“excess”) if you qualify for help through a case called Jiggetts v. Dowling.

How to Get Help Through Jiggetts:

To get Jiggetts, you must meet the following requirements:

Your family receives welfare “ADC” or “Family Assistance” because a child under 18 lives with you.
Your rent must be more than the shelter allowance.
Your rent must be “reasonable” (what is reasonable depends on your family size and income).
You must owe back rent.
Your landlord must take you to court for back rent.
You must have no other way to pay the back rent.

To apply for Jiggetts you need the help of a legal services office or an approved advocacy organization (a list is provided on the back of this page).

HIV Rent Enhancement>

If you have AIDS or have had HIV-related symptoms you may be eligible for a higher shelter allowance. You can get up to $480 in rent for yourself, plus $330 for every other person who is living with you and on your welfare case. To apply call the Division of AIDS Services and Income Support (DASIS) Service Line at (212)645-7070. DASIS clients are also eligible for other financial benefits and services.

How to Get Back Rent When You Receive Welfare

Rent Allowance: If you did not receive shelter allowance or if your landlord did not cash shelter allowance checks, you can get these shelter checks issued without penalty.

Rent Advance: If you received a shelter allowance but did not use it to pay for rent, you may be able to get these shelter checks reissued or “duplicated.” You will have to pay the duplicated rent back to welfare by a reduction in your future welfare (called a “recoupment”).

Excess Back Rent: You may be able to get back rent for the rent over your shelter allowance (“excess”). You will have to pay it back (usually by a reduction in your ongoing benefits). Without a special exception, you may only be able to get 4 months of excess back rent.

Applicant Back Rent: Sometimes you can get back rent for the months before your welfare case was opened. While the grant is not limited to the shelter allowance, you have to pay back any amount you get above the shelter allowance. Generally, welfare pays no more than 4 months of back rent. You will have to prove that you can pay future rent. If you owe back rent when you apply for welfare, make sure to ask for a grant to pay for those rent arrears.

How To Get Back Rent When You Don’t Receive Welfare

Even if you are not eligible for ongoing welfare because you have too much income (for example, from employment, SSI or unemployment insurance benefits), you may be eligible for a one time grant to pay back rent. This grant is known as a “one-shot deal.”

How To Qualify: You can only get a one-shot if you can prove you can pay future rent. You should have a good reason why you fell behind in your rent payments. You will also need a good explanation for how you will pay your future rent. For example, your income has increased, a family member will help pay, or an expense that led to your owing rent has been eliminated or reduced.

Generally, welfare pays no more than 4 months of back rent unless someone in the household is: