NYC Starts Charging Rent at Homeless Shelters

[sws4420]

Even the homeless can't escape the high price of a night in New York City.

City officials this month began charging rent to some families staying in homeless shelters.

The policy applies only to shelter residents who have income from jobs.

They could be expected to pay up to half their earnings.

Some shelter residents say the new rule will ruin their chances of saving enough money to get an apartment.

One single mother living in a Manhattan shelter tells The New York Times she got a letter saying she had to give up $336 of the $800 she makes each month as a cashier.

The city says it is only charging people who can afford to pay.

About 2,000 families are expected to be covered by the new rule.


http://www.nypost.com/seven/05092009/news/regionalnews/nyc_starts_charging_rent_at_homeless_she_168417.ht m

[MedicCook]

What is wrong with that? I have to pay rent so I have a roof over my head.

[sws4420]

The part of the story that grabbed me was those who were claiming to 'save up' for an apartment. Is that even possible? How does one save up for something you'll have to pay for each month?

[Thomas the Solitary]

Security deposit.

[trojanmiro]

you cant even get a studio apartment in nyc for less then 800. there is no way that lady would be able to afford any apartment at all.

[mb*]

could you imagine living on $800/mo in NYC?

i wouldn't be able to live on that here, and we have a much lower cost of living.

[MedicCook]

I am living on less than $700 a month.

[mb*]

:jesus:

[trojanmiro]

I am living on less than $700 a month.

dude i still cant believe that you cant do something about that. i mean i know the kids need support but they shouldnt have to make you live in poverty.

[Donna]

dude i still cant believe that you cant do something about that. i mean i know the kids need support but they shouldnt have to make you live in poverty.

ditto. :sad:

[MedicCook]

dude i still cant believe that you cant do something about that. i mean i know the kids need support but they shouldnt have to make you live in poverty.


ditto. :sad:

Already talked to a lawyer about it and that is how it is with the NYS support formula. Nothing can be done about it.

[sws4420]

Horseshit. Dom's dad's support got reduced to $25 a week because he's experiencing "economic hardships". You're getting bad information.

[Cutesunshine]

$25 every 2 weeks. All he had to do was appeal to the support magistrate, he got it like that for 6-9 months. I dont even get back pay or anything. I asked him how he did it, and because he has another daughter he's supporting, he brought in all of his pay stubs, and his bills, and they reworked the formula. He was falling in the poverty set lines. So he has this time for a break and to rework his income.

Both parents’ incomes are used to figure out how much child support the father has to pay because both parents have to support their children.
This is how they decide:
�� Deduct (subtract) these things from each parent’s income:
― alimony or maintenance paid to a former husband or wife
― child support paid to other children by court order
― public assistance and supplemental security income (SSI)
― city taxes
― social security and medicare taxes (FICA)
�� Combine (add) the incomes of both parents after making those deductions, and multiply the total you get by the correct percentage:
― 17% for one child
― 25% for two children
― 29% for three children
― 31% for four children
― not less than 35% for five children or more
CROSS-BOROUGH COLLABORATION / 2002 7
THE BASICS: GETTING CHILD SUPPORT IN NEW YORK STATE
�� Divide the figure you get between both parents according to both your incomes (on a “pro rata” basis). This means that if the father earns twice as much as you, he must pay twice as much child support.
The father will have to pay additional amounts for child care, if you are working or going to school. He also pays more for medical care not covered by insurance, and educational expenses for your child.
Sometimes Support Magistrates use a short cut. They look at the father’s child support income (his income after local taxes, FICA, etc.) and multiply it by the correct child support percentage (17% for one child, 25% for two children, and so forth).
If paying this amount will make the father’s income be under the federal poverty level, then he will only have to pay $25 per month.
$25 per month is the minimum amount allowed under the CSSA.
If the father is unemployed (and not receiving unemployment benefits) or is receiving public assistance, you are still entitled to child support, but only $25 per month, no matter how many children you have with him. If you later learn that the father is working (or receiving unemployment benefits), you can go back to Family Court to seek an upward modification of your support order.

http://www.inmotiononline.org/assets/pdfs/TheBasicsSeries_English/Child_Support_in_NYS.pdf