Latest news with #EmergencyRentalAssistanceProgram
Yahoo
03-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Owners of DC wine bar express concerns over new tariff policy
WASHINGTON ()— Many small business owners are filled with anxiety as President Donald Trump announced a slew of new tariffs on foreign imports. 'Terror is what was really going through our head for the past few weeks and trying to get a grasp on it, what does it mean? Is there any way to stock up or pre-buy or reserve,' said Diane Gross, owner of Cork Wine Bar and Market, who was waiting on the policy announcement Wednesday afternoon. Later that day—on what the president deemed 'Liberation Day'—Trump announced sweeping reciprocal tariffs on foreign products. The plan includes a baseline 10% tariff on all foreign goods, with higher rates set for certain countries, including a 20% tariff on goods imported from the European Union. 'Reciprocal, they do it to us, we do it to them,' said Trump. He also announced a 25% tariff on all foreign automobiles and auto parts. DC Council advances changes to Emergency Rental Assistance Program Though lower than the threatened 200% tariff on European wine and spirits, Gross said it'll still have an impact. 'It's really this up and down of uncertainty which really puts small businesses in jeopardy,' she said. Gross and her husband, Khalid Pitts, have been operating their wine bar for nearly 18 years and specialize in selling European wine. 'One of the things we built a reputation on is having high-quality wine at value prices,' said Pitts, who explained any tariff, regardless of the amount, will drive up prices. 'A tariff is a tax. It's an increased cost for that good.' Democratic lawmakers have criticized the tariffs, claiming they will lead to a trade war and increased costs for middle-class America. 'The term 'Liberation Day' really does strike me as so hypocritical. I don't know who is being liberated,' said Sen. Angela Alsobrooks (D-Md.). 'I haven't seen how middle-class families will benefit from any of the policies of this administration.' In response, Alsobrooks introduced the Tariff Transparency Act, which aims to get more information on the impact of the president's trade policies. 'What we're asking is the International Trade Administration to give us the facts. To tell us the impact of these tariffs on every part of our society,' she said. 'We want businesses to know what the impact will be to them and to consumers. We know many of the taxes will be passed off to the consumers.' Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
02-04-2025
- Yahoo
Montgomery County high school on lockdown following assault involving student, police say
MONTGOMERY COUNTY, Md. () — A high school in Montgomery County was placed on lockdown Wednesday afternoon following a reported assault, the Montgomery County Department of Police (MCPD) stated. In a social media made shortly before 2 p.m., MCPD said Watkins Mill High School was on lockdown following a reported assault on campus. DC Council advances changes to Emergency Rental Assistance Program Details remain limited, however, a student was taken to a hospital with a non-life-threatening injury as police continued to investigate. Shortly before 2:30 p.m., police said the school was transitioning to a shelter-in-place. This is a developing story. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
02-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
DC Council advances changes to Emergency Rental Assistance Program
WASHINGTON () — The D.C. Council advanced amendments to the Emergency Rental Assistance Program (ERAP) Tuesday, which would allow landlords to more easily evict tenants who are behind on their rent. ERAP is meant to help tenants making less than 40% of the median income secure housing. It comes with certain eligibility requirements, such as proof of residency, income and assets. However, those requirements were suspended during the pandemic, and tenants were allowed to self-certify. Some of the changes to ERAP that advanced Tuesday would limit the time and how much it costs landlords to reschedule evictions, clarify which documents landlords need to comply with ERAP, and make clear that a rent waiver defense must be proven during a legislation that last fall addressed many of the problems that were created due to the COVID-era provisions that led to the rental crisis. DC council passes emergency legislation allowing more closed-door meetings Alex Rossello with the Apartment and Office Building Association says the new amendments reinject some of the same problematic policies into the program. 'It would lead to kind of a similar situation that we had before the emergency legislation was passed in the fall, where people would continue racking up rental debt while their own economic situations aren't changing,' said Rossello. 'So, we believe that's bad for renters and bad for housing providers. And so, that's why we oppose the amendments.' The amendment advanced on a 9-3 vote, with Councilmembers Parker (D- Ward 5), McDuffie (I-At-Large) and Felder (D-Ward 7) voting present. It's unclear when the next vote will take place, but more amendments are possible. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
25-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
While pushing #CancelRent during COVID, NYC mayoral candidate Brad Lander was charging rent
During the early days of the COVID pandemic, then-City Councilman Brad Lander was a leading champion of the #CancelRent movement. But at the same time he was pushing for a rent moratorium, Lander — now a leading candidate for mayor in this year's election — charged his Brooklyn tenant more than $1,600 per month in rent, according to a review of his financial disclosures. Lander's disclosures, provided to the Daily News by the city Conflicts of Interest Board, say he pulled in between $5,000 and $50,000 in rental income per year in both 2020 and 2021, a period when he adamantly pushed the #CancelRent demand as COVID wreaked havoc on New York's economy and on the many who'd lost their jobs. Lander's disclosures only offer ranges as opposed to exact dollar figures, but his campaign confirmed Monday the tenant at his Park Slope property paid him $1,625 per month in 2020, 2021 and 2022, tallying up to $19,500 per year. Lander and his wife live in the same building. A spokeswoman for Lander, who was elected city comptroller in November 2021 and has sought to distance himself from some of his most progressive stances since becoming a mayoral candidate, said his tenant in 2020 and 2021 was an Afghan refugee employed by the city government who didn't lose his job during COVID. The spokeswoman, Dora Pekec, also noted the amount Lander charged his tenant was below market rate, with a study from the MNS real estate agency finding the average rent in Park Slope in January 2021 was $2,759 for a one-bedroom and $3,698 for a two-bedroom. 'What Brad was advocating for in 2020 was that folks who lost their jobs should not be evicted and should receive rental assistance from the state, which is something Andrew Cuomo failed to do,' Pekec said, referencing how then-Gov. Cuomo didn't enact rent relief packages that were as extensive as some housing advocates had hoped. 'All this shows is that Brad Lander has the heart to rent out a unit to a political refugee in need,' she added. Lander's push for pandemic rent relief at times went beyond calling for an eviction moratorium and rental assistance. The News found 10 social media posts Lander made in 2020 and 2021 in which he specifically urged Albany lawmakers to #CancelRent, a term used during the pandemic to rally for a suspension of the requirement for tenants to pay rent. Lander also attended #CancelRent rallies at the time and issued letters to state urging them to enact a rent moratorium. The #CancelRent movement was decentralized and composed of several factions pushing different proposals. Some supporters wanted rent cancelled only for New Yorkers who lost their jobs, with the understanding that the state would also compensate landlords via the so-called Emergency Rental Assistance Program. Others advocated for a more expansive plan that'd abolish rent for all tenants. Lander urged his Twitter followers on May 1, 2020 to sign a petition that called on city tenants to go on 'rent strike' by refusing to pay their landlords if Cuomo and the state Legislature didn't enact a universal moratorium 'for the duration of the public health crisis.' Along with sharing the petition, Lander posted a photo of himself wearing a face mask with '#CancelRent' written across it in black Sharpie. 'You shouldn't be surprised there's a movement to #CancelRent,' Lander tweeted a few months later. 'You should be surprised there's not a revolution.' Ultimately, state lawmakers and Cuomo — who resigned as governor in August 2021 amid sexual misconduct accusations and is now another leading 2025 mayoral candidate — never cancelled rent, a decision Lander panned in March 2021. 'Albany has continued to kick the can down the road,' Lander tweeted March 1, 2021 before thanking organizers of a 'Sunset Park march to #CancelRent & #InvestInOurNY.' Though rent was never canceled, the state enacted a moratorium on evictions for much of the pandemic. The city also froze rent increases for all stabilized tenants in 2020. Affordability, especially when it comes to housing, is a key issue in June's Democratic mayoral primary race, which features nearly a dozen candidates vying to unseat Eric Adams, whose reelection bid is in turmoil amid his federal corruption indictment and surrounding scandals. The most left-leaning candidate in the race, Queens Assemblyman Zohran Mamdani, has vowed to if elected freeze rent for all stabilized tenants in the city for at least four years. Lander wouldn't make the same commitment as Mamdani at a mayoral candidate forum last month. 'If the data supports it,' Lander said at the forum when asked if he'd as mayor freeze rent for stabilized tenants.
Yahoo
14-03-2025
- Yahoo
Alabama police chief, two others charged with COVID-19 relief fraud
The police chief of Brundidge and two others have been indicted on federal charges alleging COVID-19 relief funds fraud. According to the indictment, Brundidge Police Chief Samuel Cornelius Green, 50, Sharon Jones Green, 53, and Schemillia Levera Fenn, 40, all from Troy, are facing federal charges for their roles in a conspiracy to fraudulently receive funds through the Emergency Rental Assistance Program. When creating the Emergency Rental Assistance Program, Congress made up to $46 billion in funding available to assist households that were unable to pay rent or utilities due to financial hardships caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. It is alleged that the conspiracy began on March 2, 2021, and continued through at least November 9, 2021. Samuel Green is charged with 13 counts in the indictment, including one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering; three counts of money laundering; one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud; six counts of wire fraud; and two counts of aggravated identity theft. More: Forecasters upgrade weekend storm threat across Alabama to level seen about once a year The same indictment charges Sharon Green with nine counts, including one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering; three counts of money laundering; one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud; three counts of wire fraud; and one count of aggravated identity theft. Schemillia Fenn is charged with one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud. They could not be reached for comment, and court records did not show if they have attorneys. Acting United States Attorney Kevin Davidson announced the indictments. Contact Montgomery Advertiser reporter Marty Roney at mroney@ This article originally appeared on Montgomery Advertiser: Alabama police chief, others indicted on COVID relief fraud charges
