FAQs
1. Where can I get an application for Section 8?
2. I have a problem with my landlord, can you help me?
3. How can I get a license to be a contractor?
4. Where can I get Empire tax forms?
5. Where can I get grants for seniors or people with disabilities?
6. Can you help me buy a house or adjust my mortgage?
7. Can you help me fix up my house?
8. Tell me more about the NSP program.
1. Where can I get an application for Section 8?
SECTION 8 TENANT BASED VOUCHERS - "HOUSING CHOICE VOUCHERS"
This program is administered by the Nassau County Office of Housing & Homeless Services. Tenant-based vouchers increase affordable housing choices for very low-income families ( i.e. families with income below 50% of area median income). Families with a tenant-based voucher choose and lease safe, decent, and affordable privately owned rental housing that meets HUD's Housing Quality Standards (HQS) and has a reasonable rent as compared to other units in the area.
FAMILY UNIFICATION vouchers are made available to families for whom the lack of adequate housing is a primary factor in the separation, or threat of imminent separation, of children from their families or in the prevention of reunifying the children with their families. Family unification vouchers enable families to lease decent, safe and sanitary housing.
Families are eligible for these vouchers if they meet two conditions:
- The public child welfare agency has certified that it is a family for whom the lack of adequate housing is a primary factor in the imminent placement of the family's child, or children, in out-of-home care, or in the delay of discharge of a child, or children, to the family from out-of-home care; and
- The Housing Agency has determined the family is eligible for a housing choice voucher.
For more information about the program or to get an application call 516-572-1900 or visit http://www.nassaucountyny.gov/agencies/Section8/ .
2. I have a problem with my landlord, can you help me?
The Office of Community Development does not address landlord-tenant disputes. We do make referrals to the Nassau/Suffolk Law Services Committee, Inc. which is located at One Helen Keller Way, in Hempstead, New York. The Nassau/Suffolk Law Services programs provide free legal and support services to income-eligible individuals with housing problems, including eviction proceedings and other landlord-tenant problems, Section 8 subsidy and public housing issues and foreclosures. For more information about these programs and services call 516-292-8100 or visit http://www.nslawservices.org/legalservices.shtml .
3. How can I get a license to be a contractor?
Except for asbestos abatement work, all construction work in New York is regulated at the local level. Contractors who perform remodeling on RESIDENTIAL homes in Nassau County must be licensed and insured. All licenses are issued for a period of two years unless suspended or revoked. Contractors in Nassau County must pay a fee of $400 for a 2 year license, plus a one-time fee of $50 into the restitution fund. Additionally, contractors must: 1) be able to prove that they are of good moral character and financial responsibility; 2) be able to prove that they are the real owners and possess title to the business; and 3) maintain an actual establishment at a definite location within New York State. Please note that working without a license is a Class A misdemeanor punishable by a fine of up to $5000 and/or 1 year in jail as well as seizure of vehicles and tools. Licenses may not be transferred or lent out. For more information, please contact the Nassau County Office of Consumer Affairs at 571-3871 to request that an application be sent to you or visit http://www.nassaucountyny.gov/agencies/oca/licensing/FAQ.html. See Nassau County Local Law 6-1970 for the complete law and all the rules and regulations.
4. Where can I get Empire tax forms?
Empire Zone Certification Process and Application Forms
The Nassau County Empire Zone was designated in March of 2006 to encourage economic growth, new job creation and business investment within seven distinct geographic areas throughout the County. The seven distinct geographical areas within the Nassau County Empire Zone encompasses portions of the following ten communities: Bethpage, Elmont, Freeport, Glen Cove, Hempstead, Inwood, New Cassel, Roosevelt, Uniondale, and West Hempstead.
The advantages businesses gain from becoming a certified Empire Zone enterprise are primarily through tax incentives made possible by Empire State Development's Empire Zones Program. While some tax incentives benefit businesses that do not undergo the Empire Zone certification, more enhanced tax incentives are available for certified and qualified Empire Zone businesses. These incentives are designed to attract new businesses, encourage existing businesses to expand operations and to create additional job opportunities for local residents. Additionally, certified Empire Zone businesses may be eligible to receive utility rate reductions for increased gas and electric use through our local utility, National Grid. For more information contact the Nassau County Business Development Unit at 516-571-1948 or visit http://www.nassaucountyny.gov/agencies/EconomicDevelopment/EmpireZone/incentives.html .
LINKS
5. Where can I get grants for seniors or people with disabilities?
Through a grant awarded by the New York State Housing Trust Fund Corporation, the Nassau County Office of Community Development makes funding available to physically challenged residents living in privately owned single-family homes or apartments to make their homes more accessible. Under this program also known as “Access to Home” or ABLE, eligible improvements might include ramps, wider doors for wheelchair access, chair lifts and bathrooms that are accessible.
The Nassau County Office of Senior Citizen Affairs also provides a wide-array of services. For more information about entitlement programs and financial assistance for seniors call 516-227-8900 or visit http://www.nassaucountyny.gov/agencies/Seniors/Entitlement/SocialSecurity.html .
The Nassau County Office for the Physically Challenged serves as the Disability Rights Advocacy agency for adults and children with disabilities for this County’s population of over 250,000. In doing so, it plays a leadership role in the provision of programs and services to enhance the independence and productivity of citizens with disabilities, in developing and advocating for legislation on the local, State, and Federal levels of government, and in working with the business community, health systems agencies, educational institutions of higher learning, school districts, transportation providers, cultural and arts centers, local municipalities, and private and non-profit disability and rehabilitation organizations to remove attitudinal and architectural barriers to consumerism, employment, education and independent living. For more information about the services available through the Office for the Physically Challenged call 516-227-7399 or visit http://www.nassaucountyny.gov/agencies/OPC/index.html.
The Nassau County Departments of Mental Health, Chemical Dependency and Developmental Disabilities Services promote the development of a comprehensive, and coordinated system of services that enables those with a mental illness, chemical addiction or developmental disability to maximize their functioning to live safely and successfully in the community. For more information about the services offered through this department call 516-227-7057 or visit http://www.nassaucountyny.gov/agencies/MentalHealth/index.html.
6. Can you help me buy a house or adjust my mortgage?
Nassau County Executive's Homeownership Center offers homeowners facing foreclosure, and in need of assistance, a newly established County hotline that will provide counseling services, including helping residents negotiate with lenders to avoid losing their homes. Foreclosures are on the rise throughout the region due in part to the proliferation of "sub prime" loans that were offered to home buyers. As interest rates on those loans rise, many homeowners have difficulty keeping up with payments and some face the loss of their property.
Nassau County, a HUD-approved housing counseling agency, will help to assess a homeowner's financial situation, determine what options are available, and help negotiate with vendors. The counselors are familiar with the various workout arrangements that lenders will consider and will know what course of action makes the most sense for homeowners. In addition, the counselor can call the lender with homeowners or on behalf of a homeowner to discuss a workout plan. By meeting with a counselor before mortgage payments are too far behind, homeowners can protect themselves from future credit problems. Counseling services include: Fair Housing Assistance- Home Equity Conversion Mortgage Counseling - Home Improvement and Rehabilitation Counseling - Homebuyer Education Programs- Loss Mitigation- Mobility and Relocation Counseling- Money Debt Management- Mortgage Delinquency and Default Resolution Counseling- Post purchase Counseling- Predatory Lending- Renters Assistance - Services for Homeless. For more information contact the Homeownership Center Hotline at 516-571-HOME or visit http://www.nassaucountyny.gov/agencies/EconomicDevelopment/homeownership.html.
7. Can you help me fix up my house?
As administrator of the Community Development Block Grant Program, Nassau County Office of Community Development in conjunction with participating municipal consortium members offers a residential rehabilitation program designed to assist income-eligible participants to renovate their homes. Participation is determined by number of household occupants and total household income. Residential rehabilitation activities focus on weatherization needs and assisting disabled individuals with home modifications. A primary goal of the program is to enable individuals to remain in the homes that they love in the communities in which they have settled. Community stabilization is encouraged by the implementation of an interest free 5-year recapture note on the home. For more information about this program please contact your local village, city or town hall or click. RES REHAB
8. Tell me more about the NSP program.
The Neighborhood Stabilization Program (NSP) enables Nassau County to work with not-for-profit and for-profit partners to purchase foreclosed homes in areas hardest hit by foreclosure. Nassau County received a direct Neighborhood Stabilization Program allocation from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) in the amount of $7,767,916 for acquisition, rehabilitation, demolition, and resale of foreclosed homes within Nassau County to owner-occupants with a household income at or below 120% of the area median income (AMI). Additionally, Nassau County was awarded an NSP grant from the New York Housing Finance Agency (HFA) in the amount of $1,697,577 and $1,365,000 from New York State Affordable Housing Corporation.
The Federal NPS’s goal was to invest in communities that are being devastated by foreclosures. Nassau and Suffolk rank in the top five areas in New York State for foreclosures, and the areas targeted by NSP are areas that could least absorb the high number of foreclosures. Statistics indicate that each foreclosure brings down surrounding property values by almost 9%. For more information about Nassau County’s NSP program call 516-572-1915 or visit NSP.
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