I have written about the New York Emergency Rental Assistance Program, or ERAP, before. It is the program through which New York State is trying to distribute the funds allocated therefor by the federal government under the December, 2020 and March, 2021 COVID relief bills. Funds given to New York are being distributed by the Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance (the “OTDA”). At least, that’s the idea.
Here’s how ERAP is supposed to work. Property owners with tenants who are behind on rent set up profiles through the ERAP on-line platform. Tenants apply, or property owners apply on tenants’ behalf, for relief. Each tenant application is given a unique 5-digit alphanumeric identifier. The property owner links the application to his or her profile. Both parties supply certain information (W-9, bank information, a copy of the lease and a statement of arrears from the owner; income, social security number, employment information from the tenant). Someone at the OTDA reviews the file and back rent ins miraculously deposited into the owner’s bank account four to six weeks after the initial application is made.
That is how it is supposed to work.
Information is supplied by the property owner in two ways. Leases, proof of ownership and attestations of back rent are uploaded as PDFs. There is a special portal to upload W-9 and direct deposit information. However, until recently, this information could also be uploaded by means of a PDF of an executed signed W-9 and a cancelled check.
I have had trouble with the portal for W-9s and bank information. I have been able to upload that information through the portal for one of my land-owning entities, but I have not been able to do so for the other. I’m not sure why that is the case. It just worked with the one but when I try it with the other, I get a message saying “Oops! Something went wrong. Try back again shortly. If you are still having problems, call customer support”.
OTDA has outsourced customer support to a third-party service provider. The people who answer the phone are not IT specialists. If you have an IT problem, they write up a support ticket for an IT person to call you. If you ask when that should be they tell you, “We don’t know the answer to that question”. They call when they call.
(The firm to whom OTDA has outsourced the help desk also can’t answer most substantive questions. I noticed recently that the status page of one of my tenants’ applications has a note under the “Owner Status” section saying “RiskAlert”. When I asked the help desk what that meant and how I could address it, they said, “All we can tell you is whether the application has been reviewed. Only your case worker can answer other questions.” “Can I speak with the case worker?” I asked. “No – but we will note in your application that you requested that.” Without the ability to answer technical questions or substantive questions, their diplomatic skills must be working overtime.)
I discovered the W-9 problem when I applied for ERAP in the first week of June. I called the help desk and asked how I could fix it. They wrote up a help ticket. I asked when they would call back. They said, “We don’t have the answer to that question”. In the meantime, I uploaded a PDF of a W-9 and a cancelled check, assumed that that would be an adequate work-around, and went about my business.
While I was driving home last Thursday, my phone rang. It was the IT specialist from ERAP. He said, “I understand you are having trouble uploading W-9 information?”
“I am not in front of my computer now. I am driving.”
“I am calling on a help ticket for the ERAP program?”
I had forgotten about that help ticket in the seven weeks since I had ordered it. The memory came back to me slowly as we spoke. He said, again,
“I understand that you are having trouble uploading W-9 information?”
“Only for one of my landowning entities. I was able to do it for the other.”
“Are you the owner of A-1 Capital Enterprises?”
“I’ve never heard of A-1 Capital Enterprises. Are they the steak sauce people?”
I heard fumbling in the background, then a grunt. He said,
“Oh, here it is – Versailles Estates. I see you have uploaded your W-9 for that entity.”
“Spahn Ranch is the problem.”
“Eh?”
“Spahn Ranch, LLC. The other landowning entity. The entity I called about, that is having problems with the W-9 portal.”
“Do you have the landlord number for Spahn Ranch?”
I did not, because I was driving. I asked,
“Can you look it up? You have my name, and the name of the entity is Spahn Ranch, LLC. It should be in your system.”
“Sorry, I can’t do that.”
“You can’t help with the entity that needs help?”
“Sorry?”
“You can only help me with the entity that does not need help?”
“Is there anything else I can help you with while we are on the phone?”
“No.”
So that was that until this morning, when I called the ERAP help line again to find out about the W-9 for Spahn Ranch. I was still getting an error message when I tried to input it through the portal. I wanted to know whether the upload of the PDF had been sufficient. It should be an adequate substitute – after all, the PDF has the same information as what is typed into the portal. The woman who answered seemed young, slightly southern, and used to responding politely to questions that she couldn’t answer. I told her my problems. She asked,
“What browser are you using?”
“Firefox, Edge and Chrome. Mostly Chrome, because that is what you guys say works best.”
“Have you tried it in anonymous mode?”
“What’s that?”
She told me. I tried. Same problem.
“What is the error message you get?”
“’Oops! Something went wrong!’”
“Can you try again later?”
She seemed like a nice girl, and I have found that stroppy doesn’t get results. I said,
“I’ve been trying later since early June. It’s August now.”
“I will put in a help ticket request for you.”
“What’s the ETA for the help request?”
“Maybe today, maybe forty-eight hours. I couldn’t tell you.”
I have heard that before. I said,
“Look – I uploaded a PDF of a W-9 and a cancelled check as regular documents. Is that enough?”
“I will ask my supervisor.”
Some clicks. Her supervisor responded.
“She says that we can no longer accept W-9s and banking information via PDF. You need to submit it through the portal.”
“But I can’t submit it through the portal! That’s why I sent a PDF! That’s why we are having this call!”
“I know this is frustrating. I have put in a help ticket request. An IT tech will contact you as soon as they can.”
“When can I expect to hear from them?”
“Maybe today. Maybe within forty-eight hours.”
I considered asking her when the forty-eight hour period during which they will return my call will start, but decided against it. The only way to answer that question would be to submit a help request ticket.
I understand the local psych center is holding a bed for you.
Not possible – they said I was too far gone.