Westchester Reporter

YONKERS, NY – Mayor Mike Spano today said he is asking the City’s Inspector General to conduct a random audit of the 277 homes that are part of the City’s Affordable Housing Program to determine if there are more participants who are fraudulently claiming their home as their primary residence and whether they are illegally subletting them.

Mayor Spano said he is acting because of the revelation that County Legislator Christopher Johnson is maintaining ownership of an affordable taxpayer-subsidized apartment at 421 North Broadway, despite having bought a house on Rose Hill Terrace that he also claims as a primary residence.

“You can’t have two primary residences any more than you can have two primary marriages or two primary birthplaces,” said Mayor Spano. “Primary means one, pure and simple. Unfortunately, Legislator Johnson’s apparent abuse of this program requires that we make sure this is an isolated case and not widespread.”

The Yonkers Department of Planning & Development and the Yonkers Fair Housing Implementation Office facilitated the purchase of single-family homes and apartments for lower income persons as part of the settlement of the housing desegregation lawsuit. Between the early 1990’s and the early 2000’s, approximately 270 housing units were made affordable with a second mortgage from the City that would be forgiven after 30 years of occupancy.  The mortgage required that the household maintain the home as their primary residence, be first-time homebuyers and not sublet the dwelling. If the housing unit was sold before the sunset of the mortgage, the home must be sold at a price affordable to the same income group as the owner originally was in when they came into the program.  A family that entered the program at the 80% AMI level could only sell to a new owner at the current 80% AMI income level or lower.

About 90 percent of the participants submit an annual certification verifying their primary residence on a timely basis to the City. Currently, the City does not otherwise verify the accuracy of the certifications. 

“By conducting a random audit we can assure the taxpayers who subsidized these homes that the recipients are actually living there and are not illegally subletting them while living elsewhere,” added Mayor Spano.

“When the public reads about an elected official apparently violating the terms of a program designed to give people a chance to own a home, they immediately wonder who else might be gaming the system,” said Mayor Spano. “I have no evidence that anyone else is, and I hope they aren’t, but a random audit can provide the public with the assurances that they deserve.”

Original source can be found here.