Why a veteran with $3,600-a-month housing stipend struggled to find housing in NYC

Landlords and brokers are unfamiliar with programs for vets

Alex Donahue (Credit: LinkedIn and Western New York Veterans Housing Coalition)
Alex Donahue (Credit: LinkedIn and Western New York Veterans Housing Coalition)

One U.S. Air Force veteran with a $3,600-a-month housing budget had to become homeless before he could find a place to live in the city.

Alex Donahue, 31, moved to the city to attend the City University of New York, and had a monthly housing allowance from the Post-9/11 G.I. Bill.

But he had difficulty finding an apartment, because his housing allowance – along with additional veteran’s compensation – comes tax free. So on paper, it looked like he didn’t earn any income.

“I’d heard the city runs on money, and I came here with that thought: If it’s income, it’s income,” Donahue told the New York Times. “But I was turned away from place after place because my tax returns said zero.”

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Landlords and real estate agents he spoke with were unfamiliar with veterans and income and were unwilling to accept it, Donahue said.

When Donahue’s stay at a hostel drew to a close, he was left with only one option. He got in touch with the city’s Department of Veterans’ Services, which gave him a bed in a veteran’s shelter.

Working with the agency, he was able to find a landlord who would take his income documentation for a $1,500-a-month studio in Flushing, Queens. It helped too that the broker he found for the apartment on Craigslist was also a veteran. And the city offers landlords a $1,000 bonus – an amount that’s since been raised to $3,500 – if they rent apartments to homeless veterans. [NYT] – Rich Bockmann