State Assembly 43 Timothy Hunter

Website: https://timhunter4ny.com/

Social media: @TheTimHunter @the_tim_hunter

What type of housing do you currently live in?
Regulated Rental Apt
Are you, or have you ever been, a landlord?
No
1. If yes, where & how many apts. do/did you own?
Does your campaign accept contributions from real estate developers (including related individuals), corporate lobbyists, organizations that participate in the carceral system, and/or landlords?
No
Have you ever worked in, or had another affiliation with, the Real Estate industry? No
Have any of your campaign or advisory staff held a position as a corporate lobbyist or an executive role with the Real Estate industry?
No
1. If so, how can we be assured you will have tenants’ interests in mind? (250 characters)

Values and Vision

Do you believe housing is a human right?
Yes
- If so, what does that mean to you? (500 characters)
What type of action have you taken in the past around issues of housing justice? (500 characters)
I’ve worked closely with many different advocacy groups on housing issues during my time working in the legislature under Senator Salazar. As the sponsor of Good Cause Eviction legislation, we worked on sign on letters, and events to push the advancement of GCE legislation, and other important bills such as HVAP. Recently, I’ve worked with Crown Heights tenants Union and Brooklyn Eviction Defense to fight back against illegal evictions that have been attempted in our district.
What do you think are the most pressing Housing issues & what action would you take to address them as a state representative? (1000 characters)
Over 80% of our district are renters and I plan to advocate for the working class families of the 43rd to ensure that we bolster our tenant protection laws. We must start by passing legislation to protect our tenants and ensure that people can stay in their homes as there is still an ongoing pandemic. We cannot allow for mass displacements/evictions to occur in our district or anywhere in our state. Enhancing tenant protections by passing Good Cause Eviction legislation is the first step. We must also house our homeless neighbors by funding more than 30,000 units of supportive housing for those leaving our shelter system and foster care. I will also prioritize ending 421a and 485a tax breaks and advocating for more taxes on the wealthy. We need to invest in public housing, by prioritizing NYCHA residents who have lived in buildings with much needed repairs and lack of resources.
Have you or anyone close to you (relation, friend, etc) been evicted or been threatened with eviction?
Yes
Have you ever had to fight a landlord for repairs or faced harassment?
Yes
Do you believe that housing should be de-commodified?
Yes
- Please explain your answer (500 characters)
  Housing is a human right, and in one of the wealthiest states in the world, we should be able to treat it as such. Our district is facing record high rates of homelessness, and that is because housing costs are directly tied to the market. I am a believer in state subsidized housing for our low-income communities. I spent a lot of time working on housing affordability issues, and I hope to work closely with Housing Justice for All and other groups to ensure that we pass legislation that allows for us to keep housing affordable and accessible to all.
Do you believe in publicly owned and controlled housing?
Yes
What is one rent and/or eviction protection you would enact if you had the opportunity? (500 characters)
I would enact Good Cause Eviction. Without good cause, households across the State face retaliatory eviction and unsafe living conditions, especially critical now because the eviction moratorium is expiring and people are behind on rent. Passing “good cause” eviction protections would cover 1.5M households statewide.
Do you agree that all evictions are bad?
Yes
- If no, why not? (500 characters)
Do you support the concept of universal rent control?
Yes

Overview on Housing

Do you support the NYCHA 2.0 Rental Assistance Demonstration (RAD) and other privatization schemes?
No
1. Please explain why or why not (250 characters)
  I do not support the privatization of NYCHA, and believe that we must fully fund NYCHA instead of privatizing it.
NYCHA has suffered from chronic underfunding, neglect, and disrepair. What do you see as the best strategies to rectify these problems? (500 characters)
I believe that it will take a combination of both state and federal dollars to fund NYCHA. As a state, we must pass taxes on the wealthy to create direct streams of revenue going into our public housing authority. As a legislator, it will be my mission to push our federal representatives to bring down more aid for NYCHA.
Do you support setting aside 15% of all units created in new state-subsidized affordable housing projects for homeless families and individuals?
Yes
How would you use your office to put pressure on landlords to make repairs and stop harassing tenants? (500 characters)
Our office would put pressure on landlords through working with grassroots tenant advocacy groups to call out landlords that harass their tenants and neglect them. I will ensure that we prioritize tenant issues and concerns and work with other local leaders to write letters to landlords that are causing harm to tenants. We will also work with DOB to follow up with repairs, and in issues of deed theft, we also will not hesitate to reach out to other agencies and departments if necessary.
Do you support regulating the 300,000 deregulated rent-stabilized apartments?
Yes
Will you support increased funding and oversight hearings of DHCR’s Office of Rent Administration to ensure timely responses?
Yes
How will you ensure people who owe back rent due to COVID are not evicted and do not continue to owe money? (500 characters)
I believe that we must reopen ERAP for NYC residents and ensure that landlords and tenants are aware of the resources available to them. There are many tenants who were unaware that ERAP was available to them, and we must ensure that the state provides the resources to cover this back rent to prevent tenants from being evicted.
Would you support financial and criminal penalties against landlords and brokers that deny a prospective tenant housing based on using a tenant blacklist?
Yes

Current Bills and Campaigns

Do you support Good Cause Eviction Protections?
Yes
If Good Cause is not passed this session, what will you do to ensure it gets passed in 2023? (500 characters)
I will continue to organize with advocacy groups that are fighting for progressive housing legislation, and will work with them to organize tenants in our district. The same way we got the tenant protection laws of 2019, will be the same way we get Good Cause Eviction passed. We must organize thousands of tenants from across the state and bring them to Albany to demand the passage of Good Cause Eviction in next year’s budget.
Will you support ending MCIs?
Yes
Will you commit to fully funding the Housing Access Voucher Program?
Yes
Do you support the Tenant Opportunity to Purchase Act (TOPA)?
Yes
How will you support tenants in your district opting into TOPA? (500 characters)
I will support these tenants by assisting them in organizing tenant unions so that if an opportunity to purchase does arise, they will be prepared for it. There are many pros to increasing the number of tenant unions in our community. They help in holding landlords accountable and bringing awareness to issues. We will hold forums and town hall meetings about the impact this legislation will have on our community, and how we can use it to increase tenant ownership in the state.
Do you support the move to legalize basement apartments and ADUs?
Yes
Do you support tenants’ right to collective bargaining?
Yes
Do you support 421a or Gov Hochul’s proposed 485w?
No
Do you support fully funding the Excluded Workers fund?
Yes
Do you support the “Excluded No More” bill?
Yes
Are you committed to making sure every tenant in the state has free access to counsel in Housing Court?
Yes
Will you commit to fully funding statewide Right to Counsel in 2023’s budget?
Yes