SCRIE question

[penelope]

Hi -- my parents have been separated for many years, but both their names are on the lease for their rent-stabilized apartment. Their finances have been completely separate as they lived apart.

Several years ago my father applied for SCRIE and the rent was frozen. Earlier this year he was very sick and my mother moved into the apartment to take care of him. She has a small pension in addition to her social security and together they make more than the limit, so they figured when the SCRIE renewal came up they would just let it expire.

In the meantime my father became completely disabled and is now in a nursing home. They say he will need to turn over his entire social security check to the home. Without his income, my mother's income alone for last year is just over the limit, but she had to quit her job this year to care for my father, so her 2010 taxes will indicate that she is under the limit. What is the best way to handle this with the SCRIE renewal, which is this year? They have always renewed the lease in both of their names and it has never been questioned.

They don't want to do anything wrong but if the rent is "unfrozen" it will be significantly higher, and even if she reapplies in her own name next year it can only be re- frozen at the higher rate, which will cause her significant hardship.