New York City is accepting new housing voucher applications for the first time in 15 years

Some New Yorkers in need of housing may have a chance later this year. According to Gothamist, for the first time in 15 years, New York will begin accepting applications for the Section 8 program and issuing thousands of federal rental vouchers.

The city plans to begin accepting new applications for the Section 8 program for the first time since the Bloomberg administration. They are grappling with rising rents, a dwindling housing supply and record high homelessness driven by a surge in newly arrived migrants as well as longtime New Yorkers who can't afford the cost of permanent housing.

Nearly 100 New York City households already use Section 000 vouchers to pay their rent. Most of these vouchers are issued by the New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA). A NYCHA spokesman said the agency will begin accepting new applications later this year.

There is no clear timeline for when the city will begin accepting new applications or begin issuing federal grants. There were more than 100 families on the waiting list just five years ago. according to NYCHA, there are about 7 applicants left.

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“As New York City's largest landlord, NYCHA knows firsthand the importance of affordable housing and the need to use every available means to provide more families with decent, safe and sanitary housing,” said spokesman Michael Horgan.

Horgan said NYCHA will contact each remaining applicant and issue vouchers based on when they applied and where they are located. preference scale, which prioritizes homeless people, victims of domestic violence and people with disabilities.

How does Section 8 help with housing costs?

Section 8, formally known as the housing voucher program, is considered the gold standard among existing housing assistance tools because it is backed by the federal government and has no expiration date. This means people can continue to receive assistance as long as they qualify. requirements about income.

In New York, that's just under $50 a year for a single person and $000 for a family of four. Voucher recipients pay no more than 70% of their income on rent, with Section 600 covering the rest up to a certain threshold.”fair market“established by the federal government.

Recipients must be U.S. citizens or legal permanent residents and can use their vouchers in all 50 states and U.S. territories, as long as they find a landlord willing to accept them. Across the country, the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development issues vouchers to local agencies such as NYCHA for distribution and oversight.

Hard to find, easy to lose

In New York, it is illegal for a landlord to refuse to accept a potential tenant because he will pay the rent with Section 8 or other subsidy funds. However, the practice remains widespread, and government agencies have been unable to enforce so-called “source of income discrimination” in the five boroughs for many years.

Lack of enforcement is a problem for new Section 8 recipients because people have only 120 daysto find accommodation after receiving a voucher before they lose it. Despite the obstacles, vouchers are critical to the nearly 98 New York families who rely on them to make housing affordable.

According to Christine Miller, executive director of the group Homeless Services United, issuing more vouchers would have a significant impact on people in the shelter system. “Maximizing the use of federal resources like Section 8 is a smart budgetary practice because the city has to spend less money,” Miller said.

Federal subsidies could reach low-income people who are unable to participate in the city's CityFHEPS housing voucher program. Adams has so far refused to pass new laws expanding access to the CityFHEPS program for people who earn slightly more than the existing income limit and families facing eviction.

How do I apply or make sure I'm still on the waitlist?

NYCHA closed its waitlist to new applicants, except under certain circumstances, back in December 2009 after tens of thousands of people added their names to the limited number of vouchers allocated by HUD through congressional appropriations. Closed waitlists are common across the country, HUD spokeswoman Olga Alvarez said.

Alvarez said most housing agencies “have waiting lists that are either closed or have very long waiting periods.”

NYCHA said it will post notices on its website and in local media when it is ready to reopen the application portal. But if you get on the waitlist, stay on it, said Robert Desir, a Legal Aid Society attorney who specializes in rental assistance.

“We encourage people to apply and notify NYCHA of any changes in address, family or status,” Desir said. “It’s great that the waiting list has been reduced by such a significant amount, but I’d like to know how it happened.”

List of applicants

NYCHA says it has cut more than 90% of its waitlist, in part by providing subsidies to thousands of people in recent years. This includes New Yorkers receiving new emergency housing vouchers during the COVID-19 pandemic, and by eliminating applicants who are no longer eligible for housing because their income has risen above the threshold.

The agency is removing the names of people who have not responded to multiple requests for updated information or have changed addresses without notice in the last 15 years since the waitlist was closed. Those who received a voucher but were unable to find an apartment within four months are also removed from the list. Applicants are also eliminated upon death.

The agency also removes applicants from the list for various administrative reasons, according to agency rules. NYCHA said it could not immediately determine what percentage of applicants were removed from the list for administrative reasons.

“It's good news that we've gotten to a point where they can reopen that list because they've placed people,” said Miller, a spokesman for Homeless Services United. “But if it happens for other reasons, like people not responding, that’s not a good thing.”

Is housing guaranteed after receiving a voucher?

Although Section 8 is the gold standard for housing vouchers, it does not provide strong protection. About 4500 families who received vouchers are currently looking for apartments.

Tammy Davis, a 60-year-old medical assistant from Brooklyn, said she had been evicted from two apartments over the past 15 years even though she had consistently paid rent with a Section 8 voucher. She said she applied for more than 500 apartments before she was finally approved for an apartment in Bushwick through the city's affordable housing lottery. According to her, she moved there in April 2023.

“I was afraid that Section 8 would be taken away from me because I had been planning to move for months,” Davis said. “It was very, very stressful.”

Those who have waited years may find themselves out of work after the city removed their names from the extensive Section 8 waiting list for administrative reasons. The agency advises applicants to update their contact and household information through self-service portal NYCHA or through contact center NYCHA.

The Legal Aid Society's Desir says the city should complement the voucher initiative by cracking down on real estate owners and agents who refuse to accept them, a familiar demand among voucher holders and their advocates.

“We really want them to issue vouchers, especially for people in shelters and overcrowded conditions,” he said. “It would also be great if the city strengthened its enforcement of income discrimination.”

When can i apply? NYCHA said the timing for accepting new applications has not been determined, but will occur later this year.