Tenants utilizing the city’s voucher program sued the Adams administration this week, claiming bureaucratic snafus are triggering rent arrears and putting them at risk for eviction.
Eight tenants filed the lawsuit Wednesday, the New York Times reported. They allege city agencies are dropping the ball on applications to renew CityFHEPS housing vouchers, which pay a portion and sometimes a majority of their rent.
CityFHEPS is a critical tool for tenants looking to stay out of shelters, and makes up a significant portion of the rent stream in some buildings. Since 2018, more than 26,000 households have leaned on the program to find apartments, with the city paying hundreds of millions every year.
But each year, tenants need to recertify their eligibility to receive the aid, and because of errors in their paperwork, staff shortages and bureaucratic incompetence, some are suddenly cut off. (Another issue, which has been the subject of other lawsuits, is that some landlords and rental brokers illegally turn away voucher holders seeking apartments.)
Some tenants say the city has failed to process recertifications despite their multiple attempts to file the paperwork. The email system tenants use for recertification has also been problematic.
If renewal applications don’t get processed, tenants don’t receive their aid, putting them at risk for eviction and landlords in a bind.
“Owners are very concerned about what happens when the voucher stops paying,” Jay Martin, executive director of landlord group CHIP, told the publication. “In many cases, the renters don’t have the resources, financially, to cover the rent.”
City officials said they are working on simplifying the application process and hiring more staff to expedite application and renewal review. Martin said in recent weeks applications have been processed more effectively.
An NYU Furman Center report two years ago found voucher recipients were less vulnerable to eviction. In the first nine months of the pandemic, subsidized households accrued only $1,200 in arrears, on average.
— Holden Walter-Warner
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