Testimony: CityFHEPS Is Highly Valued, But Delays, Discrimination, and Payment Interruptions Threaten Housing Stability

Testimony: CityFHEPS Is Highly Valued, But Delays, Discrimination, and Payment Interruptions Threaten Housing Stability

Before the NYC Council Committee on General Welfare

Yvonne Peña

Thank you to Chairperson Crystal Hudson and the New York City Council's Committee on General Welfare for the opportunity to testify today on CityFHEPS. My name is Yvonne Peña, and I am a policy analyst at the Community Service Society of New York (CSS), a nonprofit organization that promotes economic opportunity for all New Yorkers.

Earlier this year, CSS surveyed 727 New Yorkers who had applied for or renewed CityFHEPS. Of these, 550 had been determined eligible, and 497 were currently housed with the subsidy. We asked about their experiences applying for and maintaining CityFHEPS, searching for housing, and resolving problems with their subsidy.

Our findings speak directly to several issues the Committee is considering today.

First, we want to emphasize that CityFHEPS is highly valued by recipients.

Ninety-three percent said the program was worth the effort required to apply for and maintain it. And when asked what they would change, more than one-quarter said they would change nothing or instead offered positive feedback.

At the same time, respondents also shared the administrative burdens and delays they encounter.

The application process generally works, but respondents still experienced delays and unnecessary hurdles.

Most respondents said the instructions were clear, found it easy to gather the required documents, and knew that their application or renewal had gone through. Still, more than half had to submit the same documents more than once and 44 percent said the process took a long time to complete.

As one respondent described what that experience felt like: "The waiting period is very long and stressful, and it's hard to get updates on where my application stands." Another called for "faster processing that eliminates months of waiting."

Receiving CityFHEPS does not mean quickly securing housing.

More than half of our respondents had trouble finding an apartment within CityFHEPS rent limits, and among those who secured housing, 38 percent spent five months or longer searching. Source-of-income discrimination was widespread, with 76 percent reporting some form of discrimination such as a landlord or broker not responding after the respondent mentioned CityFHEPS, or being told that they don't accept housing vouchers. This discrimination contributed to shopping letters expiring before households could find an apartment.

As one respondent said, "Finding a place that accepts the program is nearly impossible."

Finally, CityFHEPS payment interruptions can put housing stability at risk.

Twenty-five percent of respondents with CityFHEPS said their rental assistance had stopped at some point in the previous three years even though they believed they still qualified. More than one-third said these interruptions lasted four months or longer. Among those experiencing an interruption, 83 percent accumulated rent arrears, 65 percent were taken to housing court, and 56 percent reported ultimately being evicted.

One respondent told us: "Thank you first of all for my place in Brooklyn, I'm having a problem with CityFHEPS paying my rent on time. I just moved in not that long ago. But they are not sending payments on time. I don't want to lose my place that I just got."

Our research does not tell us exactly what every legislative or administrative solution should look like. But it does show the importance of timely application decisions; understanding how long it takes voucher holders to secure housing; and having systems that allow tenants, landlords, and DSS to identify and resolve administrative payment problems before they threaten otherwise stable tenancies.

Thank you for the opportunity to testify and share findings from our CityFHEPS research.

Issues Covered

Affordable Housing

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