New York City laws are clear in warning that in the Big Apple “it is illegal for a landlord to refuse to accept CityFHEPS vouchers, or any other form of financial assistance to pay rent.” This is stipulated in the regulations of the Human Rights Law, which states that holders of rental assistance vouchers, whose landlords or real estate agencies do not accept their vouchers when obtaining a property, can report them for acts of discrimination.
But in many cases the rule remains a dead letter, since tenants like Leonilde Rodríguez, who has been trying to find an apartment for more than eight months with the financial assistance voucher for the rent that the City gave her, confesses that they have “made her “ugly” for not having his own income and showing his housing coupons.
“The law sounds very nice, but when it comes down to it, apartment owners do what they want. They are the ones who rule and there is a stigma against poor people, because at the end of the day they receive their money, but because we are poor they discriminate against us,” says the Colombian mother of a family, who assures that on several occasions she has found places that You like them and they adjust to the value of your coupons, but then it goes back to zero.
“Once I saw an apartment in Queens, they showed it to me and they even smiled at me and when they went to check my credit and I told them that I was going to pay with the rental coupons, they told me to my face that they did not receive those coupons, and when they I said that was illegal, they told me they were sorry but that they were a private business and I was left without that place that I had liked so much,” says the cleaning employee, who demands that they enforce the law. “Others don’t even show them to me when I tell them I pay with coupons and in two more they literally showed me mousetraps, horrible apartments and when I said I wasn’t looking for that, they told me that my coupons qualify only for those types of places. It is disrespectful, not even if it was given as a gift.”
Milton Pérez, born in the Bronx, has a very similar feeling, and confesses that his fear of rejection was such that he chose to join long lists of apartment lottery with the City’s Housing Connect program, in order to use his vouchers. rent CityFhepfs, instead of going to real estate agencies.
“These vouchers are a salvation for many of us, but also due to prejudice, many people and entire families are disrespected by landlords who do not want to rent to them. It is prejudice and in the process it generates suffering, worsens mental illnesses and prevents people from leaving the shelters faster,” says the Puerto Rican, who was in several shelters in the City from 2014 to 2021.
“There is a lot of discrimination over vouchers, to the point that they show apartments and when the real estate agencies are told that the payment will be made with coupons, they disappear, they never answer the phone again. They despise us,” says the Puerto Rican, who lives in a studio in Brooklyn, just a few blocks from two of the shelters where he spent years waiting for his rental coupons to be accepted. “I signed up for about 200 lotteries.”
And although the beneficiary of the rental vouchers affirms that the City should invest more resources so that landlords who refuse to accept coupons are punished in a more exemplary manner, he also recognizes that some landlords do not rent due to the City’s failure to do so. Payments.
“Last year I myself received my summons to court, because the City did not pay for about five months, and if it were not for the fact that I went one day to testify to the Municipal Council and they heard about my case, they would surely have evicted me and I would have ended up in prison again. the shelter,” said the tenant. “They need to improve the programs, have more people to follow up and even answer the phones when there are situations that we don’t know how to handle. Before it took about 45 minutes and they answered even if they didn’t help us, but the last time I was there for 2 hours 45 minutes. “I even fell asleep and they still didn’t answer.”[asgenteparahacerseguimientosyhastaparaatenderlostel[efonoscuandohaysituacionesquenosabemosmanejarAntessetardabanunos45minutosycontestabanasínonosayudaranperolaúltimavezestuve2horas45minutosHastamedormíyseguíansincontestar”
The call for improvements and protections also comes from organizations that work with vulnerable communities. Leaders demand stronger action against apartment owners who discriminate against rent voucher tenants and deny them the ability to rent their housing units.
This was stated by David Giffen, director of the Coalition for the Homeless, after warning that shelters in New York are full of people who have housing vouchers but cannot use them because many landlords illegally discriminate against voucher holders.
“For years, we have been urging the City to do something about this by funding meaningful enforcement of housing discrimination laws. “We need Mayor Adams to immediately rebuild the Human Rights Commission’s Income Discrimination Unit to stop landlords, real estate agents, and brokers responsible for illegally denying placements to voucher holders,” the activist said. “Not only is it the right and moral thing to do, but at a time when the city desperately needs shelter beds, it is the only sensible thing to do.”
Murad Awawdeh, director of the New York Immigration Coalition (NYIC), highlighted that having access to permanent housing is the most fundamental step to building a safe and productive life, and regretted that in the Big Apple tenants with assistance vouchers in income continue to look green and mature when it comes to renting an apartment.
“Unfortunately, barriers and discrimination remain prevalent among vulnerable New Yorkers in obtaining apartments with CityFHEPS vouchers. As we head into the colder months, the Adams administration must take proactive steps to ensure affordable housing options for New Yorkers using rental assistance,” said the immigrant advocate. “We urge the City Administration to increase investments in personnel for the Department of Social Services and all other relevant agencies and law enforcement units to address the existing backlog and reduce administrative obstacles to CityFHEPS housing approvals.
Awawdeh stressed the need to implement measures that improve the system for renters and landlords to provide a better path to self-sufficiency for all New Yorkers.
“We ask the City to eliminate onerous challenges that landlords face such as late payments, expedite apartment inspections so our neighbors access housing quickly and safely, and increase incentives for landlords to accept vouchers.” of housing,” added the activist.
Theo Oshiro, state official of the New York Working Families Party, joined the claims, and not only called for greater protections for tenants with housing vouchers but also denounced that the Municipal Administration is not doing its part to stop landlords who discriminate.
“Tenants should be able to trust that the City will protect them against source of income discrimination. But under Mayor Adams there has been a lack of law enforcement, a lack of public information informing people about their rights, and a severe understaffing at the New York City Commission on Human Rights, all which has made it easier for real estate agents and apartment owners to get away with discriminatory practices.”
Amy Collado, a community organizer for the organization Catholic Immigration Services, and who knew about the rejection first-hand, assured that the obstacles that New Yorkers with assistance vouchers must deal with are so great, that despite there being laws that prohibit not accepting them , there are landlords who openly report that they do not receive coupons, which violates City regulations.
“I know people who spent extra months or years (without being able to rent) after receiving their vouchers, because their landlords wouldn’t rent to them. My first-hand experience was when my mother obtained a CityFeps voucher, they even denied her to see apartments once they found out she had a voucher, even saying ‘sorry, the owner does not accept vouchers,'” the organizer said, revealing that even in units of support they received little help.
“After I helped her (my mother) file a 311 complaint and they told me there wasn’t much they could do to help, it seems like tenants are really at the mercy of their landlords and that’s not the right thing to do,” he added. Collado.
A Latino real estate agent, who works in Queens and preferred not to reveal his name for fear of sanctions from the City, confessed that in his real estate business “they do not accept” rental assistance coupons, because he mentioned that the program is disorderly and does not There is a guarantee that tenants are always covered by financial support bonds.
“It is very funny that the City accuses us of discrimination and prejudice, but the truth is that what makes many buildings not want tenants with coupons is not because they have something against poor people, but because many times there are problems getting them to disburse the payments.” and we have had cases of people whose vouchers are suddenly not renewed and since they have no income they are left without paying and we have to start eviction processes where we lose a lot of money,” said the Latin broker. “The City must improve its programs and guarantee that when it does not renew a tenant’s coupon it takes care of them.”[onauninquilinosehagacargodeellos”
Faced with complaints and calls for improvements so that rental vouchers fulfill their purpose more effectively and quickly and that landlords who do not accept vouchers are brought to task, the Adams Administration defended its work, ensuring that since the president took office position, has known that addressing the city’s housing crisis means connecting New Yorkers to safe, affordable, high-quality housing as quickly as possible.
“That’s why our administration has invested in the New York City Human Rights Commission’s revenue stream unit, committed up to $10 million to repair rent-stabilized housing, and given the keys to New Yorkers with CityFHEPS vouchers, and has connected more New Yorkers with CityFHEPS to permanent services and affordable housing in one year than ever in the history of the program,” said a Mayor’s spokesperson.
“Additionally, Mayor Adams announced in his State of the City address in January that he is investing $3 million to end source of income discrimination with a partnership that will foster innovation in how the City addresses this type of discrimination.” of discrimination, the first of its kind in New York. City of York,” added the Mayor’s official. “Our immediate priority is always getting New Yorkers into safe, high-quality housing, and the city often intervenes before taking legal action if it means getting someone the keys more quickly, while also using the law to prevent future discrimination.”