Prospective tenants with housing vouchers will no longer be required to undergo credit checks when applying for affordable housing, city administrators say.
Renters who apply for apartments using Housing Choice Vouchers (Section 8) or CityFHEPS (City Fighting Homelessness and Eviction Prevention Supplement) can move forward with their permanent, affordable housing applications without having to wait on the results from long, drawn-out credit checks.
The “Housing Our Neighbors” plan, touted by Mayor Eric Adams, is to have more New Yorkers qualify and get into permanent affordable homes. One way of achieving that goal is to have the city do away with a requirement that made tenants with vouchers produce credit checks when applying for affordable housing.
“Since I became mayor, our administration has been relentless in taking on the city’s affordable housing crisis from every angle, and we are taking another critical step forward today,” said Mayor Adams. “Every New Yorker knows we don’t have enough affordable homes, but once you find one, the city should do everything in its power to give you the keys as quickly as possible. Once again, we are taking bold action to make that a reality by no longer requiring New Yorkers to undergo a credit check when selected for affordable housing. This one change will help more than 4,000 New York families move more quickly into a home and take the next step towards building a more supported life.”
Landlords often use credit scores as an initial screening tool, and as a way to forecast if a new tenant will be able to consistently pay their monthly rent. But Emily Osgood, the associate commissioner of housing opportunity and placement services, told the Amsterdam News, “For tenants that have a rental housing voucher or who are moving into an apartment that has a rental subsidy attached to it, a credit check isn’t an indication of whether someone will be able to pay their bills, the rental subsidy is.
“If the tenant has a portion that they pay at all it would be only maybe 30% of their income and if their income changes, they can go back and they can adjust the amount that they pay. So, the risk is very, very low if not zero that someone with a voucher won’t be able to afford the rent.”
Requiring credit checks for New Yorkers with housing vouchers only slowed down the rental screening process for days and sometimes weeks, city officials said.
“Credit checks create a massive and unnecessary obstacle, disproportionately harming low-income New Yorkers. For people with bad or no credit, the elimination of credit checks could mean the difference between having a home and being homeless,” said Housing Preservation and Development Commissioner Adolfo Carrión Jr. “Eliminating credit checks for voucher holders is an important step towards providing fair and efficient housing to New York City’s most vulnerable residents.”
Private developers who must vet applicants with vouchers also want to remove the credit check barriers that slow down their screening process. “We all want them to move into that apartment as quickly and smoothly as possible,” Osgood added, “and the affordable housing owners, the private owners, are also very committed to making that process as quick as possible. They want to fill their units and provide the housing that they’ve been working on, so they’re also in agreement with us that removing unnecessary steps in the process and getting a household who’s qualified for an affordable unit into one of these developments, while keeping everything fair, is really the highlight here.”
I was denied an apartment in the shelter system this year 2023. I’m in the process of suing with a community justice center. I been homeless my whole life with a disability and it’s so unfair that this would happen to me. I’m trying to get on my feet but it’s taking years to feel like me again. It’s highly dangerous for homeless people to be in there conditions we need more help/action. We are suffering in these conditions. They’re taking advantage of us.
I was denied an apartment in the shelter system this year 2023. I’m in the process of suing with a community justice center. I been homeless my whole life with a disability and it’s so unfair that this would happen to me. I’m trying to get on my feet but it’s taking years to feel like me again. It’s highly dangerous for homeless people to be in these conditions we need more help/action. We are suffering in these conditions. They’re taking advantage of us.