In March 2022, NYLAG learned that the New York City Housing Authority (“NYCHA”) had begun to send out notices about Section 8 voucher terminations to over 30,000 Section 8 participants in New York City, erroneously stating that these Section 8 participants had failed to recertify their eligibility for the program.
Under Section 8, low-income families can receive assistance with rent payments. In New York, NYCHA administers this program by providing vouchers to qualifying families. Each year, families in the program must recertify their eligibility for the program to NYCHA.
Because Section 8 participants rely on these vouchers to pay their rent, the vouchers are an essential safety net for low-income families in New York. So, when NYCHA began sending out notices of termination, many participants were terrified that they would lose their vouchers and be unable to stay in their homes.
As soon as NYLAG became aware of this problem, NYLAG sent a letter to NYCHA demanding that NYCHA immediately stop sending Section 8 termination notices, suspend Section 8 termination procedures, and conduct a full investigation of the scope and cause of this problem.
Within days of receiving NYLAG’s letter, NYCHA agreed to (1) suspend terminations of Section 8 vouchers based on failure to recertify, (2) send notices of this suspension to Section 8 participants and their landlords, and (3) investigate and resolve the problem.
In the months since, NYLAG has continued to work closely with NYCHA to ensure that the cause of this problem is resolved. In so doing, NYLAG has helped keep tens of thousands of vulnerable New Yorkers in their homes.
