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About the Home Support Unit (HSU)
Work with the City of New York to lease your apartment!
The Home Support Unit (HSU) works with rental owners, real estate agents, and property managers to lease vacant apartments to qualified New Yorkers receiving rental assistance.
HSU Specialists help participating owners and agents navigate the rental process by arranging viewings, assisting with leasing paperwork, and ensuring access to financial incentives for placements of qualifying tenants into stable housing. HSU provides resources like our Apartment Review List to help make the process easier, and can also quickly respond to and resolve payment questions or other issues that come up during tenancy.
Benefits of Renting with the City
By leasing your vacant apartment or rooms through the Home Support Unit (HSU) you may be eligible for the following*:
- 15% Broker's Fee
- First month of rent in full and 3 months of subsidy payments paid up front
- Security Voucher (equivalent to one month's rent)
- Access to the Special Supplemental Assistance Fund (SSAF) – covers up to $3,000 in damages and rent arrears (on top of the security voucher)
* These incentives may apply to the City Fighting Homelessness & Eviction Prevention Supplement (CityFHEPS), Family Homelessness & Eviction Prevention Supplement (FHEPS); Special One-Time Assistance (SOTA) leases are not eligible for up-front payments. Additionally, room rentals are eligible for a 15% broker fee, a security voucher, and the Special Supplemental Assistance Fund (SSAF) only.
Participating Programs
Learn more below about the rental assistance programs with which the HSU team works.
Click a topic, or press the enter key on a topic, to reveal its answer.
Special One Time Assistance (SOTA)
The Special One Time Assistance (SOTA) program will pay one year of rent for eligible Department of Homeless Services (DHS) clients to move within New York City, to other New York State counties, or to another state, Puerto Rico, or Washington, D.C. SOTA can be accessed by households with recurring income from employment, Supplemental Security Income, or Social Security Disability benefits and a rent that does not exceed 40% of the household's current income. Rent payments are issued on a monthly basis.
Family Homelessness and Eviction Prevention Supplement (FHEPS)
FHEPS was created in 2017 to assist eligible NYC families with children in moving into stable housing.
City Fighting Homelessness & Eviction Prevention Supplement (CityFHEPS)
The City Fighting Homelessness & Eviction Prevention Supplement (CityFHEPS) program is a single unified rental assistance program that replaced the Living in Communities (LINC I, II, III, IV and V) program, as well as the Special Exit and Prevention Supplement (SEPS) and City Family Eviction Prevention and Exit Plan Supplements (CityFEPS) in 2018. Its goal is to simplify the process of identifying and securing permanent housing opportunities that enable New Yorkers experiencing housing insecurity to exit shelter or avoid entering shelter altogether.
Visit the CityFHEPS homepage for payment standards and to learn more
Section 8 Programs
Section 8 subsidy programs are federally funded and offer low- and moderate-income tenants vouchers to secure housing in the open market. Households typically pay a portion of their income toward rent. Active programs in NYC include the Housing Choice Voucher (HCV), the Emergency Housing Voucher (EHV), and the HUD-Veterans Affairs Supportive Housing (HUD-VASH).
Learn more about each Section 8 program
Payment Standards
The Payment Standard is the maximum that CityFHEPS and Section 8 will pay for each unit. Approved rents vary based on local market rent, client/landlord utility contribution, and subsidy program. The Emergency Housing Voucher (EHV) uses Exception Payment Standards.
View the CityFHEPS Payment Standards document
Visit the HPD Subsidy and Payment Standards webpage to learn more
Visit the NYCHA Subsidy and Payment Standards webpage to learn more
Contact Us
Contact us if you are interested in leasing your vacant apartment or rooms through the Home Support Unit (HSU). You can call our hotline number at 212-331-6240, or submit an online HSU inquiry form here.