Every Brooklyn landlord eventually gets the same phone call: a prospective or current tenant mentions a voucher, and the owner has to figure out — fast — which agency they're actually dealing with, what paperwork is required, and whether they're allowed to say no. This directory exists so that call doesn't turn into a scramble. It's a 2026 reference guide, organized program by program, to the rental-assistance system Brooklyn owners actually operate inside.
This is the specialty Yak Management is built around. We manage roughly 400 units across Brooklyn and greater NYC, from two-unit buildings up to 60-unit multifamily properties, and rent-stabilized and subsidized housing is our core competency rather than a niche we occasionally touch. If you want the fuller narrative version of how these programs relate to each other, start with our pillar guide, Every NYC Housing Voucher Program Explained. This page is the quick-lookup companion to that guide.
The 2026 directory, at a glance
| Program | Administering agency | Level | Who it typically serves | Landlord's core paperwork |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Section 8 / Housing Choice Voucher (HCV) | NYCHA (separate smaller program via HPD) | Federal (HUD) | Low- and moderate-income households, seniors, people with disabilities | RFTA → HQS inspection → HAP contract |
| CityFHEPS | NYC HRA/DSS | City | Households facing eviction or exiting shelter | HRA lease rider + habitability inspection |
| FHEPS | HRA/DSS locally, under NYS OTDA rules | State-authorized, city-administered | Families with children at risk of eviction or exiting shelter | HRA lease rider (largely runs as CityFHEPS in NYC practice) |
| HASA | HRA/DSS (HIV/AIDS Services Administration) | City | New Yorkers living with HIV/AIDS | HRA case paperwork + habitability inspection |
| HAVP | New York State, via local social-services districts | State | Households homeless or at risk who don't qualify for other programs | State/local agency paperwork + inspection |
Every row shares two non-negotiables: the subsidy is paid to the landlord, not routed through the tenant first, and the approval is only as good as the paperwork behind it — filed correctly, and kept current through every recertification cycle.
Section 8 / Housing Choice Voucher (HCV)
Section 8 is the largest and most familiar program on this list, and the one most Brooklyn owners have already encountered whether they realized it or not. In NYC it runs primarily through NYCHA — the largest public housing authority in the country — with HPD administering a smaller, separate Section 8 program of its own.
The sequence: tenant and landlord file a Request for Tenancy Approval (RFTA), the agency checks rent reasonableness, the unit must pass a Housing Quality Standards (HQS) inspection, and the owner signs a Housing Assistance Payment (HAP) contract — the document that actually authorizes NYCHA's monthly payment, separate from the lease itself. Recertifications and reinspections continue for the life of the tenancy. For the full inspection-prep mechanics, see our Section 8 / Housing Choice Voucher Management page.
CityFHEPS and FHEPS
CityFHEPS (City Fighting Homelessness and Eviction Prevention Supplement) is run by NYC HRA/DSS and covers a substantial share of rent, paid directly to the owner, for households leaving shelter or facing eviction. FHEPS is the related New York State-authorized supplement that HRA also administers locally, generally for families with children in the same circumstances — in day-to-day Brooklyn practice, a "FHEPS" tenant is almost always processed as CityFHEPS.
Instead of a HAP contract, these tenancies run on an HRA lease rider, a habitability inspection separate from HUD's HQS standard, and periodic HRA recertification. We cover the full process on our CityFHEPS Voucher Management page.
HASA
HASA — HRA's HIV/AIDS Services Administration — provides rental assistance and support services to eligible New Yorkers living with HIV/AIDS. Mechanically it resembles CityFHEPS: HRA sets the payment split for the individual case, pays its share directly to the owner, and requires the unit to meet housing-quality standards and stay current on recertification. See the full HASA glossary entry for the details owners ask about most.
HAVP
HAVP, the Housing Access Voucher Program, is the newest and least understood entry on this list because it's a New York State program — not city or federal — implemented through local social-services districts, built to reach households facing homelessness or eviction who don't qualify for the federal or city programs above. Because it's state-funded, rollout and local rules are worth confirming directly with the administering agency before marketing a unit as HAVP-eligible. Mechanically, it follows the same pattern: agency-set payment standard, income-based tenant contribution, and a pre-payment inspection. Full breakdown in our HAVP glossary entry.
The legal rule underneath all five programs
This is the one fact every Brooklyn owner needs to internalize before anything else in this directory: under the NYC Human Rights Law, source-of-income discrimination is illegal. "Lawful source of income" is a protected category, and it explicitly covers Section 8, CityFHEPS, FHEPS, HASA, HAVP, and other government or nonprofit rental assistance. In practice, an owner generally cannot:
- Refuse to rent to an applicant because they hold a voucher.
- Advertise a listing as "no Section 8" or "no vouchers."
- Steer voucher applicants toward inferior units, floors, or buildings.
- Apply different deposit amounts, screening standards, or lease terms to voucher holders than to other qualified applicants.
Owners can and should still screen every applicant on the same legitimate criteria — credit history, prior rental history, background review, and whether total income (tenant contribution plus voucher payment) supports the rent. The law prohibits rejecting an applicant because of how the rent gets paid, not evaluating whether they're otherwise qualified. There are narrow carve-outs for certain very small owner-occupied buildings, but for the 2-to-60-unit multifamily stock that makes up most of what we manage across Brooklyn, the rule is straightforward and worth building screening policy around rather than working around. (General information, not legal advice — a fair-housing question specific to your building should go to a landlord-tenant attorney.)
How payment standards are set — and why 2026 figures aren't in this directory
Every program on this list sets a payment standard: a maximum monthly subsidy tied to unit size and geographic area, reviewed and updated annually by the administering agency — NYCHA and HPD for Section 8, HRA/DSS for CityFHEPS, FHEPS, and HASA, and the relevant state or local agency for HAVP. Standards vary by bedroom count and neighborhood, and they don't move on a calendar an owner can predict from one year to the next.
We deliberately don't print a specific dollar figure in this directory, because any number published today can be outdated within months, and underwriting a unit around a stale figure can produce a rent that clears no agency's rent-reasonableness review. The same caution applies to rent-stabilized units in the same building: annual increase percentages are set by the NYC Rent Guidelines Board, not by the owner or the voucher agency, and both figures need to be confirmed fresh at each new lease or renewal. For the fuller mechanics of stabilized increases, see our rent stabilization guide.
Becoming an "approved" landlord: the common thread
None of these five programs require a separate landlord license — approval happens unit by unit, tenancy by tenancy. The pattern repeats across all five:
- File the correct paperwork for the specific program — an RFTA for Section 8, an HRA lease rider for CityFHEPS/FHEPS/HASA, the local-district equivalent for HAVP.
- Pass the inspection. Each program has its own habitability standard (HQS for Section 8; a comparable but distinct habitability check for the HRA-administered programs and HAVP). Smoke/CO detectors, window guards, and no open HPD violations are the items that most often derail a first attempt.
- Sign the payment agreement — a HAP contract for Section 8, an agency-specific rider for the others — which is the document that actually authorizes the monthly payment, separate from the lease.
- Stay current on recertification. Every one of these programs requires periodic renewal of eligibility and, often, reinspection. A missed recertification window is the single most common reason a subsidy payment pauses.
A 2026 owner's checklist
- Confirm the current payment standard for the program and bedroom size directly with the administering agency before setting an asking rent.
- If the unit is rent-stabilized, verify the legal DHCR rent matches what's being submitted to the voucher agency.
- Walk the unit for HQS/habitability issues — detectors, window guards, peeling paint, pest signs — before an inspector does.
- Confirm there are no open HPD violations that could stall approval.
- Calendar every recertification date the moment a tenancy starts; don't rely on the agency's reminder alone.
- Review screening policy against source-of-income rules — no "no voucher" language anywhere in a listing.
Common mistakes owners make across these programs
- Treating program acceptance as a one-time decision instead of an ongoing paperwork relationship with recurring deadlines.
- Advertising "no vouchers" or applying different screening standards to voucher holders — both are illegal source-of-income discrimination.
- Letting a unit fail an avoidable inspection item that a proactive walkthrough would have caught.
- Setting a proposed rent that doesn't match the legal DHCR rent on a stabilized unit, which gets flagged at rent-reasonableness review.
- Mixing up agencies and forms — filing HRA paperwork with NYCHA conventions, or vice versa, is a common and avoidable source of delay.
When to bring in professional help
Owners can absolutely manage a single voucher tenancy well on their own. The complexity compounds once a building has more than one program running at once, especially layered on top of rent stabilization — which describes a large share of the Brooklyn multifamily stock we see. That's the exact intersection our government housing programs management and rent-stabilization compliance services are built around: we know which agency to call, which form governs which situation, and how to keep a subsidy payment flowing on schedule, with principals personally involved rather than a call center reading a script.
If you own — or are considering accepting voucher tenants in — a Brooklyn building, schedule a Property Consultation and we'll review your current leases, subsidy paperwork, and HPD standing, and tell you plainly where things stand. Or call us directly at 718-568-9278.
This directory is general information, not legal advice. Program names, agencies, and payment figures change and are fact-specific. Confirm current details directly with NYCHA, HRA/DSS, or HCR, and consult a qualified New York attorney, before acting on your specific situation.