CITYfheps or Section 8
Investor · Queens, NY · Member since 2021 · 3 posts · 2 votes
CITYfheps or Section 8
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Investor · Brooklyn, NY · Member since 2016 · 23 posts · 20 votes
4yHere are some things to consider:
Most of Cityfheps are coming directly from the shelter and with my experience it’s hard to vet them since they want to be out and you do not consider income and credit. in general they are not used to keep an apartment (recycling, cleaning etc…) since they do not have any responsibility at the shelter and some of them stay there for years.
The city will mail you the payment and usually it’s twice a month. (HRA pay a portion)
The big problems with fheps is that after a year they need to reinstate the program and their portion might be changed. Also after the transfer the case is closed and for anything you need the tenant cooperation.
Section 8 will do inspection and will give you violation on anything in the building not just their apartment. They have a direct deposit and do it once a month.
The key is always to try and get the best tenant you can. hope that helps and good luck
12 Replies
- Investor · Brooklyn, NY · Member since 2016 · 23 posts · 20 votes4y
Here are some things to consider:
Most of Cityfheps are coming directly from the shelter and with my experience it’s hard to vet them since they want to be out and you do not consider income and credit. in general they are not used to keep an apartment (recycling, cleaning etc…) since they do not have any responsibility at the shelter and some of them stay there for years.
The city will mail you the payment and usually it’s twice a month. (HRA pay a portion)
The big problems with fheps is that after a year they need to reinstate the program and their portion might be changed. Also after the transfer the case is closed and for anything you need the tenant cooperation.
Section 8 will do inspection and will give you violation on anything in the building not just their apartment. They have a direct deposit and do it once a month.
The key is always to try and get the best tenant you can. hope that helps and good luck
- Rental Property Investor · Washington, DC · Member since 2014 · 40 posts · 48 votes4y
I'm in the Washington DC area. It sounds like Cityfheps is a New York program. The bottom line is where is the source of the program funds. Section 8 is via HUD through the local housing authority. Funding is guaranteed through the federal government. Some programs are funded at the local level and subject to local politics. Section 8 vouchers are permanent, long term vouchers. Other programs can be short term e.g. 6, 12, 18 months etc. after which the participant may be forced to "graduate."
As long as you go into this with your eyes fully open, then you should be OK. The problem is if you assume one thing and are surprised to find out something completely different takes place.
- Investor · Queens, NY · Member since 2021 · 3 posts · 2 votes4y
@Kobi Nagar - Thanks for your input.
- Member since 2023 · 1 post · 3 votes2y
I have to disagree with you on certain things you stated. (About people with City fheps) yes it’s most people who are in shelters get city fheps, and I say most because I’ve heard of people who were not In a shelter and they were able to get the voucher staying in a relative or etc home. Now a far as the other statement you made or even if there’s others that may think the same way. (Speaking for myself) I am in the process of getting a city fheps voucher I do live in a nyc shelter, however I am self employed before having to go into a shelter my husband and I work from home, we have our own income and we are responsible and clean tenants we have great rental history unfortunately we received a huge rent Increase we did not expect in another state we was in (Florida) over $400 we expected atleast $100-$150 that left us with no choice but to take our family to new York (where we originally from) being that that is the only state that offers assistance (placing people In shelter and helping them) that was realy our last resort we could have downgrade and went into another facility but we did not have the deposit and moving $ to do so in little time. So yea a $400 increase got us in a shelter. To sum it up not everyone should be looked at as the same “not responsible, no income, not clean, etc….”
- 2yAbel CurielBusiness MemberReal Estate Agent · Queens, NY · Member since 2016 · 2k+ posts · 1k+ votes
Quote from @William Quinones:
Hello All,
Im currently in contract to purchase a 2 family in Brooklyn, NY as an investment property. Im looking to put in either section 8 tenants or CITYfheps tenants.
Wanted to reach out to the community about which one was a better option. So far what I know is that both pay the same amount for rent, section 8 does annual inspection and CITYfheps only does one (1) inspection when the tenant is moving in.
Are the type of tenants the same? is one program better than the other?Thank you in advance for your input.
Congratulations on the contract William! Great to see you on BiggerPockets brother!
We actually have a mutual classmate (from 145) who was my main point of contact for a few years regarding all city programs (fheps, sec. 8 and SOTA). Haven't spoken to him in recent months but I'll check back in with him to see if he is still in the same position and connect you guys.
To echo @Kobi Nagar, in my experience, most cityg\fheps recipients were from shelters. The landlords I worked with on these cityfheps deals had good experience with the tenants. We had a chance to vet them and interview them (phone and in-person) prior to moving forward with the rental application.
That said, for 1 of the tenants, everything went smoothly until year 3 when City Fheps decreased the voucher amount, took days/weeks to respond to my client, made incomplete payments to my client, etc. Eventually, the tenant left and my client was out of about $1,500-2,000 in owed rent.
Of course, this is not always the case but figured I'd share.
I feel both programs are comparable. Long-term, I would go with Section 8 just based on my experiences.
Hope this helps!
REbuild Team - eXp Realty5234 Reviews - Real Estate Agent · New York City · Member since 2020 · 819 posts · 640 votes2y
Section 8 tenants are backed by the Federal government as opposed to New York City. Personally, I'd prefer a Federal backstop over a municipal one.
Additionally, to @Kobi Nagar's point. It is harder to vet City FHEPS.
Section 8 tenants are typically highly incentivized to keep their voucher (i.e. have jobs, stay out of trouble, etc.). I don't think the City FHEPS clients are as incentivized.
With all that being said, screening is and always will be key. So I'd boil it down to the client / tenant that passes your screening process most effectively.
- Investor · Queens, NY · Member since 2021 · 21 posts · 13 votes2y
As @Kobi Nagar mentioned, for section 8 do they actually inspect the whole building? what exactly are they examining during section 8 inspection? in NYC some owners are known to rent out their semi basement which is on a grey side. so during inspection would that cause any issue?
- Member since 2024 · 1 post · 1 vote2y
Quote from @Kobi Nagar:
Here are some things to consider:
Most of Cityfheps are coming directly from the shelter and with my experience it’s hard to vet them since they want to be out and you do not consider income and credit. in general they are not used to keep an apartment (recycling, cleaning etc…) since they do not have any responsibility at the shelter and some of them stay there for years.
The city will mail you the payment and usually it’s twice a month. (HRA pay a portion)
The big problems with fheps is that after a year they need to reinstate the program and their portion might be changed. Also after the transfer the case is closed and for anything you need the tenant cooperation.
Section 8 will do inspection and will give you violation on anything in the building not just their apartment. They have a direct deposit and do it once a month.
The key is always to try and get the best tenant you can. hope that helps and good luck
Some people with Cityfheps come from apartments they have lived in for years all you have to do is look at there paper work you have better luck of a good tenant if they are coming from a trasfer than a new Cityfheps application. I say this because transfers are usually done to good tenants that have bad landlords or that have apartments that are to small for there growing family size. Not all come from a shelter. And not all people that been at shelter have bad habits. I know of lots of people that have been in situations specially after covid where they lost everything they had but that doesn't meen they are not clean or cant keep paying for a rent and
Cityfheps will pay the rent lets say that person moves in and they fall behind on rent because they lost there job Cityfheps will pay the backed up rent and also adjust the new monthly payment to landlord until tenant gets a job and they are not in your property trying to get you to fix things and giving you violations for everything.
- Member since 2023 · 3 posts · 0 votes1yHow would an owner or owner's real estate agent go about denying a CityFheps voucher holder? What exactly are they telling the CityFheps voucher holder if the voucher amount is more than enough to cover the entire rent? With the Human Rights and Fair Housing laws that protect the tenant from discrimination, particularly from lawful sources of income, how would an owner deny a CityFheps tenant in favor to wait for a Section 8 applicant? Curious to know how people respond here.
- Real Estate Broker · New York, NY · Member since 2020 · 2k+ posts · 1k+ votes1y
Section 8 and CityFHEPS both guarantee the rent, but they come with a few key differences. Section 8 is a federal program, so it’s more established, more predictable, and tends to come with longer-term tenants.
The tradeoff is the annual inspections and sometimes slower approval process. CityFHEPS is local to NYC and often moves quicker, plus you’re right that after the initial inspection, there usually aren’t recurring ones.
That said, many landlords report CityFHEPS tenants can be higher turnover compared to Section 8, since the program is designed for people coming out of shelters.
If you want stability and a more standardized process, Section 8 usually wins. If you’d rather avoid yearly inspections and don’t mind the possibility of more turnover, CityFHEPS could be easier.
- Member since 2022 · 2 posts · 0 votes9mo
You can get good insights on the tenant dashboard at (VoucherMatch - Find Housing That Accepts Your Voucher) to see what tenants are paying on average at both and how to qualify for rent increases
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