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What to Expect

Preliminary
Waiting List		 Applicants must inform NYCHA of any changes in address, income, and/or household composition after they submit an application. They also must update or renew their application every two years if they have not been scheduled for an interview. If you provided a phone number or e-mail address NYCHA will remind you to renew your application before it expires.
Eligibility
Determination		 All applicants will be contacted by NYCHA’s Eligibility Unit to schedule an eligibility interview over the phone at a time convenient to them. As needed, the Authority provides bi-lingual staff to meet the various language needs of applicants. For any further clarification please call the Customer Contact Center at 718-707-7771.
Certification During the eligibility interview, the applicant’s family size, family composition, housing priority, total family income, Social Security numbers and citizenship/immigration status are verified. If the family is eligible and all the requested documentation is received, their suitability for admission is further verified by contacting their landlord. Your application will be screened to confirm that your family’s past behavior will not adversely affect the financial stability or the health, safety, or welfare of other tenants, Authority staff, or an Authority development. Screening consists of landlord contacts and criminal background checks that will be conducted upon selection for a housing unit.

Emergency applicants, priorities W0, N0 and N1, which include agency referrals, victims of domestic violence and intimidated witnesses and all families requiring five bedrooms or more, are entitled to a borough choice. All other applicants, priorities N4, N8, W1, W2 and W3, are permitted to select a development. NYCHA will determine final eligibility when a suitable apartment becomes available. At that time, NYCHA will perform a criminal background check for all household members 16 years of age or older. If everyone passes the criminal background check, NYCHA will offer the apartment. Learn more about priority codes.
Apartment
Offer		 Applicants are offered one apartment. Those certified for an accessible apartment or an emergency priority are offered two apartments.


Required Household Documents

If you are contacted for an eligibility interview you must provide copies of these household documents.

Denial of Admission

Applicants interviewed for eligibility and denied admission will receive written notification stating the reason for denial and may request an informal hearing within 90 days of the Ineligibility letter.

To discuss the finding of ineligibility, applicants may visit NYCHA's Customer Contact Center.

Applicants removed from the waiting list due to denial for admission who wish to be reconsidered for public housing must file a new application. The applicant may not be selected for an interview until the end of the ineligibility period.