Chapter 10: Transfers

1. Overview

Residents are permitted to apply for a transfer to another apartment within their current development or to another development. Residents may apply for a transfer during any period of tenancy. Residents must choose a development or borough, as applicable, at the time they submit a transfer request.

Transfers may only be approved for reasons that comply with NYCHA policy. NYCHA does not transfer residents for reasons other than those prescribed in NYCHA policy. This chapter describes NYCHA’s transfer policy.

2. Key Acronyms

• • HUD: U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development
  • NYCHA: New York City Housing Authority
  • NYPD: New York Police Department
  • VAWA: Violence Against Women Act

3. Types of Transfers

Transfers are either voluntary or mandatory.

1. 1. 1. Voluntary Transfers

Existing tenants may submit a request to apply for a transfer from one apartment to another specifying the reason,. using Form 040.050, Tenant Request for Transfer, to the property manager of the development where they reside or apply on the Self-Service Portal. Victims of domestic violence must complete Form 040.923 (Emergency Transfer Request VAWA Victims) and Form 040.683 (VAWA - Victim Certification - HUD Form No. 5382). Either tenant category should submit the request in writing to the property manager of the development where they reside or apply on the Self-Service Portal.

Intimidated Victims must fill out Form 040.920, Emergency Transfer Request IV and Form 040.920A, Tenant Consent IV. Intimidated Victims must complete Form 040.921, Emergency Transfer Request IW, and Form 040.921A, Tenant Consent for IW. The latter tenant categories (IV and IW) cannot directly submit a transfer request but must be referred by a third party, Safe Horizon (IV) and NYPD Referral, N.Y. District Attorney and or other prosecutorial and law enforcement agencies (IW).

Tenants are assigned a priority code and their request is sent to the Field Liaison Division (“FLD”) of ATAD for review. If the tenant family meets all transfer requirements, FLD will approve the transfer request and notify the family in writing. If FLD denies the transfer request, it will notify the tenant in writing of the reason for the denial.

1. 1. 2. Mandatory Transfers

Some transfers are required by NYCHA. The resident is informed by NYCHA of the reason the transfer is required. NYCHA explains the transfer policy and procedure and asks the resident to complete a transfer request, including selecting where they want to transfer. If the resident does not complete the transfer request, NYCHA will initiate the transfer on behalf of the resident. If NYCHA initiates the transfer on behalf of the resident, the request is automatically assigned for a transfer within the development where they are currently living (i.e., intra-development). When NYCHA approves the transfer request, the transfer process begins, and the resident will be notified.

Mandatory transfers occur if:

• • • Resident resides in an uninhabitable apartment;
    • Resident lives in an extremely underoccupied or soon to be extremely under-occupied apartment (one with two or more rooms in excess of what is needed for household size based on NYCHA’s occupancy standards) and is required to move to a properly sized apartment due to a Termination of Tenancy process, stipulation of settlement, or Hearing Officer decision; or
    • Resident must move due to development renovation or development use; or
    • Resident lives in an elderly development and is no longer qualified to reside in an elderly development; or
    • Resident lives in an extremely underoccupied apartment (an apartment with two or more rooms in excess of what is needed for household size based on NYCHA’s occupancy standards).

All other transfers are voluntary, for example reasonable accommodations and VAWA related transfers.

4. Transfer Reasons and Priorities

Transferees will be placed on a borough or development waiting list along with applicants, and selected for an apartment based upon assigned priority, date the transfer request is certified, and the size and type of apartment they require, all according to the selection rules described in this section. Refer to Chapter 4, Waiting List Management, for more information. Among all transfer categories, NYCHA selects intra-development transfers of equal priority by certification date before inter-development transfers eligible for that apartment size.

The priority transfers described below are ranked from highest to lowest. T0 transfers have priority over all other transfers and new applicants on the certified waiting lists. For more information on filling vacancies using the TSAP system, see Chapter 4.

1. 1. 1. Code T0 Priorities

PRIORITY CODE
T0-A	Tenants whose apartments have become uninhabitable or who are experiencing severe health and safety issues as determined by NYCHA. The development manager will offer these tenants the first appropriate vacancy at or near their current development with the approval of the Borough Vice President, Executive Vice President for Property Management, or the Chief Operating Officer (for severe health and safety issues only).
T0-B	Tenants who were previously required to relocate and are returning to their original apartment in their original development. This priority is necessary to prevent the assignment of the original apartment to another person
T0-C	Tenants who were previously required to relocate and are returning to their original development, but not their original apartment.
T0-D	Relocating for development renovation or special program, as part of major NYCHA initiatives, such as Comprehensive Modernization, because the repairs or renovations could not be completed while they remained in the apartment.

1. 1. 2. T0-ET: Emergency Transfers

PRIORITY CODE
T0-VD	Victim of Domestic Violence. Formerly T2-BD.
T0-VS	Victim of Sexual Assault. Formerly T2-BS.
T0-VV	Victim of Dating Violence. Formerly T2-BV.
T0-VX	Stalking Victim. Formerly T2-BX.
T0-WV	Intimidated Victim. Formerly T2-CV.
T0-WW	Intimidated Witness. Formerly T2-CW

1. 1. 3. T0-RA: Reasonable Accommodation Transfers

PRIORITY CODE
T0-G	Requires health/medical care with specific provider and travel time is greater than sixty minutes from current residence.
T0-H	Requires continuing home health care, which no household member can provide or that is not available within 60 minutes or less from the current residence.
T0-I	Requires additional bedroom to accommodate medical/mental health condition.
T0-J	Disabled tenant residing in a development without an elevator and requests an apartment in a development with an elevator on any floor.
T0-K	Disabled tenant requests an apartment only on the first or second floors in a development with or without an elevator.
T0-L	Qualifies for and requests an Accessible/504 apartment. These tenants may choose their current development if the development has accessible apartments of appropriate size for the family, or they may choose to wait on any other development wait list. Citywide or borough in which they wish to live.
T0-M	All other transfer reasons for a reasonable accommodation, including victims of a traumatic incident, residing in an apartment where a family member died, willing to provide continuing healthcare to a relative in a different development over 60 minutes away, and those referred by the Administration for Children’s Services (ACS) for family reunification. Formerly T2-G, T2-H, T2-I, T3-H, T4-C.

1. 1. 4. Code T1 Priorities   

PRIORITY CODE
T1-AA	Families residing in an extremely under-occupied apartment (defined as residing in an apartment with two or more bedrooms than is required by the tenant based on NYCHA’s occupancy standards). Formerly T1-D.
T1-AB	Families residing in an under-occupied apartment (defined as residing in an apartment with one bedroom more than is required by the tenant based on the NYCHA’s occupancy standards). Formerly T2-A.
T1-AC	Families residing in an extremely overcrowded apartment (defined as residing in an apartment with two or fewer bedrooms than is required by the tenant based on the NYCHA’s occupancy standards). Formerly T3-A.
T1-AD	Families residing in an overcrowded apartment (defined as residing in an apartment with one-bedroom fewer than is required by the tenant based on the NYCHA’s occupancy standard). Formerly T4-A.
T1-AE	Required to downsize pursuant to a Termination of Tenancy proceeding stipulation. Formerly T0-E.
T1-AF	Residents moving out of an elderly building due to no longer being qualified, normally due to a change in household composition. Formerly T1-F.

5. Emergency Transfers

NYCHA’s Emergency Transfer Program allows residents (lessee, co-lessee, and authorized household members) to apply for an emergency transfer if they believe they, or other individuals covered under the definitions below, qualify under one of the four emergency transfer categories:

• • • Victim under the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA): victim of domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, or stalking;
    • Intimidated Witness;
    • Intimidated Victim; or
    • Victim of a Traumatic Incident.

Refer to Chapter 2(g), Violence Against Women Act (VAWA), for more information on VAWA. Refer to this chapter, Section (d)(iv) All Other Applicants and Transferees, for information on priority ranking of emergency transfers.

This section outlines NYCHA’s eligibility criteria, documentation requirements, and procedures for processing emergency transfer requests for each emergency transfer category:

1. 1. 1. Victim under Violence Against Women Act (VAWA): victim of domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, or stalking

The resident (lessee or co-lessee), an authorized household member, or an affiliated individual qualifies as a victim under one of the following VAWA categories:

• • • Domestic Violence: includes felony or misdemeanor crimes of violence committed by a current or former spouse or intimate partner of the victim, by a person with whom the victim shares a child in common, by a person who is cohabitating with or has cohabitated with the victim as a spouse or intimate partner, by a person similarly situated to a spouse of the victim under the domestic or family violence laws of the jurisdiction receiving grant monies, or by any other person against an adult or youth victim who is protected from that person's acts under the domestic or family violence laws of the jurisdiction. The term “spouse or intimate partner of the victim” includes a person who is or has been in a social relationship of a romantic or intimate nature with the victim, as determined by the length of the relationship, the type of the relationship, and the frequency of interaction between the persons involved in the relationship.
      Domestic violence also includes economic abuse and technological abuse. Please see below for definitions of these terms;
    • Dating Violence: Victim of violence committed by a person who is or has been in a social relationship of a romantic or intimate nature with the victim. The existence of such relationship is to be determined based on length and type of relationship and frequency of interaction between the persons involved in the relationship;
    • Economic Abuse: Behavior that is coercive, deceptive, or unreasonably controls or restrains a person’s ability to acquire, use, or maintain economic resources to which they are entitled including using coercion, fraud, or manipulation to: restrict a person’s access to money, assets, credit, or financial information; unfairly use a person’s personal economic resources, including money, assets, and credit, for one’s own advantage; or exert undue influence over a person’s financial and economic behavior or decisions, including forcing default on joint or other financial obligations, exploiting powers of attorney, guardianship, or conservatorship, or failing or neglecting to act in the best interests of a person to whom one has a fiduciary duty.
    • Sexual Assault: Victim of any nonconsensual sexual act proscribed by federal, tribal, or State law, including when the victim lacks the capacity to consent; or
    • Stalking: Victim of a course of conduct directed at a specific person that would cause a reasonable person to fear for their individual safety or the safety of others or suffer substantial emotional distress. Stalking also includes economic abuse and technological abuse. Please see above for the definition of economic abuse. Please see below for the definition of technological abuse
    • Technological Abuse: An act or pattern of behavior that is intended to harm, threaten, intimidate, control, stalk, harass, impersonate, exploit, extort, or monitor another person, except as otherwise permitted by law, using any form of technology including but not limited to: Internet enabled devices, Online spaces and platforms, Computers, Mobile devices, Cameras and imaging programs, Apps, Location tracking devices, Communication technologies, and Other emerging technologies.

A resident, authorized household member, or affiliated individual who meets any of the above definitions must also reasonably believe that they are threatened with imminent harm from further violence if they remain in their current apartment. This means the victim has reason to fear that if the victim does not receive a transfer the victim would suffer violence in the very near future.

Victims of sexual assault may also qualify if the sexual assault occurred on the premises of the property from which the resident is seeking to transfer, and that assault happened within the 90-calendar-day period before submission of a transfer request form. See Chapter 2(g)(ii)(4), Documentation for documentation required for VAWA protections to apply.

1. 1. 2. Intimidated Witness

To qualify for an emergency transfer as an Intimidated Witness, a resident or authorized household member must demonstrate that they meet one of the following definitions:

• • • Intimidated Witness – New York Police Department (NYPD) Referral: A resident or authorized household member is referred by, and cooperates with, the NYPD in the anticipated arrest and/or prosecution of an individual who committed a crime, and as a result of such cooperation:
      • The NYPD anticipates that the resident or authorized household member will suffer threat or physical injury once their cooperation with law enforcement becomes known to the perpetrator and/or the perpetrator’s associates;
      • The perpetrator or the perpetrator’s associates know where the resident or authorized household member lives; and
      • The NYPD anticipates that the resident or authorized household member will suffer if they continue to live in the current residence.

1. 1. 3. Intimidated Victim

To qualify for an emergency transfer as an Intimidated Victim, a resident or authorized household member must demonstrate that they meet the following definition:

• • • A resident or authorized household member who is the victim of a violent crime or the threat of a violent crime and such crime was committed in a non-random manner as a result of a relationship between the victim and the perpetrator, and as a result of such crime the victim suffered actual physical injury or the threat of injury against themself or immediate family, and the victim will continue to suffer if they continue to live in the current residence.
      • To be eligible, the victim must be referred by Safe Horizon and the crime must have occurred within 12 months of the submission date of the emergency transfer request.

A resident or authorized household member who meets any of the above standards must also reasonably believe that he or she is threatened with immediate harm from further violence if the resident remains in their current apartment. This means the victim has reason to fear that if they do not receive a transfer, they would suffer violence in the very near future.

1. 1. 4. Victim of a Traumatic Incident

To qualify for an emergency transfer as a Victim of a Traumatic Incident, a resident or authorized household member must demonstrate that they meet the following definition:

• • • A resident or authorized household member who is either the victim of a violent felony on development grounds or witnessed a violent felony committed against another household or family member on development grounds, and as a result of the violent felony suffered trauma and will continue to suffer if they continue to live in the current residence.

6. General Transfer Eligibility Requirements

1. 1. 1. Residency Period

Residents may request a transfer during any period of occupancy; however, residents who have previously requested a transfer request will not be considered for a transfer for one (1) year from the date the prior transfer request was closed, unless the new transfer request states a different need than the prior request.

1. 1. 2. Family Composition

When determining eligibility for transfers, NYCHA conducts a review of the household to confirm a resident has not been terminated or whether a warrant of eviction has been issued. The family composition is also reviewed to determine the transferring resident’s continued eligibility for an apartment size. If the family no longer meets the occupancy standard for the apartment they were originally selected for, NYCHA will determine if the applicant or transferee still qualifies for the apartment they were selected for or if they need to be moved to a different waitlist.

1. 1. 3. Criminal Background Checks

NYCHA does not require a Criminal Background Check when a resident requests a transfer to another apartment.

7. Requesting a Transfer

Transfer requests can be made online via NYCHA’s Self-Service Portal or a paper version can be requested and submitted in person to property management staff. For emergency transfers, residents must access and submit the appropriate transfer request form in-person at their property management office. Residents must submit the following forms, as appropriate:

• • • Transfer: NYCHA Form 040.050, Tenant Request for Transfer;
    • Intimidated Victim:
      • NYCHA Form 040.920, Emergency Transfer Request - Intimidated Victim,
      • NYCHA Form 040.920A, Tenant Consent Form for Intimidated Victims, or
      • NYCHA Form 040.920B, Emergency Transfer Information Sheet for Intimidated Victims;
    • Intimidated Witness:
      • NYCHA Form 040.921, Emergency Transfer Request - Intimidated Witness,
      • NYCHA Form 040.921A, Tenant Consent Form for Intimidated Witness, or
      • NYCHA Form 040.921B, Emergency Transfer Information Sheet for Intimidated Witness;
    • Victim of Traumatic Incident:
      • NYCHA Form 040.922, Emergency Transfer Request Form - Victims of Traumatic Incident,
      • NYCHA Form 040.922B, Victim of Traumatic Incident – Emergency Transfer Information and Emergency Transfer Request Form, or
      • NYCHA Form 088.165, Emergency Transfer – Victim of Traumatic Incident Mental Health Professional Verification Form;
    • VAWA Victim:
      • NYCHA Form 040.683, VAWA: Victim Certification - HUD Form No. 5382,
      • NYCHA Form 040.683A, Notice of Occupancy Rights Under the Violence Against Women Act,
      • NYCHA Form 040.923, Emergency Transfer Request - VAWA Victims, or
      • NYCHA Form 040.923A, Emergency Transfer Information Sheet for VAWA Victims.

8. Documentation

Transfer requests must be accompanied by supporting documentation, as appropriate, for the transfer condition, e.g., letters from health care providers, social service agencies, police reports, and court documents.

9. Denial of Request

After review, NYCHA may deny a transfer request for any of the following reasons:

• • • The reason for the transfer does not correspond with any of the priorities/reasons for transfer included in NYCHA’s policy. Refer to Section (d) of this Chapter, Transfer Reasons and Priorities, for more information.
    • The resident failed to provide additional information requested to verify the need for transfer.
    • The number of rooms needed by the household cannot be determined due to unverified household composition.
    • The tenancy ended (the sole resident or both the head of household and co-head of the household either moved out of the apartment or died).
    • The household composition is uncertain because of:
      • A pending or ongoing request to permanently add a household member;
      • A household member of the originating development moved out, or indicated that they do not plan to transfer with the rest of the family; or
      • An unauthorized occupant is living in the apartment at the originating development.
    • Housing Court proceedings:
      • A warrant of eviction against the resident issued from the court;
      • The resident was evicted from the apartment; or
      • A Bawdy House proceeding was commenced for use of the apartment for lewd purposes, prostitution, or for any illegal trade or manufacture, or other illegal business.
    • Administrative termination of tenancy proceeding is pending or there is an ongoing termination of tenancy action against the resident for:
      • Failing to occupy the apartment;
      • Subletting the apartment;
      • Transfer of possession of the apartment; or
      • Non-desirability.
    • Administrative termination of tenancy proceeding has been completed and:
      • The Hearing Officer issued a decision terminating the tenancy; or
      • The NYCHA secretary issued a Determination of Status terminating the tenancy.
    • The transfer request was withdrawn by the resident.

If the transfer request is denied, NYCHA will notify the resident in writing via NYCHA Form 040.050B, Transfer Request Determination, informing them of their right to request a grievance in accordance with NYCHA’s grievance procedure. Refer to Chapter 12, Grievances for more information.

10. Apartment Offer

To expand their housing opportunities, tenants have the choice of selecting a development waiting list for an Intra or Inter- transfer, regardless of how extensive the wait list may be. Alternatively, they may select a single borough, multiple boroughs, or a city-wide (with up to two borough exclusions) waiting list. Tenants may utilize information published on NYCHA’s website that provides the number of transfers and applicants waiting on the list by priority and type, and the turnover and inventory, to assess a development’s waiting list.

However, Emergency Transfer requests are limited to a borough, multiple boroughs, or city-wide waiting list option with up to two zip code exclusions to maximize the speed at which they are reached.

Reasonable Accommodation requests have the option to select a development, borough-wide, multiple boroughs, or city-wide waiting list, with up to two zip code exclusions. Additionally, uninhabitable, relocations, and Reasonable Accommodation requests are provided selection preferences for intra-development transfers over inter-development transfers.

All transfers are allowed up to two apartment offers. After two apartment refusals, the transfer request must be restarted with no credit given for prior requests. Emergency and Reasonable Accommodation Transfers are allowed additional offers if the reason for refusal is based on safety reasons for VAWA, Intimidated Victims, or Intimidated Witnesses, or if the reasonable accommodation is not met. Residents on the certified transfer wait list may switch from one individual development waitlist to another if they have not been reached within a year and prior to one year if they are switching from a development to a borough or city-wide option.

For more information on apartment offers, refer to Chapter 5, Resident Selection and Apartment Offers.

11. Security Deposit and Rental Fees at Transfer

The security deposit from the old apartment will be transferred to the new apartment. A resident who transfers to another NYCHA apartment must pay the difference between the existing security deposit paid on the old apartment, if any, and a full month’s rent in the new apartment.

12. Split Household

The entire household must transfer to the new apartment. The household will not be split to occupy two apartments. Exceptions include VAWA transfers, and bifurcation of the lease as outlined in Chapter 2, Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity.

13. Leasing the New Apartment

Households transferring to a new apartment will be required to sign a new lease. Refer to Chapter 6, Leasing, for more information.

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