Chosen to move forward with a lottery apartment I didn’t apply for. (rentals)

[loriF2125]

I was wondering if this was a scam. The day before thanksgiving my husband received an email stating that there was a notification on his NYC housing connect profile and he needed to log in. Clearly we didn’t go through the email just in case so we logged in normally. And lo and behold there it was the listing for a luxury building/lottery building in Brooklyn, Williamsburg area. The thing is we never remember applying for this building. Next to it says the building address and ML and the apartment number. We found out it was a mini lottery. But something isn’t sitting right with me. My husband said it has to be legit since it’s the NYC housing connect website. Yet we never applied for this specific building. Well my husband decided to move forward and send them what they asked for. And we were rejected and we appealed and then Rejected again because they claim our rental subsidy doesn’t cover the rent. Which is not true. Then we were given the option for complain to HDC/HPD and now it says under review. Has this happened to anyone else. Are they allowed to add a listing you never applied to? We’re we just lucky. Or could this have been a mistake and that’s why they keep rejecting it??? Pls if anyone has dealt with this let us know. Thank you.

[KiBoogieDownBx]

Go back into your email you used for HC account. HC2 always sends your a notification after you apply stating your “ application was successfully submitted”. Look for that lottery notification and confirm for yourself you could have and you just don’t remember. Keep going through the process of appealing and keep advocating for your self if this is a housing unit you want. You are allowed to reject at anytime. From what you stated it seems legit because it’s on HC2. I would advise to refrain from sending documents via email and always get requested through HC to submit documents.

[stormgal]

You are randomly entered and selected for mini lotteries. Your income and family size qualify you initially for a specified apartment regardless of whether you've applied for it or not. You can always disable this feature on the housing connect site, but I wouldn't recommend it.

Oh by the way, the ML-xxx number is the apartment you're submitting documents for. Good luck!

[AnxietyBiscuits]

As stormgal said, the mini lotteries don't require that you apply specifically to each one. I've been contacted by literally dozens of ML's in the past two years. They are typically re-rentals - units that were rented in a previous lottery and have since become vacant.

I always wait until I see the official notification in my HC account before I send docs. Some of the marketing agents will send an email before the notification comes through on HC which definitely feels sketchy every time, but it hasn't been so far.