housing lottery recertification (low income, sublet, apartment)

[svedevie]

My husband and I just won a mid-income housing lottery, a $2800/month manhattan apartment. we're now obliged to give up our $1300/month rent stabilized studio apt we've lived in for 15 years. I'm self-employed, so my income varies drastically from year to year. Currently I fall within the income requirements, but many years I make negative income, while other years I make double or triple the income requirements. It's just the nature of my business. Also my husband might get a new job soon, putting us over the current limit next year already. We have savings to cover low income years, so we will have no issues paying the rent, but we're terribly nervous giving up our secure rent stabilized apartment, which although dingy and claustrophobic, is a cheap safe haven in a city with sky rocketing rent. On paper we're told we need to get recertified annually for this mid-income apartment, but the guy managing the program said "once you're in you're in". Does anyone have experience with making too much or too little during recertification? Or getting kicked out of the program for making too much or too little? What if we (god forbid) got a divorce. would one of us be able to stay in the apt? Any way we can hold on to our present apartment, sublet it, until we know if we can stay permanently in this housing program or not?

[KellyDNYC]

I know someone who will gladly sublet your studio =)