This is How the Housing Lottery Process Works from A-Z (New York: low income, section 8)

[q41apartments]

I was recently awarded a middle income lottery and i wanted to share my entire experience form A to Z with everyone. I constantly see someone asking the same question everyday on this forum and i hope my post helps. This is to give anyone applying an insight to the process and what to expect. Now, I am going to be up front and let everyone know that it was a very hard and painful process. I cried many nights.

Things to keep in mind:

• What kind of lottery are you applying for (Section 8, low income, or the new middle income ones).
• Based on what type of lottery you applied for, the wait time can differ.
• New buildings increase your chances of getting a unit because the number of available units will be the entire building versus just a few units being available.
• You should not expect to apply today and get awarded a unit next week or next month. Housing lotteries are really for people who have the time to wait because this is NOT an overnight process. Some people are very lucky and it is not overnight, but only after submitting the application months to years in advance before getting a call.
• You'll be given the option of doing a 1 or 2 year lease.
• All units are rent stablized so it will not increase more than 5%. It is based on whatever NYC has implemented for that year, but it should not exceed 5% and most people know they save money doing the 1 year renewals because it is always cheaper.
• This would not apply to section 8 because i believe that is based on your income.
• If you didn't get a letter/postcard with your lottery number on it after 1 year of applying, you can basically know all hope is gone.
• Apply to as many housing lotteries as you can to increase your chances.
• Apply and never think about it again because the anxiety will drive you insane.
• The only thing the tenant pays is electricity. Heat, hot water, and gas is all included.

For my lottery, I applied via regular mail. They still accept paper applications, but recommend online submissions more to reduce the amount of physical paper/manual work. Electronic is always better in my opinion. I have only applied to 2 apartment lotteries my entire life. The building i applied for is a middle income lottery and one of the many new middle income lotteries that have been popping up. This is a new initiative by Mayor DeBlasio to preserve housing for middle income New Yorkers who are getting priced out due to the high sky rocketing prices.

My building is brand new and had 108 empty units to give away which is 98% of the building. 4 units on the top 2 floors are for sale but now turned rental. I applied and mailed in my application in the summer of 2013. It was advertised in the newspaper. I didn't get a letter asking me to come in till Spring/Summer 2014. Almost a year had gone by and i didn't get awarded a unit till fall 2014. When i came in to be shown the units during the summer, i was told 50% of the building is already full. It is almost Christmas now and i think the building is at 80% capacity. Try to connect the dots and see how slow city employees are when it comes to processing this stuff.

To break it down, this whole thing took a little over one year and a lot of the time included a lot of uncertainty. My lottery number was under 2200. The majority of the people in the building, if not everyone, all had lottery numbers of 3000 and below. Anyways, you are probably asking yourself: If there is only 108 units, howcome the log numbers are in the 3000 range and not 108 and under?
Here is why:

• If 3,000 people come in, not all 3,000 necessarily qualify for the apartment.
• This can be due to bad credit. My lottery required a score of 700 and above.
• The applicant was employed when they applied, but are now unemployed after getting called in.
• The person could have lied on their application.
• The person was awarded an apartment, but decided to turn it down, so the next in line gets called in.
• The applicants listed phone number does not work anymore. Sometimes people cancel their cell service and get new numbers. So remember to keep the same number and don't change it.
• Also keep in mind having a good wireless carrier is important because sometimes people's phones do not ring, but they all of a sudden get a voicemail out of nowhere (Verizon and Sprint, anyone?) Hahahaha
• The person has an eviction on their record.
• The person has been in housing court.
• People get called in and the building leaves them a voicemail, but they never respond to the voicemail so they go to the next person in line. Keep in mind, you have to want it. Not have people constantly leaving voicemails and you don't respond.
• The persons background check did not go through and so forth.
• The person who was awarded a unit owns an apt/house. If this is discovered, they'll get denied because they clearly don't need housing assistance.
• The person who was awarded a unit was making demands asking for a balcony, 2 bedrooms, and 2 baths and won't not settle for a 2 bedroom with 1 bath and no balcony. So they drag out the process and decline last min when their demands are not met, so the next person in the lottery queue gets called in. Also remember when someone does this - it is obnoxious. Plus, it delays the process for everyone else that is in the queue waiting.

There are many reasons, but those are some.

Interviews are NOT conducted. Maybe for section 8 housing/low income they might conduct interviews or come visit your current home, but those applicants do not have a high source of income. So they might do interviews to be cautious with whom they award units to because that person can end up broke and not be able to pay the cheap rent they were awarded, smoke weed, do drugs, or have baby mommas etc. Also, there are a few lotteries in super high luxury door man buildings in Manhattan where everyone else is paying 6K in rent, and they'll award a small number of units to people who make 25K and under. For those instances, they really can't just have any nobody in that building. They need reliable lottery winners. They don't need someone who will get awarded a place and then start jamming the studio and having 5 friends living with them. Remember, this is about making money. Yes, you get a discount on your rent, but you should be humble about it and NOT work the system.

Once you get a letter to come in, it is pretty much a done deal. The chances of getting a unit are 95% and above at that point. One would only get denied if they have a criminal record, bad credit, been to housing court, was evicted or one of the things i listed above. Once you get the letter, you'll be asked to bring in your ID, 4 of your latest pay stubs, and your latest tax return. Prior to your documents being collected, you'll be asked to complete a formal application for the building. It is pretty much the same application you submitted the first time, but this time, you'll be asked to disclose your social security number, and provide a job reference to verify employment. You'll also be attesting to certain things disclosed on the application. For example, you are allowing NYC Housing to run a credit check, background check, etc. After you completed everything and they scanned all the documents you provided, you'll be informed to expect to hear from the building in 4 - 6 weeks. This is not true because its a long process due to the fact the people working on it are SLOW. Your credit will be run immediately because mine was a few days after coming in for a visit.

Things to help you prepare in advance:

• Have all your paperwork ready.
• Have your last 4 pay stubs ready.
• Have a copy of your latest tax return with you.
• Have all your ID ready. Nothing expired of course.
• Have your bank statements ready in the event they request it.
• Know that they'll be asking for employment letters from current and past employers, so be prepared.
• Get your HR contact and have it handy. This is in the event you get called in, you'll know who to reach out to in order to obtain an employment verification letter.
• This is annoying and straight up DUMB, but they might also ask for a letter from your prior employer confirming you no longer work there.
• Have the items listed above ready for all applicants. So make sure whoever you applied with is on point as you are and prepared.
• If you are a CITY employee - know your chances are HIGH. I don't know why, but housing lotteries love city employees because they never get FIRED and can always pay rent.
• Also keep in mind, city employees always get preference before everyone else. Don't even get me started on that.
• On a yearly basis, you'll be asked to submit your latest 4 pay stubs again to see that you still fall within income guidelines to continue living in the building.
• You will NOT get evicted for exceeding the income guidelines. You are allowed to get raises and bonuses at work. This is understandable.
• Your rent will not shot from $1,100.00 a month to $3,000.00 a month if your salary increases.
• Your rent would be auto-adjusted only if your salary spikes up a HUGE amount. For example, if you make 125K now and during the annual checkup, your salary is now 250K - you can expect your rent to increase. It won't be by much, but expect a rent increase.
• The management company hired to run all the administrative work in the building is NOT the best. In fact, they are horrible like the majority of management companies in NYC. They collect checks and nothing else. Pray nothing breaks in your apartment or doesn't work because it'll be a complete nightmare trying to get it fixed. Remember that good old saying: You get what you paid for? If the tenants here are paying 5K in rent, they'll have a more high end management company that is responsive. Its just the way things are. The management companies hired to manage these lotteries are use to dealing with people they consider to be beneath them, so they just don't bother answering. Once again, they collect checks and nothing else. Good luck trying to find someone to answer your phone calls or emails.

There is a lot of red tape involved after you come in to submit your paperwork because the people processing the paperwork can see you and get turned off and not feel a need to want to help you even though you got called in. It is a lot of RED TAPE involved. People always disagree with me on this, but we all know a thin pretty girl going in to apply for a job will get it over the chubby overweight girl who showed up for the interview in sweatpants. There is also racial favoritism that comes into play. The people processing the paperwork might see someone of the same ethnicity as them and feel they must help their fellow man. For example, if you want good Italian pasta, do you go to an indian restaurant to get it or an authentic Italian restaurant? NOPE! So you know what i am talking about. Once again, some people might not agree, but it is very noticeable and you can CUT the red tape with a butter knife. Unfortunately, the people processing the applications have a lot of "SASSY ATTITUDE". Anyone who has dealt with a city employee at (the DMV, Bus driver, train operator, Postal Office Worker) will know what i mean. This means you'll have to play nice even though they are beyond RUDE to you. If you talk back, they might chuck your application in the trashbin and move onto the next person.

After your visit, and if your credit check goes through perfectly, they'll call you (if they work fast enough) to show you what unit you'll be awarded. The majority of people in my building were shown several empty units and given the option of picking which one they prefer or like. Some people want a balcony, some don't, and some people might have wanted a 1 bedroom and decided they wanted to upgrade to a 2 bedroom now etc. After you sign for the unit, it is yours (It is yours meaning they will not show it to any other applicant) but it is still NOT a gurantee because your background check could come back with an issue and then get denied. But by this point all of that stuff should already be finished so there shouldn't be an issue. At that point, all you can do is wait for a call to come in and sign your lease and it is a done deal.

Some DO NOTS after getting an apartment:

• Do not smoke weed or cigarettes. Everyone can smell it. You'll end up encountering one upset tenant that'll will report you. Then you'll get evicted and lose your nice apartment that you worked so hard to get.
• I know this is NYC and its expensive. Everyone wants to make money to survive, but don't illegally rent your apartment out like it is a hotel to make a profit. If is not fair to the other tenants and definitely not fair to yourself after you went through this exhausting process. Trust me, someone will see it, report it, and get you evicted. It is very noticeable in a doorman building when they constantly see tourist who don't speak English with big luggage and come off as if they are visiting NYC and not a relative. It is very obvious when there is new tourist every 4 to 5 days. Also, this can create a bed bug issue with the constant high turnover rate of people. Don't infest such a nice new building with bed bugs and ruin it for everyone else.
• Don't live in a studio and invite 5 friends to stay with you to save money. Everyone will know and someone will report it and once again, you'll lose a nice apartment you worked so hard to get. Having your boyfriend/girlfriend live with you in understandable, but don't invite 5 people who don't have their legal papers come live with you. This can create unsanitary living conditions.

I feel very lucky and blessed. I hope this helps.

[q41apartments]

Good luck to all.

[LowerEastSide01]

I'm confused. I sent in an application for my first apartment waiting list lottery. I understand that this lottery is to be placed on the waiting list.

The deadline for all applications is 12/1/14 - postmark. All applications must be received no later than 12/2/14.

They are accepting 200 1-bedroom applications but only 25 applications for a 2-bedroom. I applied for the 2-bedroom apartment. Do they start picking the 25 applications as they come in or do they wait until 12/2/14 and then start randomly selecting 25 applications?

Thanks for the info.

[q41apartments]

First, is your lottery section 8, low or middle income lottery?

NYC Housing is going to call more than 25 people to come in for the 2 bedroom because when you or anyone else applies, no information is verified. All the information is verified after someone is called in to supply documentation (i.e. pay stubs, drivers license, tax return, etc). Remember that not everyone that gets called in will get an apartment because sometimes the person called in doesn't met the credit score requirements, was employed when they applied and is now unemployed, lied on the application, or the background check did not go through. These reasons will get some rejected. So if 25 people get called in and all pass then you are out of luck unless you were part of the 25. If someone on the 25 has issues and they decided to decline that person then you are in luck because they'll move forward with you assuming everything checks out fine on your part.

This whole process is NOT smooth. Also remember that just because you applied doesn't guarantee you'll get asked to come in because the computer randomly selects people as this is a "lottery"". They told me the computer randomly selects people. So lets say for your lottery had 50,000 people apply, but the building only has 200 units, the computer will randomly select people to come in. Of course, the computer will select more than 200 because not all 200 applications that are selected in numeric order might meet the eligibility requirements because of what i stated above about things not checking out.

Feel free to ask me anymore questions and good luck.

[BKlife]

Thanks, this a great post. Do you know if decreases in income affect your status after winning the lottery and getting an apartment? For example, I'm looking to head back to school to get a graduate degree in 2-3 years. If my income drops say, 10-15K below the required price would I be evicted even if I can still make payments? Trying to figure out if it is even worth applying.

[q41apartments]

I believe only section 8 buildings have rent decreases. It's those red brick buildings. I know someone in one now and every year his rent gets adjusted accordingly based on his tax return that he supplies to HPD. Section 8 also adjusts rents in real time if you lose a job or start a new job at a lower pay. You must supply your paychecks immediately and i think it takes them 4 to 6 weeks to adjust your rent.

My friend used unemployment money to pay his rent for 2 years. But then again, his apartment complex gross and nasty and the tenants are utter savages. The highest his rent was at $800.00 when he made good money and $300.00 on unemployment. But on the plus side, he is 1 block from the Apple store in Manhattan.

[lasigone]

any one the process to get in 521 west 42 St and the re certification process?

[ogplife]

What if it is husband where one has good credit and the other doesn't?

[q41apartments]

@Lasigone - can you be more clear?

@Opglife - they only go with the credit score of the main applicant which is the head of the household. I'm assuming your husband has a penis, so he'd be the main applicant and the head of the household, so they won't check your credit - just his.

[ogplife]

Originally Posted by q41apartments

@Lasigone - can you be more clear?

@Opglife - they only go with the credit score of the main applicant which is the head of the household. I'm assuming your husband has a penis, so he'd be the main applicant and the head of the household, so they won't check your credit - just his.

Sorry for confusing you. I could have been a lot more clear. Basically I meant a married couple where one has bad credit and one has good, but you answered. Thanks.