An exclusive NY1 report this week found homeless families experience blatant discrimination when searching for an apartment with a voucher from the city — constantly rejected by landlords and realtors based on their source of income.

The voucher, called CityFHEPS, covers all or some of the cost of an apartment for people experiencing homelessness. 

What You Need To Know

  • Thousands of people experiencing homelessness are given housing vouchers by the city every year

  • An exclusive investigation by NY1 found those vouchers are routinely rejected

  • Could legislation at the council or in Albany fix the problem?

That voucher is set at $1,323 for a couple and $1,580 for a family of four. 

It's a cap some say is too low. 

“I don’t really see another option at this point,” said Councilman Stephen Levin. "We have tried to get them to do this on their own and they have just refused year after year.”

Levin has a bill at the council to raise the voucher limit by several hundred dollars to make it equivalent to federal Section 8 vouchers. It’s an idea that has the backing of the council speaker, who said he would move the legislation forward if the city received enough local aid from a new stimulus package in Washington.  

“If we get what was in the HEROES Act that was passed by the House, I believe last May, that would give us plenty of money that would fill the budget holes,” Council Speaker Corey Johnson told NY1 on Thursday. "If we do that I think we should move this bill right away.”

For the moment, the bill has a veto-proof majority of sponsors. We asked whether the council would override a mayoral veto.

"I would have to talk to my colleagues in the council, but I do think that there is widespread support from a number of sponsors, and based on the homelessness crisis we are facing, to pass a bill like this,” Johnson said.

The mayor has not backed the measure. When we asked him on Thursday he said he supported a proposal in Albany to increase vouchers — something that would be covered mostly by state dollars. 

“I have not seen Councilman Levin’s bill. I'll take a look at that for sure,” the mayor said. "I know the bigger solution, in terms of making maximum housing available, is to follow through on the state level on the housing stability plan that’s been with the legislature for several years.”

It’s unclear if any of these proposals will move forward given the city and state’s fiscal crisis.

“We have a lot that we need from the federal government and that will greatly impact the chances of us getting statewide legislation that would create rent subsidies as well as citywide action to improve rent subsidies,” said Giselle Routhier of the Coaltion for the Homeless. 

These proposals have all been pushed for years. We will see if 2021 will bring them any more success.