Delayed Section 8 payments could worsen discrimination against tenants, NYC attorneys warn
- Tenants who use a Section 8 voucher cannot be evicted solely because of late federal payments
- Delays and cuts could make landlords more hesitant to rent to housing voucher holders
The Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher program pays for a portion of a low-income tenant's rent.
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Thousands of low-income tenants in New York City rely on federally funded vouchers to pay part of their rent. But for the past two months, those subsidies were briefly held up following confusion over a proposed federal funding freeze.
The New York City Housing Authority—which administers the largest Section 8 housing voucher program in the nation—received funds from the federal government on February 1st and March 1st, and paid landlords on the third, according to a spokesperson. Previously, NYCHA would schedule payments for the first of the month before receiving the cash, Gothamist reported.
A NYCHA spokesperson said that the policy change was not “significant” and that the payments were not late. (At the very least, those payments are not late enough to incur a financial penalty; under New York state law, tenants have a five-day grace period before landlords can charge late fees.)
But NYC housing attorneys warned that payment delays and growing uncertainty over the fate of federally funded housing assistance could result in more illegal discrimination against New Yorkers using Section 8 vouchers, and even unlawful eviction.
“With delays in payments, unfortunately, I can see that making source of income discrimination an even bigger problem than it already is,” said Luis Henríquez, the director of litigation at Manhattan Legal Services. “It may lead to even more landlords being apprehensive about renting to tenants that have Section 8 vouchers.”
It’s illegal for a landlord to refuse to rent to someone because they use a housing voucher, or to evict a tenant solely because the government paid its subsidy late. But late payments are still distressing to Section 8 tenants, said Anna Luft, an attorney at New York Legal Assistance Group (NYLAG).
Payment delays are “still going to show up on your rent ledger, and it's still going to be very stressful and scary for you as a renter, especially as a low-income renter,” said Luft, who serves as project director for NYLAG’s Public Housing Justice Project.
The tenant attorneys Brick Underground spoke to had not seen landlords try to evict tenants because of delayed subsidy payments. But they cautioned that renters should keep a record of their rent payments just in case. Read on for what you need to know if you use a Section 8 housing voucher.
Wait, how the hell did we get here?
In January, just nine days after President Donald Trump was sworn into office, the new administration’s budget office ordered federal agencies to pause spending and review all their assistance programs to make sure they were in line with Trump’s priorities. (Those priorities included making sure rental assistance programs like Section 8 don’t somehow fund abortions or support environmental justice, among other things.)
While the White House quickly reversed course after a firestorm of criticism, Section 8 payments to some NYC landlords were delayed on Friday, Jan. 31st, and then again at the end of February.
That’s because NYCHA waited to receive money from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development before dispersing it to local landlords. That seems to be the plan going forward; a notice on NYCHA’s website now informs landlords and tenants that “NYCHA will process payments to landlords within one business day” of HUD depositing the money on the first business day of each month “until further notice.”
"Because the first of the month fell on a Saturday in both February and March, funds only became available to NYCHA on Monday the third—the first business day of the month. Payments to landlords were made on that same day,” a NYCHA spokesperson wrote to Brick Underground in an email.
NYCHA maintains that this is not a “significant policy change,” according to the spokesperson.
“For years, NYCHA's receipt and distribution of these funds was nearly simultaneous. Now, NYCHA will be issuing payment within one business day of receipt of the necessary funding,” the spokesperson said in an email. “This processing period may have seemed longer in February and March of 2025 due to the first of the month falling on a Saturday in both cases.”
A representative for HUD did not respond to a request for comment.
What Section 8 users need to know
Tenants who use a Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher cannot be evicted solely because a public housing authority—the body that distributes the subsidy, like NYCHA—didn’t pay its share on the first of the month.
“The circumstances surrounding NYCHA’s payments to Section 8 landlords” have “no impact on existing tenant protections and their related rights and responsibilities,” said the NYCHA spokesperson in an email.
As long as you’re meeting your end of the bargain—paying your share, recertifying your voucher, and meeting the program’s other requirements—you’re protected from eviction, Henríquez said.
“The Section 8 law protects tenants from eviction in the situation where the landlord is not being paid the subsidy portion—so long as you are paying your share of the rent and are otherwise compliant with the obligations of the lease,” Henríquez said.
But if payment delays continue, there is a risk that landlords will try to evict Section 8 tenants illegally, Luft warned.
“I do think that there’s a very real chance that, if this continues, that they can be called into court,” Luft said. “If that happens, there’s also always the real possibility that people will self evict. They’ll think that there’s nothing that can be done, and they’ll offer to move out."
Luft recommends that a Section 8 tenant keep records of their rent payments to their landlord in case they need to prove, in housing court, that they have made their required payments. If you do need to go to housing court, you may be able to get a free attorney through NYC’s right to counsel program. You should tell your lawyer and the judge that you have a Section 8 voucher and have paid your portion, Luft said.
| What could happen | What you can do |
|---|---|
| If the government’s portion of your rental payment is late… | You should know that you can’t be evicted solely because the public housing authority charged with paying a part of your rent is late. Keep a record of your rent payments to your landlord. |
| If your landlord serves you with a petition for nonpayment of rent… | You do not need to vacate the apartment. You can only be evicted by a marshal, sheriff, or constable after a legal court process. Contact an attorney (if possible) and prepare to go to housing court. |
| If/when you go to housing court… | You should get an attorney (if possible). Tell your attorney and/or the judge that you have paid your rent each month. |
There’s also a risk that payment delays could encourage landlords to illegally discriminate against Section 8 voucher holders. Refusing to rent to a tenant using a voucher—commonly dubbed source of income discrimination—is against the law.
Unfortunately, discrimination still happens, said Deborah Berkman, the director of the shelter and economic stability project at NYLAG.
“The more unstable the payments are, the less likely that unregulated apartments will accept these vouchers, and it doesn't matter if they have to,” Berkman said. “Every day we have clients who report instances of source of income discrimination.”
If you’re looking for an apartment with a voucher, you should know that discrimination is illegal, and you can report it online through the nonprofit Unlock NYC or directly to the NYC Commission on Human Rights.
The long-term view
Delays or cuts to the Section 8 program can reverberate through the housing market, even impacting tenants who don’t rely on public rent subsidies.
“If we are in the situation where the Section 8 program itself is going to suffer deep cuts from the federal government, then that can be very consequential—in a bad way—for affordable housing generally in the United States,” Henríquez said.
The Trump-appointed HUD secretary Scott Turner is already considering cuts to the department, which distributes funds to local public housing authorities like NYCHA, Time reported. A HUD lower Manhattan field office was left with just one field policy and management employee after cuts, the New York Daily News reported.
Cuts to Section 8 could lead to lost revenue for landlords who rely on the subsidy payments, potentially pushing some buildings into insolvency, warned Kenny Burgos, CEO of the landlord group New York Apartment Association. That could impact properties housing both tenants who use rental subsidies and those who don’t.
“It is of the utmost importance that this voucher program operates reliably and effectively,” Burgos said. “Otherwise we are running the risk of some very dark impacts to the housing market within New York City, whether or not you need a voucher.”
