Webinar Shares Information About Section 8 Process Improvements

The Office of Intergovernmental Relations hosted the eighth installment of its NextGeneration NYCHA Webinar Series on September 28 with a lunchtime presentation by Vice President for Leased Housing Lakesha Miller and Leased Housing Department (LHD) Director Robert Tesoriero on NYCHA’s Housing Choice Voucher Program (Section 8).

Ms. Miller provided background information on NYCHA’s federally funded Section 8 program, the largest in the nation, which provides rental assistance for eligible low-income families for affordable housing.

Mr. Tesoriero outlined improvements to the Self- Service Portal and extranet for apartment owners that streamline how LHD serves applicants, voucher holders and owners, in keeping with NextGen’s goal to operate more efficiently and effectively.

LHD now provides faster and more convenient service to Section 8 owners and voucher holders through online processing and other process improvements. Through Fast Pass (see chart), voucher holders can drop off rental packets at any of LHD’s walk-in centers. Qualifying inspections of apartments to ensure they meet federal standards have been expedited to within five days.

Fast Match provides a new interface with a real-time connection between the internet, where owners can list a vacant apartment, and NYCHA’s Self-Service Portal, where voucher holders can look for one. And Fast HAPs enables faster rental payments to apartment owners through direct deposit and rental contracts to begin any time during the month, instead of waiting until the first.

In addition, NYCHA’s Self-Service Portal on the extranet provides online processing that enables owners, voucher holders and applicants to conveniently manage their accounts by updating and checking on the status of information and processing, viewing policy changes, submitting recertifications for repairs, and other features.

“The rental market in New York is tough,” Mr. Tesoriero said, but the recent process improvements provide owners with convenient support and assistance. Although the waiting list for the Section 8 program closed in 2009, there are 85,236 participating families currently served by NYCHA’s Section 8 program and 26,415 owners.

“LHD welcomes the opportunity to provide our customers and the public with the information necessary for them to make informed decisions and to make the best use of our improved service,” Ms. Miller later commented. “We thank Intergovernmental Relations for this important platform.” A lively question and answer session with webinar participants followed the formal presentation.

The webinar series keeps elected officials, their liaisons and advocates informed about NYCHA’s policies and initiatives so they can better assist our customers. Topics this year included: the Office of Public/Private Partnerships, rent collection, the Rental Assistance Demonstration (RAD) Program, recycling and sustainability and Section 3.