NEW YORK – New Yorkers participating in rental assistance programs are struggling with bogus fees and security deposits demanded by landlords, real estate agents, or even outright scammers.
This is the result of a new survey on the different types of Discrimination in the housing market in all five districts.
It’s a problem that CBS News New York Investigates reporter Tim McNicholas has been reporting on for years.
Nycole-Lanyse Jacques recently joined McNicholas via Zoom from a location outside Chicago, but said she would rather be in New York City.
“I have literally turned my life around. I have no place in New York,” Jacques said.
This despite the fact that they have been searching for months and are participating in a rental assistance program called CityFHEPS (Family Homelessness and Eviction Prevention Supplement).
In late 2022, a broker emailed her telling her she needed to make “a $1,000 deposit” on Venmo or Zelle, plus a $100 application fee.
“It was very discouraging and frustrating considering how difficult it is to find an apartment in New York City,” Jacques said.
“We cannot tolerate this under any circumstances”
The city’s Human Rights Commission says charging voucher holders upfront fees or deposits of more than $20 “can be evidence of discrimination under New York City’s Human Rights Law.”
“We absolutely cannot tolerate this,” said Ashley Eberhart of Unlock NYC.
Eberhart said a new report from the nonprofit uncovered more than 60 allegations of astronomically high fees and deposits since 2021 – some of them involving outright scammers posing as brokers. She said the problems are likely underreported.
“Everyone has been in a situation where someone has said to them, ‘Hey, I don’t normally do this, but since you have a voucher, can you put a $500 deposit? Or I can put your application at the top of the pile if you give me a little extra money on the side,'” Eberhart said.
The survey focused not only on fees, but also on all the ways in which people who use rental assistance vouchers are discriminated against. It also found more than 20 different tactics that agents and landlords use to discriminate against people in rental assistance programs. The most common is ghosting – simply not responding when they learn that someone is using a voucher.
CBS News New York uncovered voucher discrimination in 2023
In December, McNicholas went undercover during a screening in Brooklynwhere a broker said vouchers would not be accepted, which was illegal.
“Would you accept someone with vouchers?” asked McNicholas.
“Um, well, vouchers are a tricky subject for landlords. What my agent said is, um, unfortunately not at the moment,” said the agent.
“As soon as they mention they’re paying with a voucher, the conversation takes a different turn. They say, ‘We’ll call you back.’ They never get a call back,” Eberhart said.
The real estate agency that took Jacques’ security deposit said it was against their policy to do this to voucher holders. However, a co-agent did not disclose that she was using a voucher and never contacted CBS News New York Investigates again.
Tim McNicholas
