CityFHEPS Through Homebase: Eligibility, Rent Limits, and Denials

Homebase is where CityFHEPS applications start for New Yorkers who are not currently in a city shelter. If you’re facing eviction, doubled up, or otherwise at risk of losing housing, a Homebase office will screen your household for eligibility, help you assemble the paperwork, and submit the application to the Human Resources Administration for you. This guide walks through who qualifies, what to bring, and what happens after you apply.

Who Qualifies for CityFHEPS Through Homebase

Eligibility rests on two conditions. Your household’s gross income must sit at or below 200 percent of the federal poverty level, and you must fit one of four qualifying categories.¹

The four categories are:

A veteran in the household who is at risk of homelessness.
A household receiving Pathway Home benefits that would otherwise qualify for CityFHEPS if it were living in a DHS or HRA shelter.
A household referred by a CityFHEPS qualifying program, where DSS has determined the voucher is needed to prevent shelter entry.
A household facing eviction in court (or evicted within the past year) where at least one additional factor applies: a member previously lived in a DHS shelter, a member has an active Adult Protective Services case or is in a community guardianship program, or the household lives in a rent-controlled apartment and will use CityFHEPS to remain there.

Most Homebase applicants come through that fourth category, and its compound structure catches people off guard. Facing eviction is not enough on its own. You also need one of the listed factors, such as prior shelter history or an APS case.¹

There is one income exception. A single adult who works at least 35 hours per week at minimum wage can qualify even if income exceeds the 200 percent threshold.²

2026 Income Limits

Two hundred percent of the federal poverty level, by household size, works out to:

1 person: $31,920
2 people: $43,280
3 people: $54,640
4 people: $66,000
5 people: $77,360
6 people: $88,720
7 people: $100,080
8 people: $111,440

Add $11,360 for each person beyond eight. These are gross income figures, before deductions.³

Cash Assistance and Sanctions

If your household is eligible for Cash Assistance, you have to be actively receiving it, with no open sanction, before CityFHEPS can move forward. A sanction is a penalty HRA applies when a household member fails to comply with Cash Assistance rules, and it has to be cleared through your Benefits Access Center. Households whose income is too high for Cash Assistance but still within the 200 percent limit can qualify without it. HRA may also require you to apply for other housing benefits you might be eligible for, such as Section 8, and accept them if offered.¹⁴

Finding Your Homebase Office

Homebase offices are contracted by HRA to provide homelessness prevention services, and they cover the whole city — 25 locations across the five boroughs, each serving specific ZIP codes. You can look up your assigned location on HRA’s Homebase locator page or by calling 311.⁵ Call the office before going. Appointments are required.⁶

At the intake meeting, a caseworker reviews your financial situation, checks your documents, and flags problems before the application reaches HRA. This screening saves weeks of correspondence later over missing paperwork.

Documents to Bring

The application requires identity, income, and housing documents. Come with:

Government-issued photo ID and Social Security numbers for every household member.
Pay stubs covering the last 30 days, or your Cash Assistance budget letter.
Court papers if your application is eviction-based — usually the Notice of Petition or any court orders.
Your current lease, if you have one.
A rent ledger from your landlord showing what you owe.

The main CityFHEPS application for apartments and SROs is form DSS-7q; for rooms, it’s DSS-7o. You’ll also complete the Program Participant Agreement (DSS-7p), the Tenant Contact Information form (DSS-8b), and sometimes the Request for Emergency Assistance (W-137a). Your Homebase provider supplies the CBO Cover Sheet (DSS-8i) and Provider Verification of Eligibility (DSS-8e).⁷

Check that the rent amount on the application matches what your lease and landlord’s ledger say. Discrepancies between those numbers are one of the fastest ways an application gets kicked back. Your caseworker should catch it, but verify it yourself.

What Happens After You Apply

Your Homebase caseworker reviews the full package for completeness and then transmits it to HRA electronically. HRA reviews the submission for eligibility. If the agency needs more documentation, you’ll get a written request, and you should respond quickly. Delays at this stage can cause documents you already submitted to expire, which forces you to redo parts of the process.

Once approved, the next step depends on your situation. If you’re staying in your current apartment, HRA works with your landlord to set up the payment arrangement. If you need to move, HRA issues a shopping letter that lets you search for apartments priced within the payment standard for your household size. Any new apartment has to pass an HRA walkthrough inspection using the Apartment Review Checklist before a lease can be signed.⁷

2026 Rent Limits the Voucher Will Cover

CityFHEPS caps the rent it will pay based on apartment size. The 2026 payment standards, effective April 1, 2026, when all utilities are included in the lease, are:

SRO: $1,953
Studio: $2,604
1 bedroom: $2,734
2 bedrooms: $2,997
3 bedrooms: $3,753
4 bedrooms: $4,077
5 bedrooms: $4,689
6 bedrooms: $5,301

If utilities are not included in the lease, a utility allowance is subtracted from the payment standard, which lowers what the landlord can charge. Packages submitted on or after March 1, 2026, or with an April 1, 2026 lease start date, must use these 2026 standards.⁸ The voucher doesn’t cover the full rent in every case; the tenant pays a base contribution, and HRA pays the balance up to the payment standard.⁹

If Your Application Is Denied

HRA has to send a written notice explaining the reason. You have 60 days from receipt of the denial to request a State Fair Hearing, where an administrative law judge reviews whether HRA applied the eligibility rules correctly to your case.¹⁰

Common denial reasons are income above the threshold, an unresolved Cash Assistance sanction, or not fitting one of the four qualifying categories. Some of these are fixable. Sanctions can be cleared, missing documents can be submitted, and income changes over time. Your caseworker can help you decide whether a fresh application or a fair hearing is the better route based on why HRA said no.

Landlords Cannot Refuse CityFHEPS

Source-of-income discrimination has been illegal in New York City since 2008 and was extended statewide in 2019, when New York amended its Human Rights Law to protect residents from discrimination based on lawful source of income. CityFHEPS, Section 8, and other government rental assistance are all protected.¹¹ A landlord cannot refuse to rent to you, set different terms, or advertise “no vouchers” or “no DSS.” If it happens during your apartment search, you can file a complaint with the NYC Commission on Human Rights or the New York State Division of Human Rights.

1
Department of Social Services. CityFHEPS Frequently Asked Questions for Clients in the Community
2
Department of Social Services. CityFHEPS Frequently Asked Questions
3
HealthCare.gov. Federal Poverty Level
4
New York City Department of Social Services. Notice of Adoption of Amendments to Chapter 10 of Title 68 of the Rules of the City of New York
5
Human Resources Administration. Homebase
6
Human Resources Administration. Homebase Locations
7
Human Resources Administration. CityFHEPS Documents
8
New York City Department of Social Services. DSS CityFHEPS Payment Standards
9
American Legal Publishing. Rules of the City of New York Title 68 – 10-07 Calculation of CityFHEPS Rental Assistance Payment Amount
10
NYC311. Public Benefit Fair Hearing
11
New York State Attorney General. Source-of-Income Discrimination