CityFHEPS rental assistance explained (2026 rent limits)

CityFHEPS is New York City's rental assistance voucher. It pays part of the monthly rent for households that are in shelter or at risk of losing their home, usually for up to five years. The tenant generally pays 30% of household income and the city pays the rest straight to the landlord, up to a rent limit set by household size.

The name stands for City Fighting Homelessness and Eviction Prevention Supplement. The NYC Department of Social Services (DSS) runs it through two of its agencies, the Human Resources Administration (HRA) and the Department of Homeless Services (DHS). This guide pulls the details out of the program's official 2026 fact sheets so you can see the numbers in one place.

Who can get CityFHEPS

You can't apply for CityFHEPS on a website. DSS decides if you're eligible, and you reach the program through a shelter case manager or a Homebase office. The basic tests in the January 2026 DSS fact sheets are:

• Gross household income at or below 200% of the federal poverty level. A single adult working at least 35 hours a week at minimum wage can be above that line.
• You receive Cash Assistance if you're eligible for it, with no sanction on the case.
• You don't qualify for another rental assistance program, such as the state's FHEPS.

If you live in a DHS or HRA shelter

You must also meet one more condition. Examples include an adult who has worked at least 10 hours a week for the last 30 days, a household member with a disability or aged 60 or older, a veteran in the household, or a shelter that is about to close. You also can't move into a home where your household lived at any time in the past year.

If you still have housing but may lose it

You apply through Homebase, a network of more than 20 nonprofit offices across the five boroughs (call 311 to find the nearest one). Households in the community qualify if they meet the income test and one of these: a veteran at risk of homelessness, Pathway Home benefits, a referral from a qualifying program, or an active eviction case (or an eviction in the past year) combined with prior DHS shelter history, an Adult Protective Services case, or a rent-controlled apartment you want to keep.

2026 CityFHEPS rent limits

The "payment standard" is the highest rent CityFHEPS will pay toward. DSS ties it to the Section 8 standards NYCHA uses. New packages submitted on or after March 1, 2026, or with a lease starting April 1, 2026 or later, use the 2026 figures. The amounts assume all utilities are included in the rent. If you pay some utilities yourself, DSS subtracts a utility allowance from the limit.

Notice the 2026 limits are slightly lower than 2025's. If you were shown a 2025 figure on an old shopping letter or a listing, check the current one before you commit to an apartment.

• Bedrooms: DSS pays for one bedroom or sleeping area for every two people. A household of three gets the 2-bedroom standard.
• Smaller unit: rent a smaller apartment than your letter allows and DSS pays up to that smaller unit's standard.
• Bigger unit: you can rent a larger apartment if its rent fits your household's standard.
• Rooms: a single room in a shared apartment is capped at $1,100 a month and is for households of no more than two adults. Heat, hot water, electricity and (if the stove isn't electric) cooking gas must be included. For a room, your share is $50 or your monthly shelter allowance, whichever is greater, rather than 30% of income.
• SROs: single room occupancy units are only for households with one adult.
• Outside NYC: different statewide amounts apply. DSS posts them on its CityFHEPS documents page.

How much rent you pay

Under the CityFHEPS rule (68 RCNY § 10-06), your base share is 30% of your household's total monthly gross income. If someone in the household gets public assistance, the share is 30% of income or the household's maximum shelter allowance, whichever is greater. A 2025 rule briefly set a 40% share for some working households renewing after year five, but the City Council then passed Local Law 176 of 2025 over the mayor's veto. It caps the household contribution at 30% of gross income, whether or not the household gets public assistance.

Example: a two-person household earns $2,000 a month and rents a one-bedroom for $2,600 with all utilities included. The household pays 30% of $2,000, which is $600. CityFHEPS pays the landlord the other $2,000. The rent is under the $2,734 limit, so the full difference is covered.

DSS sends you a Household Share Letter with an estimate early on, and your Approval Letter sets the final amount. If your rent later rises above the program maximum after the first year, or your shelter allowance goes down, you have to make up the difference. If your income drops later, file a modification request with proof of the new income through ACCESS HRA, by email to [email protected], or by mail. To estimate a federal voucher share for comparison, use the Section 8 rent share calculator.

How to use a CityFHEPS voucher, step by step

1. 1

   Get your Shopping Letter and Household Share Letter

   Your case manager or Homebase worker gives you both. The Shopping Letter shows landlords your maximum rent. For community households it is valid for 120 days. The Household Share Letter is for you only.
2. 2

   Search for a unit within your limit

   Look for apartments at or under your payment standard, minus utilities you'd pay. Landlords and brokers can't refuse you because you use CityFHEPS. See renting with a voucher for search tactics.
3. 3

   Register the unit with DSS

   The landlord or your housing specialist enters the unit on the DSS Offer Registration site. DSS checks rent reasonableness against similar units and, for a rent-stabilized unit, the legal rent on file with the state.
4. 4

   Pass the preclearance and walkthrough

   The building and unit must be clear of certain violations, and DSS schedules a physical walkthrough. Make sure the unit you see is the one on the lease.
5. 5

   Sign the lease and submit the packet

   Both you and the landlord sign a lease with the full address and unit number. The landlord and broker must supply their paperwork. DSS does a final review.
6. 6

   Key and check exchange

   At move-in the landlord hands you the keys and receives checks for the first months of rent plus a security voucher instead of a cash deposit.

How landlords get paid

The incentives are why many owners take CityFHEPS. According to the DSS landlord fact sheet (January 2026):

• Up front for apartments: the first month's rent in full, plus the next three months of the CityFHEPS supplement, if the landlord chooses that option.
• Up front for rooms: the first four months' rent in full, or one month plus three months of supplement if the household gets a shelter allowance.
• Monthly checks from DSS/HRA for the CityFHEPS share for up to five years while the tenant stays eligible.
• A security voucher instead of a cash deposit. Landlords must accept it and may not ask for more security.
• A unit-hold payment of one month's rent may be available for holding the apartment during processing.
• A broker's fee of up to 15% of the annual rent, paid by DSS, not the tenant.

HRA payments made by the last day of the month count as on time, whatever the lease says. A landlord can't win a Housing Court case just over late fees, and can't sue in small claims over late fees on the CityFHEPS portion.

Renewals and the five-year limit

You must renew every year. HRA mails the renewal packet about five months before your subsidy year ends, and you can submit it through ACCESS HRA. DSS recalculates your share from your current income each time. The program generally allows up to four annual renewals (five years in total), with extensions for "good cause." The five-year cap doesn't apply if someone in the household is 60 or older or an adult receives federal disability benefits. Renewals also depend on continued funding.

Your right to stay in the apartment comes from your lease and housing law, not from the voucher. In a rent-stabilized unit you have a right to renew. Elsewhere it depends on your lease and, where it applies, Good Cause Eviction.

If you fall behind or a landlord says no

• Trouble paying your share: contact Homebase right away. HRA's One Shot Deal may cover arrears.
• A landlord won't take CityFHEPS: that is source-of-income discrimination under city and state law. See how to spot and report it.
• Questions about payments: the HRA Rental Assistance Call Center is at 718-557-1399, weekdays.

Before you sign, look up the building on Roofy's NYC building lookup for open violations, heat complaints and the owner's record. A unit with serious violations may fail the DSS preclearance anyway.