HASA Broker Requirements: What Brokers and Case Managers Need to Know

The City does pay brokers who place HASA clients. NYC311's HASA Broker Fee Assistance article says it plainly: "The City pays a fee to licensed Real Estate brokers who help HRA clients find housing." What the city does not publish, as of September 2026, is a HASA-specific fee amount or a HASA-specific request form. CityFHEPS has both, in writing.

So a HASA placement works on two layers. The first is documented and the same for every HRA broker payment: a licensed broker, a legal unit with no hazardous violations, and no affiliation with the landlord. The second is case-specific and runs through the client's HASA case manager: whether a fee is approved for this case, how much, and on which form.

This guide is for both sides of that conversation, the broker and the case manager.

Last checked: September 2026. This is general information, not legal advice.

The Conditions on Every HRA Broker Payment

Every HRA broker form we've read carries the same core conditions. They appear on the HRA-121 used for CityFHEPS, FHEPS and SOTA, and on the older Cash Assistance broker forms, the W-147P and W-147JJ. Expect them on a HASA placement:

• The unit has a current Certificate of Occupancy issued by the Department of Buildings, or the HRA-121's alternative, confirmation that the unit's use complies with local standards.
• Nothing has changed in the unit's occupancy or use that conflicts with that certificate.
• No dangerous or hazardous violations are present on the premises.
• You hold a current broker's license in good standing.
• You are not the owner, a controlling person, or an affiliate of the owner of the unit.

The HRA-121 adds a sixth: the lease must be for at least one year.

These aren't formalities. Each form asks you to certify them, and false statements on the HRA-121 are a Class A misdemeanor (Penal Law section 175.30). You also agree to refund the fee if the client doesn't move in.

How to Check a Unit Before You Show It

HASA clients often need a unit fast. Showing one that fails a condition wastes the one resource they can't spare. Before the showing:

• Certificate of Occupancy. Look the building up on the Department of Buildings' public records. Compare the legal number of units and the use of the floor you're showing. A cellar or basement unit that the C of O doesn't list as residential fails. So does a two-family house carved into three apartments.
• Violations. Search the address on HPD Online. HPD classes violations as A (non-hazardous), B (hazardous) and C (immediately hazardous). Open B or C violations in the unit or building are the red flag on the "no dangerous or hazardous violations" line. Check DOB for open hazardous violations too.
• Affiliation. If you manage the building, share an owner with it, or your firm is owned by anyone who owns the unit, you're affiliated. The CityFHEPS landlord package names property managers specifically, and there's no reason to expect HASA to read it more loosely.
• Rent. HASA publishes its own maximums in HRA's Special Services Rent Payment Guidelines (effective September 10, 2025, and still current per HASA's June 2026 FAQ): $2,646 for a studio and $2,762 for a one-bedroom, with all utilities included. These are not the lower April 2026 CityFHEPS numbers, so don't price a HASA unit off a CityFHEPS table. Paid utilities lower the maximum, and heat and hot water must be included. See how much HASA pays for rent in 2026 for the full table. A unit above the maximum usually won't be approved.

What We Know About the HASA Fee Amount

Less than we'd like. Here is the record, oldest first:

• 2012 to 2013. HASA cut its broker fee payment to 50% of the usual fee, according to City Limits and a Housing Works account from May 2013. Housing Works also reported HASA replaced cash security deposits with a security voucher.
• Cash Assistance broker forms. The W-147P and W-147JJ, last revised in April 2011, state the fee at "50% of the monthly rent" and say the W-147P must be submitted to HRA's Office of Central Processing "within 30 days after physical possession." These are Cash Assistance forms, not HASA forms, and we don't know whether HASA cases still use them.
• Today. HRA's landlord and broker page lists up-to-15% fees for CityFHEPS, FHEPS and SOTA and a 15% bonus for placing homeless veterans. It lists no HASA fee.

We haven't found a current public document stating what HASA pays a broker. Don't quote a number to a landlord or client until the HASA case manager confirms it for that case. If a HASA client is also eligible for CityFHEPS, the CityFHEPS fee rules apply to that placement; see does CityFHEPS pay a broker fee.

Questions to Ask the HASA Case Manager First

Brokers: send these before you start showing. Case managers: have the answers ready when a broker calls.

• Is a broker fee approved for this client's case, and what is the amount?
• Which form do you need from me, and when? (In the packet, or within a set number of days after move-in?)
• What is the client's approved maximum rent, and does it assume all utilities included?
• Is there a security voucher, and what does the landlord need to know about it?
• Who inspects or walks through the unit, and how soon after I send an address?
• Is the client eligible for any other subsidy (CityFHEPS, Section 8) that changes the fee or the paperwork?

HASA approvals are individual. Our HASA guide and how to apply for HASA explain the program from the client's side, including the caseworker's role in approving a unit.

What Brokers Cannot Do

• Charge the client. Since June 11, 2025, the FARE Act bars a landlord's broker, including any listing agent, from charging the tenant. HRA's broker forms also have you certify you requested nothing beyond an application fee charged to every applicant. The rules are laid out in the FARE Act and voucher broker fees.
• Refuse or steer. HASA benefits are a protected source of income under the NYC Human Rights Law, and the law covers brokers as well as landlords. "No programs," "the landlord doesn't do HASA" and quietly never returning the call all count. See can a landlord refuse Section 8 in NYC.
• Take a fee on your own building. Affiliation disqualifies the fee on every HRA form.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does HASA pay a broker fee?

Yes, the City pays licensed brokers who help HRA clients, including HASA clients, find housing. The amount and form aren't published for HASA, so confirm both with the client's HASA case manager before the showing.

Is the HASA fee 15% like CityFHEPS?

We can't confirm that. The 15% figure is published for CityFHEPS, shelter-exit FHEPS, SOTA and homeless-veteran placements. The last public reporting on HASA specifically, from 2012 and 2013, described a cut to half the usual fee.

Can a HASA client pay the rest of the fee?

Not to a landlord's broker; the FARE Act prohibits it. A client who chooses to hire their own broker may pay them, but HASA clients are on fixed, low incomes. Get the agency fee confirmed before you take the client on.

Who do I call?

HRA's line in the NYC311 HASA broker article is (718) 557-1399, weekdays 8 AM to 5 PM. The client's HASA case manager is faster for anything about a specific case.

If you work HASA placements regularly, VoucherMatch for brokers lets you track each client's program, approved rent and case manager in one place, and search listings from landlords who have already said yes to vouchers.