How to Become a CityFHEPS Broker in NYC

There is no CityFHEPS broker certification, enrollment or approved list. Any New York licensed real estate salesperson, associate broker or broker can place a household that has a CityFHEPS shopping letter. HRA identifies you through the CityFHEPS Landlord Package, where the owner lists your agency, your name and your license number.

So "becoming a CityFHEPS broker" really means three things: holding a New York license, meeting the independence rules DSS applies to brokers, and knowing the leasing process well enough that your packets go through the first time.

Last checked: September 2026, against DSS forms DSS-8j (dated 01/28/2026), DSS-8f (04/01/2026) and DSS-8g (04/02/2026).

Step 1: Get Licensed

CityFHEPS adds no licensing requirement of its own, so the state rules apply. According to the New York Department of State:

• Education: 77 hours of approved qualifying coursework, then the state exam.
• Sponsorship: a salesperson must work under a sponsoring broker. "A salesperson cannot operate independently."
• Fee and term: $55 for a two-year license.
• Continuing education: 22.5 hours every two years, including required fair housing and implicit bias coursework.

If you already hold a license, you can start placing CityFHEPS tenants today.

Step 2: Check That You Qualify for a Fee on the Deal

This is the step most new voucher brokers miss. Both versions of the Landlord Package, DSS-8f for apartments and DSS-8g for rooms and SROs, have a Broker Information page. There, the owner signs these representations about you:

If any of these would be untrue, do not expect an HRA-paid fee. The owner is signing a statement to a city agency, and DSS-8j requires landlords to return overpayments, including money paid "as a result of inaccurate, misleading or incomplete information submitted by the landlord."

Step 3: Learn the Leasing Sequence

The CityFHEPS process has more hand-offs than a market-rate lease. Per HRA's FAQ for landlords and brokers (DSS-8j):

That line in stage 5 matters. HRA treats you as responsible for a complete packet, not just the caseworker. The most common delays DSS lists on the Landlord Package are mismatched names (use the owner's name exactly as it appears on the deed, "LLC" included) and incomplete broker information.

Step 4: Know the Rent Ceilings Before You Show

CityFHEPS pays up to a payment standard indexed to NYCHA's Section 8 standard. For packages submitted on or after March 1, 2026, or with a lease starting April 1, 2026 or later, DSS-8j lists:

If the tenant pays any utilities, DSS subtracts a utility allowance, so the maximum contract rent is lower. A rented room in a shared apartment caps at $1,100 with heat, hot water and electricity included. A unit listed above these numbers will not clear, so screen your inventory first. You can see live CityFHEPS listings by borough at /cityfheps-apartments.

Step 5: Understand How the Fee Works (Briefly)

HRA's landlord and broker page lists a broker's fee of "up to 15% of the annual rent" for CityFHEPS and FHEPS. A lower cap has been reported as planned, and the FARE Act changed who pays brokers in New York City. Both are moving targets, so we keep the details in one place: the CityFHEPS broker fee explained, how brokers get paid on voucher deals and the FARE Act and voucher broker fees.

What does not move: you cannot charge the tenant upfront. The Commission on Human Rights' best-practices FAQ for brokers says state law caps application fees at $20 or the actual cost of a background or credit check, whichever is less. It adds that you "should not charge any additional fees, deposits, or rent until the applicant has been approved to move in by the agency administering their subsidy or voucher and the owner is prepared to offer possession."

Step 6: Don't Pick and Choose Programs

Specializing in vouchers is fine. Specializing in one voucher and turning away the rest is not. The same Commission FAQ is direct about it. Asked whether an agent may prefer specific programs, the answer is "No. Accepting only some vouchers or programs still violates the NYC Human Rights Law. This is true even if certain programs require extra paperwork, pay a lower fee to the broker, or involve longer processing times."

The FAQ also says:

• You are responsible for the actions of anyone working under your license.
• Keeping a separate list of apartments for voucher holders is discriminatory and can be treated as aiding the owner's discrimination.
• Income minimums and guarantor requirements are off the table when the program calculates the tenant's share. If the voucher covers 100% of the rent, credit cannot be considered at all.

A CityFHEPS client who later switches to Section 8 or HASA is still your client.

Step 7: Find Clients

CityFHEPS households almost always have a caseworker or housing specialist, whether in a DHS shelter, an HRA program or a nonprofit. Those staff do the unit registration and packet work described above, so a broker who returns calls and shows compliant units becomes someone they send clients to again. HRA routes landlords and brokers with vacant units to its Home Support Unit, which takes inquiries through an online contact form. General CityFHEPS questions go to the DSS OneNumber at 718-557-1399.

On VoucherMatch, licensed brokers can set up a broker workspace to manage voucher clients, get alerts when a listing fits a client's voucher, and be found in the broker directory.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do I have to register with HRA to be paid as a broker?

We found no separate broker registration. HRA identifies the broker through the Broker Information page of the Landlord Package: agency name, agent name, license number and address. Fill it in completely, because DSS lists missing broker details as a common cause of delays.

Can a property manager collect the CityFHEPS broker fee?

Not for a unit they manage. The owner must represent that the agent "is not otherwise employed by the owner for services related to the property (e.g., property manager)."

Can I collect a fee on an HPD lottery apartment?

No. The Landlord Package says broker's fees do not apply to HPD units leased through a housing lottery or a centralized homeless referral process.

Does CityFHEPS only work inside the five boroughs?

A whole apartment can be anywhere in New York State; rooms and SROs must be in the city. The payment standards above apply only to moves within New York City. HRA publishes separate statewide amounts.

Can I turn away a Section 8 client because I only do CityFHEPS deals?

That exposes you to liability. The Commission's broker FAQ says an agent may not prefer specific voucher programs, even when one pays a lower fee or takes longer.

Sources

• NYS Department of State, Become a Real Estate Salesperson
• HRA, I Am a Landlord or Broker
• DSS-8j, CityFHEPS Frequently Asked Questions for Landlords and Brokers (01/28/2026)
• DSS-8f, CityFHEPS Landlord Package for apartments (04/01/2026)
• DSS-8g, CityFHEPS Landlord Package for rooms and SROs (04/02/2026)
• NYC Commission on Human Rights, Best Practices for Licensed Salespersons and Brokers

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Have a CityFHEPS client ready to shop? Browse voucher-friendly listings on VoucherMatch.