Image Credit: NYCHA.

The new portal provides step-by-step instructions and easier navigation. On June 1, 2021, the New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA) launched the redesign of its online annual recertification portal for residents. NYCHA residents and Section 8 voucher holders are required to recertify their income, assets, expenses and family composition on an annual basis. 

The new portal is a part of NYCHA’s Transformation Plan, part of the 2019 HUD agreement to help transform NYCHA’s governance, leadership functions, operations and central support functions. NYCHA collaborated with residents, staff and advocates to make the portal more user-friendly, easier to fill out, and includes simplified language, step-by-step instructions, and simpler navigation. 

NYCHA ran a pilot of the new portal in February with a small group of residents and voucher holders and received feedback on the design prior to launch.

NYCHA Chair and CEO Greg Russ stated, “This newly launched portal was designed based on feedback from NYCHA residents themselves to make the Annual Recertification process easier to complete, more accessible and more effective than ever before. We’re grateful to all of our NYCHA staff who made this happen, including our Public Housing, Leased Housing and IT departments.”

NYCHA Executive VIce President for Strategy & Innovation Eva Trimble stated, “Changes like this under the Transformation Plan are significant to NYCHA’s trajectory moving forward, and show how the Authority is putting residents first. We are proud of the work we are doing to make things simpler and more accessible for residents.”

Residents and voucher holders can access the portal here. 

By: Veronica Rose (Veronica is the CityLaw fellow and a New York Law School graduate, Class of 2018.)