Step 2a: Notification of Lottery Results and Lease Application Invitation

The Lottery Results establish the Waiting Lists. Every household with an Application Number will have a position on at least one Waiting List. Households that qualify for every lottery will have a position on every Waiting List.

Leasing Offices typically need to screen 3 to 4 times as many applicants as there are units in order to find enough qualified tenants for their available affordable units. Therefore, from each Waiting List, approximately 3 to 4 times as many households as there are units available for that Waiting List will be invited to move immediately forward in the process of completing a Lease Application (see next step).

All households invited to move forward in the process must complete a lease application and a Unit Selection Preference Worksheet by the given deadline date (which will be approximately 7 days after the lottery date) or they will be removed from the Waiting List.

Households will be removed from the Waiting Lists if the Leasing Office deems that they are not eligible for a lease based on their Lease Application, if a household fails to meet future deadlines for documentation submittal and lease signing, or if a household notifies the Leasing Office that they are no longer interested in leasing an apartment.

No fees will be charged for processing the Lease Applications for the affordable units.

As more households will be required to complete the Leasing Office Review than units available, some households may complete the Leasing Office Review and will not be given the chance to reserve one of the affordable units. The property will also notify these households that they are not currently being offered a unit but will remain on the Waiting Lists.

Households who have been invited to complete a Lease Application based on their positions on a list for a Disabled-Accessible unit and a regular unit must likewise rank both the disabled-accessible units and regular units in order of preference.

Households with positions lower on the Waiting Lists will have to wait for the removal of households with a higher position than them before being given an opportunity to lease an apartment. If more households are needed to reserve all units, households will be notified at least 4 days in advance of the date they must go to the Leasing Office for lease screening. Failure to complete a Lease Application by the given date will result in the removal of their Application Number from the Waiting List.

Step 2b: Leasing Office Review and Unit Selection

The Lease Application review will be the same review that households for market-rate apartments undergo, where factors such as Employment history, Credit score/reports, Former lease history, Criminal Background Screening and sufficient income are considered.

After the deadline when all households must complete a Lease Application, the Leasing Office will use the Unit Selection Preference Worksheets and the Waiting Lists (as determined by the lottery) and match the top households for each unit type with their most preferred and available units. The top households will then be notified by the Leasing Office of the unit number and type they are being offered. Households must sign a reservation form within 4 days of being notified by the Leasing Office of their unit match.

Upon move-in, the resident pays their first month’s rent.

Please note, a criminal background does not necessarily disqualify a household. Background checks will meet DHCD’s Model Policy Regarding Applicant Screening on the Basis of Criminal Records. In any instance where policy and procedures in the Property Manager’s Policy differ from the policy and procedures in the DHCD Model Policy, the policy and procedures of the DHCD Model Policy will be followed. The specifics of the Criminal Background Screening will be provided by the Leasing Office at this step.

Q: If I cannot qualify for a Lease based on my own income or credit history, can I have a co-signer on my Lease?

A: No. Only people who will live in the unit can sign the lease. Applying households must be able to meet the income qualifications on their own. If someone outside the household is going to help pay the rent, the amount to be paid must be listed as “Periodic Payments” on the Income Table in the Program Application. These payments will be counted towards the applying household’s income. Guarantors will NOT be allowed.