Move and Portability Specialist for the Division of Tenant and Owner Resources

City of New York•New York City, NY

About The Position

The New York City Department of Housing Preservation and Development (HPD) promotes quality and affordability in the city's housing, and diversity and strength in the city’s neighborhoods because every New Yorker deserves a safe, affordable place to live in a neighborhood they love. HPD maintains building and resident safety and health, creates opportunities for New Yorkers through housing affordability, and engages New Yorkers to build and sustain neighborhood strength and diversity. At HPD, rent subsidy programs are administered by the Division of Tenant & Owner Resources (DTOR). HPD’s rental subsidies, including Section 8 or the Housing Choice Voucher (HCV) program, provide funding to eligible low-income families for rental assistance toward decent, safe, and affordable housing in a neighborhood of their choice. Families pay approximately 30% of their income toward rent, and the NYC Department of Housing Preservation and Development (HPD) pays the difference, directly to the owner. The unit must have a rent that is determined reasonable and affordable by HPD and must meet federal Housing Quality Standards (HQS) to be approved. HPD's Division of Tenant & Owner Resources (DTOR) is responsible for the administration of rental subsidy programs that include Housing Choice Voucher (HCV), Project Based Voucher (PBV), Moderate Rehab Section 8, Moderate Rehab Single Room Occupancy (SRO), and Continuum of Care (CoC)-Shelter Plus Care (SPC) and NYC 15/15. Through these programs, HPD serves over 40,000 households and 9,000 landlords in all five boroughs. DTOR is responsible for the initial application screening; confirming eligibility requirements; briefing applicants; and issuing vouchers. DTOR also monitors tenant and landlord compliance of their obligations under each program and continues to administer the ongoing subsidies throughout their participation. These continued activities include processing annual and interim recertifications to update family income/assets, household composition, and rent amounts; tenant moves and transfers; approved rent increases; Housing Assistance Payment (HAP) abatements and reinstatements to enforce Housing Quality Standard (HQS) inspection results; and providing customer service to stakeholders through our Client Services office, call center and the DTR Portal.

Requirements

High school graduation or equivalent and three years of experience in community work or community centered activities in an area related to duties described above
Education and/or experience which is equivalent to the above
Authorization to work in the United States is required for this position.
Applicants are responsible for ensuring that they meet all qualifying requirements for this position at the time of application.

Nice To Haves

Excellent Communication Skills (both orally and in writing)
Call center/ Customer Service experience a plus
Great active listening skills
Comfortable working in a fast-paced environment
Strong time management and organizational skills
Excellent troubleshooting skills
Computer Proficiency
Bilingual a Plus
Section 8 or other Rental Subsidy experience a Plus

Responsibilities

Manage a caseload of assisted or applicant households requesting to move
Initial voucher application screening
Determination and verification of eligibility
Client briefings and voucher issuance
Internal and external meetings
Assist with reviewing the units email account and virtual mail room in order to route documents and respond to inquiries
May perform community outreach to assist Section 8 participation
May perform administrative work in relation to records, files, invoices and reports including data entry and logging
Prepare and send appropriate correspondence, HAP contracts, Port packages, track responses, and follow up
Document case notes using in house database and electronic records
Answer large number of phone calls using a phone operator system
Rent calculations
Review of yearly recertifications of household composition and income/asset information
Attend mandatory trainings