Credit Checks on HUD Tenants in NY

[Amber Forkey]

Hi All! Looking to open a discussion on the legality of running credit checks on section 8/DSS tenants.

Question: If the government program is not paying 100% of the rent, are we able to pull a credit report?

Example: Sally receives an $800 section 8 voucher. Rent is $1,200 so she is responsible for $400 of rent. To my understanding, you only need to show that the prospective tenants make three times the amount that they are responsible for (in this case $400) in income per month in order to qualify. However, are you able to do a credit check on these individuals as well?

When it's 100% funding I understand you can't pull a credit (backgrounds are still permitted though).

This is a gray area that I've not found much guidance on.