About Schenectady Municipal Housing Authority
Our History
On February 6, 1934, the Schenectady Municipal Housing Authority, the first in New York State, was authorized and established by the City Common Council. On March 23, 1934, with the appointment of the first five members, the Authority became a reality. In 1938, the first tenants of the Authority occupied Schonowee Village.
Current Operations
Since our first 217 units in 1938, the Authority has grown to encompass seven conventional housing developments serving a total of 1,018 low-income families. Three properties, Schonowee Village, Ten Eyck Apartments and Lincoln Heights, serve the elderly and disabled, while four other properties, Yates Village, Steinmetz Homes, MacGathan Townhouses and Maryvale Apartments, serve families with children. The Schenectady Municipal Housing Authority’s Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher program serves the housing needs of 1,387 households throughout the City of Schenectady.
News & Announcements
SMHA OFFICES CLOSED TO THE PUBLIC UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE
All Schenectady Municipal Housing Authority offices shall remain closed until further notice. Closing our offices does not mean we are closed for business. SMHA has adjusted its services and operations to protect staff and the individuals and families we serve from the spread of COVID-19. We are utilizing work from home procedures to the maximum extent possible, which means our Occupancy Specialists and Project Managers will work with you through the U.S. Mail, email, fax and telephone.
Customer service remains our top priority and we have several alternate means for you to continue doing business with us:
Staff will be working remotely and will continue to monitor phones and email.
Staff will continue to process annual reexaminations.
Staff is aware of the unfortunate fact that our clients may experience job loss that may require a rent adjustment. Please call your Occupancy Specialist to report this information and be prepared to provide documentation from your employer.
Only emergency work orders will be addressed by maintenance staff during this time period: Call 518-372-5896 for emergency maintenance.
All external community room bookings are cancelled until further notice.
Contact us by phone at: 518-386-7000
For more detailed information please read our Tenant Update and Letter from HUD.
Thank you for your help in curbing transmission of COVID–19.
Schenectady County COVID-19 Emergency Response Coalition Hotline
Hotline for families to call that can’t access food due to quarantine, lack of transportation or lack of any regular service that is no longer in operation. 518-621-3536
Online Rent Payments
SMHA is pleased to announce the ability to pay your rent online. To create your online payment portal account, click here. Paying your rent online is completely voluntary. You may continue to pay your rent in the same manner as you always have if you wish.
You will need your entity ID to create your account (Contact the Rent office for this information.) You will need to enter your Last Name exactly as it appears in our software. (Contact the Rent Office to verify how it should be entered. Tip: if your last name has a hyphen or suffix such as Jr. or Sr. this will need to be entered.)
Please be aware there is a 2.99% fee to use the online payment portal for either a Debit or Credit card, and a 1% fee if you are using a Bank account.