Program Rentals

Program Rentals /​MZS Realty’s schtick is matching government subsidized apartments with tenants who have a voucher from any NYC Housing Authority rent assistance program (Section 8, Advantage, HASA, etc).
In order to deal with MZS you must have cash for the broker fee, and access to more funds for rent and security.
You must also be male; if you are female you should be accompanied by a man who can speak for you.
Here’s my experience with MZS: To help my friend’s Spanish-​speaking family to interact in English and find an apartment, I registered the family with MZS on the phone. The phone rep confirmed that the family’s voucher would pay for the broker fee, rent and security. That’s not how things played out.
A few days later MZS called us to see an apartment. A pleasant young Chassidic man showed us the property, then took us to the MZS office. My English-​speaking presence wasn’t much help. What was actually helpful was that one of us was a man! The all-​male staff adheres to ultra-​orthodox gender norms. That means they interact as minimally as possible with females. The front desk secretary instructs all newcomers to fill out a form and wait. Then he keeps the glass divider firmly shut to women. I had a question about the form, and for 15 minutes I waited at the window while he ignored me (being modestly-​dressed didn’t help), but when my male friend stepped up the secretary immediately talked with him. I observed another family needing their man to interact with the secretary. I suppose an unescorted woman with a question would simply have to wait to see the agent.
In our meeting with the agent, we remained polite in the face of his many offensive questions about how my friend’s mother, a woman on disability, fills her days. Only when she shared that she cares for her grandchildren while her daughter works, something he approves of, did the agent quit his disrespectful prying into things that are none of his business. At this point the agent said he would not move forward on our behalf unless we immediately pay him his full broker fee. Plus, he warned, to close the deal, we would need to come up with the first month’s rent and security as well, because landlords don’t accept vouchers for that even though they accept rent assistance programs.
We were not surprised when in just a few minutes were told that the apartment had been rented. Now, a couple of months later, we’ve heard nothing at all about any other apartment opportunities from MZS.