To submit an HRA change of address in New York City, log in to the ACCESS HRA portal at a069-access.nyc.gov/accesshra and edit your contact information under your profile, use the HRA Document Upload mobile app, or bring a completed paper form MAP-2159W to any Benefits Access Center. State rules give you 10 days from the move to report it, and doing so keeps SNAP, Cash Assistance, and Medicaid notices flowing to the right mailbox.1NYC Human Resources Administration. I Need Help
Update Your Address Online Through ACCESS HRA
Online is the fastest path, and it covers your full case in one submission rather than routing separate updates to SNAP and Medicaid units. After you sign in, open the dropdown next to your username in the top-right corner of the page and select Profile. In the Contact Information section, click Update to edit your mailing and residence address.2NYC Human Resources Administration. ACCESS HRA Frequently Asked Questions
If your ACCESS HRA account is not yet linked to your case, click Find My Case first. You will need your date of birth plus either your Social Security number or your Client Identification Number (CIN). Your CIN is printed on your EBT card.2NYC Human Resources Administration. ACCESS HRA Frequently Asked Questions
The portal is mobile-responsive, so you can complete everything from a phone browser and photograph supporting documents with the camera.3NYC Human Resources Administration. Meet the New ACCESS HRA A separate HRA Document Upload app is also available if you only need to send in documents.4Apple App Store. NYC HRA Document Upload
Submit the Paper MAP-2159W Form
HRA uses form MAP-2159W to record changes to a case, including a new address. Fill in the new street address, apartment number, and zip code, along with your CIN and your current housing costs. Then submit the form and copies of your proof documents by one of these routes:
- In person at any HRA Benefits Access Center. Locations and hours across the five boroughs are listed at nyc.gov/hra, and staff can flag missing paperwork on the spot.5Human Resources Administration. Benefits Access Centers
- At a SNAP Center, if you receive SNAP only.6Human Resources Administration. SNAP Locations
- For Medicaid-only address changes, by fax to the Medicaid Undercare unit at 917-646-0837, or by encrypted email (or password-protected attachment) to undercareproviderrelations@hra.nyc.gov.7NY Health Access. Medicaid Contacts in New York City
If you receive both SNAP and Medicaid, use ACCESS HRA. A single online update reaches both programs.
Documents That Prove the New Address
HRA wants evidence that you actually live at the new place. A current lease or sublease showing your name, the unit address, lease dates, rent amount, and landlord contact is the cleanest option. If you don’t have a lease, any one of these usually works:
- A utility bill (electricity, gas, cable, or phone) dated within 60 days that shows your name and new address.
- A recent bank or credit card statement in your name at the new address.
- A pay stub dated within 60 days that lists your employer and home address.
- A signed landlord statement or rent receipt that includes the owner’s contact information.
Bring documentation of the new rent or mortgage and any utility expenses too. HRA uses those figures to reset your shelter deduction, which drives your monthly SNAP amount.
The 10-Day Reporting Deadline
New York State regulations require SNAP households to report a change of residence within 10 days of the date the change becomes known to the household, along with any resulting changes in rent, mortgage, or utility costs.8New York Codes, Rules and Regulations. New York Codes, Rules and Regulations – SNAP Change Reporting Cash Assistance recipients face a similar duty to report promptly. For Medicaid, updating your address with HRA or your local enrollment office keeps recertification notices from going astray, and a missed recertification mailing is a common way people lose coverage.9NY State of Health. Reporting Changes
Some SNAP households are on “simplified reporting,” which limits required mid-certification reports to changes in gross income or large gambling or lottery winnings. Under simplified reporting you aren’t strictly required to report an address change, but HRA still recommends it so notices reach you and so any increase in shelter costs raises your benefit.
How the Move Changes Your Benefit Amount
An address change usually resets how much SNAP you receive, because the calculation includes a shelter deduction for rent, mortgage, property taxes, and utilities. A more expensive apartment generally means a larger deduction and a higher allotment; a cheaper one means the opposite.
NYC applies a Standard Utility Allowance rather than making you document every utility bill. As of October 1, 2025, the NYC SUA amounts are:
- Heating/air conditioning SUA: $1,062 per month
- Basic utility SUA: $419 per month
- Phone SUA: $32 per month
The homeless shelter deduction is $198.99 per month.10NYC Human Resources Administration. DSS Community Updates Which SUA applies can shift with a move. If your old rent included heat and your new rent doesn’t, or the reverse, the category changes. A lease or landlord letter specifying which utilities are included lets HRA assign the right allowance.
What Happens If You Don’t Report
If HRA later finds that you moved and your shelter costs went down, the agency will calculate an overpayment for the difference between what you received and what you should have received at the lower deduction. Repayment usually comes out of future benefits.
Deliberately hiding a change to keep receiving higher benefits is treated as an intentional program violation. Federal law sets the disqualification penalties:
- First violation: 1-year disqualification from SNAP.
- Second violation: 2-year disqualification.
- Third violation: permanent disqualification.
Only the individual who committed the violation is disqualified; other eligible household members can still receive a reduced benefit.11Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 7 USC 2015 – Eligibility Disqualifications A late report on its own doesn’t trigger those penalties; they’re reserved for deliberate fraud. An unreported decrease in shelter costs that produces an overpayment still has to be paid back.
After You Submit
Once HRA processes the change, the agency mails a notice to your new address confirming the update and, if your shelter costs changed, showing your adjusted benefit amount. Online submissions also generate a confirmation inside the ACCESS HRA portal, so you can see the change landed before the mailed notice arrives.12NYC Human Resources Administration. ACCESS HRA Mobile
Read the notice carefully. If the new amount looks wrong, for instance because HRA applied the wrong SUA category or used the wrong rent figure, you can request a fair hearing using the instructions on the notice. File within 10 days of the notice date and you can usually keep receiving benefits at the prior level while the hearing is pending.