Housing Choice Vouchers

What they are and how to apply

Overview of Vouchers

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• HUD Housing Choice Vouchers (“Section 8”)
• Recipients are given a voucher that they can use to help pay for rent in a private apartment

• Families pay 30% of adjusted gross income for rent and utilities (average in DeKalb County is $439) and the remainder is paid by the voucher
• Voucher amount limited to 40% of the areawide market rent
• It appears that “fair market rent” for 4-bedroom unit in Edgewood is $3,600 – need to verify with Atlanta Housing (Lois House rent is $4900)
• Number of bedrooms is typically one for a married couple and then one additional bedroom for each two children
• Not clear how many bedrooms the ladies plus Dylan would qualify for. Might have to ask for an accommodation.
• Often difficult to find landlords willing to accept vouchers

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Overview of Vouchers

• Housing Subsidies Provided by HUD
• Project Based Rental Assistance
• Subsidy tied to a specific development (typically those funded through the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) program
• As with housing choice vouchers, families pay 30% of adjusted gross income for rent and utilities

Overview of Vouchers

• Differences for people with disabilities
• Not limited to local housing authority – can apply anywhere in the county and then request a “reasonable accommodation to have voucher “ported” to the local housing authority.
• People with disabilities living together are treated as a single household (that can include a live-in caregiver)

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• Housing Subsidies Provided by HUD
• Long waiting lists
• 12,063 on Decatur Housing Authority’s waitlist -- likely wait of 5-10 years
• In GA, the Housing Choice Voucher Program waitlist is closed

Application Process

• One person applies as “head of household” (HOH).
• When applying as HOH, Public Housing Authorities (PHAs) collect SSN, DOB, citizenship status, disability status, income, address, and asset information from all household members.
• Generally, it is self-certification at the waitlist application and verification is not done until they make it to the top of the waitlist.
• The HOH is the only person who signs the waitlist application. However, all household members 18+ must sign the eligibility/admission application. You do not have to certify/verify the familial status at waitlist.

One Parent’s Journey - Bob Rosen

• Bob has two daughters with disabilities
• One lives at the L’Arche House on Clairemont Road in Decatur
• The other lives in a condo in Decatur

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Bob with his daughters

Bob’s Journey to Obtain a Housing Choice Voucher

• I started the process through a non-profit in Washington State called Partners4Housing  ( www.partners4housing.com )
• Founded by Pam Blanton
• Helps people with disabilities navigate the process of finding affordable housing through municipal housing authorities and their low income and Housing Choice Voucher programs
• They also run a roommate matching program and while they are trying to expand the areas covered, it is largely geared towards the State of Washington.
• Pam charges a small fee to use the service but once she explains the process, it's largely Do It Yourself while she remains accessible for support.

Step #1: Finding Open Waiting Lists

• There is a website called Affordable Housing Online (https://affordablehousingonline.com/) which is a clearinghouse for most of the nation’s section 8a programs
• Open the webpage, find "Open Section 8a Waiting Lists", fill in the applications and wait.
• Listings change all the time.
• The clearinghouse may show 3 housing authorities currently accepting 8a applications this week and 6 the following week, and so on.

Step #2: Completing the Waiting List Application

• Most of the applications are run through 2-3 different software applications, so you can complete the application online.
• Some require you to print out the application, fill it in by hand and mail it in.
• They almost always list the opening date and the closing date for applications.
• After you have done 5-10 applications, it is pretty much a boilerplate process.
• At this point, you are simply applying to be placed on the waitlist. 

Step #3: Getting Selected

• When a municipality has openings, they select from the waiting list, usually with some sort of priority being given to seniors, people with disabilities, veterans, homeless, and so forth.
• Pam told me at the onset that it could take several years to eventually be selected for a housing choice voucher. In my case, I applied to almost an even 100 municipalities over 12 months before receiving an award.

Step #4: Completing the Voucher Application

• Most of the initial paperwork (the application) is fairly simple and it goes quickly.
• Some municipalities (maybe 5-7 in my case) will eventually ask for more detailed information - financial, support letter from a physician confirming the disability, etc.
• A few of the requests were tedious but most asked for more or less the same information so stay organized and it will be easier.
• Along the way, the housing authority may offer you low-income housing options within their community.
• That's nice but you are not applying in order to live in Fargo, North Dakota so you simply ignore or say no, depending on what they ask you to do. Periodically, they will clean up their waiting list and ask if you are still interested.

Step #4: Completing the Voucher Application (cont.)

• An individual with a disability can apply for a housing choice voucher from any municipality.
• A few applications made it clear that priority would be given to people living and working in the city/county, and others said priority would be given to people who have been displaced from housing.
• I would guess that of the 100 applications, perhaps 7-10 were pretty clear (by means of stating their selection criteria) that we would not be a good fit, so I didn't apply.

Step #5: You Get Awarded a Voucher (Yay!)

• At some point, you hope to receive a notice that you have been awarded a voucher. We eventually received 3-4.
• They all asked us to come to an orientation meeting where we would sign the papers.
• Stay on top of the correspondence because they don't always give much lead time.
• If you want, you may ask for an "accommodation" and attend the meeting virtually, but I had the impression that was not always favored (but allowable).
• We flew up to Indiana to attend our meeting.

Step #6: Porting the Voucher

• Once you sign the papers, you return to your home municipality and ask to port the voucher to them.
• This in an interesting process because some municipalities (like Decatur) are happy to port but the awarding authority is responsible for paying the rent. Others assume the voucher themselves and pay the rent.
• My daughter lives in Decatur and so we applied to the Decatur Housing Authority and requested they port the voucher from Indiana to their office.
• They were well aware that a person with a disability can automatically port, but they had never done it before. It ended up taking 2 months or so.

Step #7: Using the Voucher

• Once you have the award ported to your home housing authority, you can submit applications to landlords who accept 8a vouchers.
• Landlord has to apply to the housing authority to become an 8a landlord.
• It's an easy process but does take a little time.
• The housing authority will process the application and then physically inspect your property for the basics - functional HVAC, functioning appliances, smoke detectors, grounded outlets, and so forth. Nothing too detailed or complex.

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Payment Process

• Once all this is in place, the landlord begins to receive rental assistance from the housing authority.
• The amount is based on a set of criteria including what units rent for in your area, the number of bedrooms, whether utilities are included or extra (the authority will potentially increase the subsidy to cover utilities) and so forth.
• If you intend to have a live-in care person, the housing authority will need their personal information (SS card, etc) and will do a background check.
• If your individual will have roommates, the authority will ask for their information and financials.

Payment Process

• Once all this is in place, the landlord begins to receive rental assistance from the housing authority.
• The amount is based on a set of criteria including what units rent for in your area, the number of bedrooms, whether utilities are included or extra (the authority will potentially increase the subsidy to cover utilities) and so forth.
• If you intend to have a live-in care person, the housing authority will need their personal information (SS card, etc) and will do a background check.
• If your individual will have roommates, the authority will ask for their information and financials.

Summary

• The process is not difficult, but it does take time.
• The first 10-20 applications may have taken me 45 minutes each to complete, but I was eventually able to complete one in about 20-30 minutes.
• Stay organized
• I made a simple spreadsheet listing the name of the authority, location, when I submitted, and the online software that I used for the application (each type requires you to register and select a username and password so the database keeps you on track).
• Stay on top of the upcoming 8a applications
• If you miss some here and there it's no problem because they just keep coming.
• Read their preferences/priorities to make sure you would qualify (particularly those that require you to be a resident of the area, working in the area, etc.).
• I'm not sure the disability card gives you carte blanche but there are so many openings that it shouldn't matter too much.

Good Luck!