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What is section 8 housing?
The section 8 housing program is a housing assistance program for low-income families, the elderly, and the disabled.
Qualified citizens are assisted in meeting monthly rental payments on decent, safe, and sanitary housing in the private market.
Housing assistance comes in the form of vouchers administered through public housing agencies (often known as PHAs). PHAs receive federal funds for vouchers from the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (often known as HUD).
Families are responsible for finding a suitable housing unit where the owner agrees to rent under the program. This may include the current family residence.
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What are vouchers and how do they work?
Each voucher represents a sum of money the local PHA can set aside each month towards a recipient’s rent. The money (known as a housing subsidy) is paid to the landlord directly by the PHA on behalf of the participating family for the amount granted by their voucher. The family pays the remainder of the rent that is not “subsidized”, or granted, by the PHA.
Under some circumstances, families may use vouchers towards the purchase of a modest home, if their PHA allows.
Voucher recipients may apply vouchers towards any single-family home, townhouse, or apartment that meets the requirements of the Section 8 program. These requirements include, for example, standards of health and safety, as determined by the PHA.
Housing voucher holders are advised of the unit size for which they are eligible based on family size and composition. When the family finds a possible unit and reaches an agreement with the landlord (for example, the length of the lease), the PHA will inspect the dwelling and determine that the requested rent is reasonable.
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How much will I pay in rent if I qualify for section 8 housing?
A family using the section 8 program must pay 30% of its monthly adjusted gross income towards rent and utilities. The remainder of the rent is paid for with the family’s voucher.
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How much rent will my PHA cover, or, how much rent money is my voucher worth?
Each PHA determines the cost usually needed to rent a moderately-priced unit in the local housing market of your city. This amount is used to calculate the “payment standard” (average cost of similar dwellings in your city) for units of various types and sizes.
Each voucher, at a maximum, covers the payment standard for a family (as determined by its size and special needs) minus 30% of its monthly adjusted gross income (total family income after taxes).
For example:
- A voucher holder that earns $1,000 a month (monthly adjusted gross).
- The payment standard for the type of apartment he or she will rent is $1,100 per month.
- The voucher holder has found an apartment that costs $1,100 a month.
- The voucher holder must pay $300 towards rent.
- His or her local PHA will pay $800 towards rent.
The payment standard does not affect the amount of rent a private landlord may charge. If the landlord of a specific unit is charging more than the payment standard, see “What if a unit’s monthly rent is more than the payment standard for my city?”
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What if a unit’s monthly rent is more than the payment standard for my city?
If a family decides to lease a unit that rents above the cost of the payment standard, the family will be required to pay the additional amount. If the family cannot afford to pay this extra amount, they must find a different rental unit.
In the case that the family does want to pay the extra amount, by law they may not pay more than 40% of their adjusted monthly gross income towards rent and utilities. If after additional costs the family would be spending more than 40% of its adjusted monthly gross income, they must find a different unit.
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Am I eligible to receive section 8 housing vouchers?
Eligibility for section 8 housing vouchers is determined by your PHA based on the total annual gross income and size of your family. To receive section 8 vouchers you must be a US citizen, or meet the specified requirements of certain non-citizen immigrants.
In general, the family’s income may not be more than 50% of the median income for the county or metropolitan area where the family chooses to live.
By law, a PHA must provide 75 percent of its vouchers to applicants whose incomes do not exceed 30% of the area’s median income.
Median income levels are published by HUD and vary by location. Your community PHA can provide you with the income limits for your area and family size.
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How do I apply for section 8 housing?
To apply for section 8 housing, contact the PHA for your city, which is often the local Housing Authority. Follow the application process as directed by your PHA.
Most cities in Los Angeles County use the Los Angeles County Housing Authority as their PHA, though a few cities have their own housing authorities. Contact information for the housing authorities of cities within LA County is published on the ConnectLA website.
PHA’s are likely to request information via a formal written application in their office. Some PHA’s allow paperwork to be completed online, via fax, or by mail. Application forms will likely include information on family income, assets, family composition, and employment status. Your city will verify this information with your employer, bank, and other local government agencies where applicable.
The PHA will use the information to determine your eligibility for the section 8 program, and if you qualify, the amount of your housing assistance payment.
Some cities may be able to assist you in meeting housing payments immediately. However due to the high demand for section 8 housing vouchers, most cities have a waiting list of eligible citizens that are waiting to receive housing assistance through the section 8 program. Once your name is reached on the waiting list, your PHA will contact you to issue your voucher. For more information about waiting lists, see “What should I do if there is a waiting list for the section 8 program in my city?”
If you need further assistance that your PHA is not able to offer, contact your local HUD office.
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I am a new voucher-holder. Where can I use my section 8 voucher?
If you lived in the jurisdiction of the PHA issuing your voucher at the time you applied for that voucher, you are eligible to use your voucher anywhere in the United States.
If you did not live in the jurisdiction of the PHA issuing your voucher at the time you applied, you must sign a lease for 12 months in that jurisdiction. After the 12 month lease expires, you may choose to stay in that jurisdiction or move elsewhere.
For example:
- Tenant A has lived in Los Angeles County for the past 3 years.
- He or she applied to the section 8 program 2 years ago and was placed on a waiting list.
- Tenant A has recently been taken off the waiting list and issued a voucher.
- Tenant A may use the voucher anywhere in the United States by contacting the PHA of the city in which he or she chooses to live.
- Tenant B has lived in Los Angeles County for the past 3 years.
- He or she applied to the section 8 program 4 years ago and was placed on a waiting list.
- Tenant B has recently been taken off the waiting list and issued a voucher.
- Tenant B must sign a lease within Los Angeles County for at least 12 months.
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I am a new voucher-holder. How long do I have to sign a lease?
You will have 60 days to find a unit to live in and sign a lease with its landlord. If you do not find a lease within 60 days, you may request a term extension from your PHA.
If you have requested a term extension based on finding or modifying accommodations to match a family member’s disability, your PHA must grant any reasonable extension. Your PHA has the power to grant or deny any other requests for extensions at its choosing.
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What should I do if there is a waiting list for the section 8 program in my city? What are waiting list preferences and how do they affect me?
The demand for housing often exceeds the limited resources available to HUD and the PHA’s that fund the section 8 program. As a result, long waiting lists are common on the section 8 program. Some PHA’s close their waiting list when it has more families on the list than can be assisted in the near future.
A PHA may use preferences to help select applicants from their waiting list. Each PHA has the power to decide on local preferences to reflect the housing needs and priorities of its community. Families that meet these preference qualifications move ahead of other families on the list who do not qualify for one or more preference.
For example, the PHA may give preference to families that are residents or employees of their city, homeless or living in substandard housing, paying more than 50% of their total income towards rent, or involuntarily displaced (evicted).
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My family is breaking up. Will our housing assistance continue? Who will it continue for?
The PHA will usually continue assistance for one or more members of a family that breaks up because of divorce or separation. The PHA will decide which family member(s) will remain in the section 8 program, by following the policies outlined in their administrative plan.
Each PHA is required to list their policy on family break-ups in their plan; contact your local PHA for more details. Factors sometimes considered in these policies are:
- whether assistance should remain with family members staying in the original assisted unit
- interests of minors, ill, elderly, or disabled family members
- whether family members are forced to leave their unit because of actual or threatened physical violence by a spouse of household member
In the case that the family break-up is taken to court, the PHA must follow the court’s decision on which family members will continue to receive assistance through the program.
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I am planning on moving. Can I still use my section 8 voucher?
A family’s size, job location, and other important features change over time to affect their housing needs. The section 8 program is designed to allow families to move without losing their housing assistance.
Moves are permissible when the family notifies their PHA in advance, ends their existing lease within the lease provisions, and finds acceptable alternate housing.
If you lived in the jurisdiction of the PHA issuing your voucher at the time you applied for the voucher, you are eligible to use your voucher anywhere in the United States. (For more information about where you can use your voucher, see “I am a new voucher-holder. Where can I use my section 8 voucher?”)
To move to a new jurisdiction, contact the PHA that currently offers your housing assistance and discuss their procedures for moving.
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Under what circumstances can my landlord evict me?
Guidelines for the eviction of a section 8 housing tenant are given under Section 982.310 of 24 CFR part 982.
Within the terms of the initial lease, the owner may only evict tenants for actions prohibited in the lease, or non-completion of terms outlined in the lease. In other words, you can only be evicted for something you did, or did not do. Under these guidelines, an owner may evict a tenant only if one of the following occur:
- Serious violations of the terms of the lease policy (for example, failure to pay rent, or repeated violation of lease conditions)
- Violation of Federal, State, or local laws surrounding tenancy
- Criminal activity (by the family or their guests) that threatens the health, safety, or right to peaceful enjoyment of their residences by other people in the immediate vicinity
- Drug-related criminal activity (by the family or their guests) on or near the premises
- Other good cause
- Other good cause may include: a history of disturbing neighbors or destroying property, housekeeping habits resulting in damage to the property
After the initial lease (for example, your one year lease ran out), you may be evicted for the same violations listed above. In addition you can also be evicted if:
- You refuse to accept the offer of a new lease or revision of the original lease
- The owner has decided to use the unit for personal or family use, or purpose other than a residential rental unit
- The owner has a business or economic reason for termination of tenancy (for example, sale of the property, renovation of the unit, desire to lease the unit at a higher rent)
To evict a tenant, the landlord must give the tenant a written notice explaining the reason for terminating the tenancy. Tenancy does not end before the owner gives the tenant this notice, and the notice must be given during or before the beginning of the eviction.
An eviction notice gives the order to vacate, or serves as a complaint used under State law to obtain an order to vacate. The landlord must give the PHA a copy of any eviction notice.
An owner can not evict a tenant over nonpayment from the PHA. The family is not responsible for paying the portion of rent covered by their housing assistance grant, and nonpayment by the PHA is not a violation of the lease between the tenant and owner.
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I have been wrongfully evicted. What should I do?
If you feel you have been wrongfully evicted, immediately contact the PHA that administers your housing assistance vouchers.
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Under what circumstances can my PHA terminate my voucher assistance?
Guidelines for the termination of PHA assistance to a family are located in Section 982.533 of 24 CFR part 982.
PHA’s can terminate assistance to a family if any member of the family:
- commits drug-related criminal activity
- commits violent criminal activity
If the PHA seeks to end assistance because of illegal use or possession of a controlled substance, the use or possession must have occurred within one year of the date the PHA decides to terminate assistance.
The PHA can not terminate assistance for such use or possession if the accused family member can show that he or she:
- has an addiction to a controlled substance, has a record of the addiction, or is recognized as having an addiction, AND
- is recovering or has recovered from the addiction, and no longer uses or possesses controlled substances
The PHA may require the family member to submit evidence of participation in a treatment program.
In the case that the family member does not meet the above requirements, the PHA may terminate assistance if reasonable evidence shows that he or she has engaged in restricted activity, even if the family member has not been arrested or convicted.
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Terms:
- PHA- This is the acronym for Public Housing Authority. PHA’s are local offices authorized by HUD to handle housing programs like the Section 8 voucher program. A city’s Housing Authority will often serve as its PHA.
- HUD- This is the acronym for the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development. HUD's goal is to increase homeownership, support community development and increase access to affordable housing free from discrimination.
- Monthly adjusted gross income- The total of a family’s monthly income, after taxes.
- Payment standard- HUD publishes the fair cost of rent for an apartment (based on number of rooms, location) in different areas of each County or City. The payment standard is based on the average of the cost of rent for similar apartments in the area.
- Total annual gross income- The total of a family’s yearly income.
- County median income- The middle value of the yearly income of all families in the county.
For example, a county has five families:
- Family A earns $5,000 a year
- Family B earns 10,000 a year
- Family C earns 11,000 a year
- Family D earns 20,000 a year
- Family E earns 40,000 a year
Family C earns the median income.
- 24 CFR part 982- This is the Federal law that established the Section 8 voucher program.
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