The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development can help you afford the cost of rental housing through the Section 8 program or housing choice vouchers as people often call it. With Section 8 housing benefits you can reduce the amount you spend on rent each month as the government will pay part of your rent cost to your private landlord. You’ll also have the right to choose from any eligible property.
This program operates out of Section 8 of the Housing Act of 1937 an act designed to stabilize the home ownership market. The Housing Act established the Federal Housing Administration and has supported the production of public housing agencies that can help low-income families and households receive the help they need. Millions of low-income people nationwide use housing choice vouchers and you can benefit from them too.
Your Section 8 housing benefits can help you keep your rent costs down whether you live in an apartment, townhome, or single-family property.
As helpful as this housing assistance program can be you’ll have to qualify for these benefits and apply for them. The process for how to apply for Section 8 benefits isn’t as challenging as you’d figure as the effort involves a few steps to make it work.
What Are These Benefits Worth?
Before we start, you should see what you could get from Section 8 benefits. You could earn either the payment minus 30 percent of your adjusted monthly household income or the gross rent total minus 30 percent of that income. You’ll receive whatever the lower of the two is.
See If You Qualify First
The first thing to do is see if you meet all Section 8 eligibility requirements. The base rule is that your household income must be 50 percent or less than the median income in your county.
HUD has information on the median income in different states and metropolitan areas. The totals will vary depending on where you live. For example, various parts of Illinois had different standards for what constitutes 50 percent of the median income. In Chicago, a four-person household that makes less than $56,050 per year could qualify for housing choice vouchers. But that number dropped to $46,050 in the Peoria area and $40,700 in rural Hardin County.
In short, the median income is higher in more populated areas. Check the total in the area you plan on living in to see if you qualify for Section 8 housing benefits in that region.
Who Gets Priority?
The total you can get from Section 8 benefits will vary, but you’ll be more likely to earn them if you have an even lower income. A public housing agency or PHA that receives funds from HUD for housing choice vouchers is required to give about 75 percent of its voucher totals to people whose incomes are less than 30 percent of the local median income.
Going back to the prior example involving Illinois, a four-person household in the Chicago area that makes less than 30 percent of the median income will get up to $33,650 a year, while that total is $31,200 in Peoria. Those households will get first priority for Section 8 benefits. But you will still be eligible for support so long as you’re still under the 50 percent threshold regardless of location.
Consulting Your PHA
After confirming that you qualify for coverage in the spot where you plan on living, you can contact your public housing agency or PHA for help.
The specific PHA you’ll contact will vary depending on your desired location for living. For example, North Carolina has multiple PHAs dedicated to Section 8 housing. People looking to live in Orange County can contact the Orange County Housing Authority, while the Caswell County Housing Assistance Program is the PHA in that particular county.
You will have to provide various pieces of information to your PHA to use this program. First, you have to offer details on your income and assets. After that, you can include points on where you aim to live. Proper documentation stating you are a legal resident of the United States will also be necessary.
Your local PHA can assist you further if you have other questions about managing the application process.
How Long Will It Take To Earn Your Housing Assistance Benefits?
While the application process is simple, don’t expect to get an answer for a while. The demand for Section 8 housing assistance is far greater than the supply. As a result, you could spend about two to seven years waiting to receive the support you requested.
A PHA will generally give top priority to people who are homeless or are in poor-quality houses. Anyone who was involuntarily displaced due to a natural disaster or other outside issue also gets high priority for assistance.
Remember that there are no definite standards here, as all PHAs have criteria for determining who will require support the most.
What If Registration Is Closed?
There’s also a chance you might not be able to register for benefits. Don’t worry if registration for benefits is closed as it’s a sign that HUD and local PHAs don’t have enough funds on hand. There may be enough families on the waiting list to where they can’t take any more of them.
The closure of registration is still temporary, so be sure to check back on occasion to see if new registrations are open.
Conclusion
Section 8 housing benefits are available for people who have low incomes and need help finding an affordable place to live. You will find it easy to get a place of your own when you qualify for Section 8 benefits and receive them following your application. But remember that it takes a while to get those benefits, and you’ll have to wait your turn if you don’t meet the top priority points for getting support.