| Q. |
What
is Section 8? |
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| A. |
The
Section 8 program provides assistance for low income families
in the private rental market through the Housing Assistance
Payments Program.
Housing
choice voucher holders select a unit from the private
rental market. Rental assistance makes market rate housing
affordable. Program participants normally pay no more
than 30% of monthly adjusted income towards rent and utilities.
The Housing Assistance Program subsidizes the balance
of the rent to the property owner. |
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| Q. |
How
can I become a part of this Rental Assistance Program? |
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| A. |
Eligibility
for a rental voucher is determined by the local Housing
Authority based on the total annual gross income and family
size and is limited to U.S. citizens and specified categories
of noncitizens who have eligible immigration status. In
general, the family's income may not exceed 50% of the
median income for the county or metropolitan area in which
the family chooses to live. Median income levels are published
by HUD and vary by location. The HA serving your community
can provide you with the income limits for your area and
family size. During the application process, the Housing
Authority will verify this information with other local
agencies, your employer and bank, and will use the information
to determine program eligibility and the amount of the
rental assistance payment.
If
the Housing Authority determines that your family is eligible,
the Housing Authority will put your name on a waiting
list, unless it is able to assist you immediately. Once
your name is reached on the waiting list, the Housing
Authority will contact you and issue you a rental voucher. |
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| Q. |
Where
can I live? |
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| A. |
Once
your family has been issued a Housing Choice Voucher by
the Housing Authority, you can search the private rental
market in your community for a housing unit that is decent,
safe, and sanitary according to Housing
Quality Standards (HQS) established by HUD and the local
Housing Authority. (Request a copy of the HUD booklet "A
Good Place to Live!," available from the local Housing
Authority or HUD to guide you in finding a unit that meets
these Standards.) When you have found a suitable unit and
the owner agrees to lease the unit to your family under
the housing choice voucher program, the Housing Authority
will inspect the unit to assure that it is suitable. After
the unit passes HQS inspection and the rent has been approved,
the landlord and tenant enter a lease for an initial term
of one year. The Housing Authority and the landlord sign
a Housing Assistance Payments Contract through which the
rent is assisted on your behalf. You will be responsible
for the monthly payment of the difference between the total
rent and the Housing Assistance Payment. |
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| Q. |
Can
I move and continue to receive this assistance? |
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| A. |
A family's housing needs change over time with changes
in family size, job locations, and other reasons. The
Housing Choice Voucher Program is designed to allow families
to move without the loss of rental assistance. Moves are
permissible as long as the family notifies the HA ahead
of time, terminates its existing lease within the appropriate
provisions, and finds acceptable alternate housing.
Under
the voucher program, new voucher holders may choose a
unit anywhere in the United States if the family lived
within the jurisdiction of the HA issuing the voucher
when the family applied for assistance. Those new voucher
holders not living within the jurisdiction of the HA at
the time the family applies for rental assistance must
initially lease a unit within that jurisdiction for the
first twelve months of assistance. A family that wishes
to move to another HA's jurisdiction must consult with
the HA that currently administers it rental assistance
to verify the procedures for moving. |
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| Q. |
What
is the term of the lease and contract? |
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| A. |
After
one year, the lease is renewed for a specified time period
(ex., month-to-month, six months, etc.). You may vacate
with a notice after the term of the lease expires. If you
remain in the unit, you are recertified for eligibility
and the unit is inspected for Housing Quality Standards
annually, at which time the landlord may request an annual
adjustment rent increase which must be approved by the Housing
Authority. This request must be submitted in writing to
the Housing Authority and to you sixty days prior to renewal.
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