Mammoth AwardsWhy Apply For Section 8?
The government’s Section 8 program is massively popular, and with good reason. If you qualify for it, you can get a housing voucher that lets you pick between a single-family home, townhome, or apartment, so you’re not limited to one type of living. Even better, it can ensure that you only pay a particular portion of your income towards the rent, so you can finally start saving for a rainy day or paying down debt.
Since it offers such housing flexibility and pays a huge portion of the rent, Section 8 has a ton of applicants. And depending on where you live or want to move, it’s likely that the applicants exceed the available number of vouchers. In other words, even if you qualify for a Section 8 voucher, you may be waiting a while to use it.
Section 8 Waitlists
Since there’s such a supply and demand issue with Section 8 vouchers, you’ll probably find yourself on a waiting list if you get approved. Ideally, your time on that waiting list would be pretty quick, but that’s usually not the case.
The length of a Section 8 waitlist depends on how many applicants there are and how many vouchers are available. If you get on a list, you’ll receive an estimate of your waiting time, usually calculated by the housing agency. For example, if your area has 1,000 applicants per year but only 500 vouchers, you’re looking at a two-year wait. Is that the exact amount of time you’ll have to wait to get your voucher? Not necessarily, as a ton of things could happen to shorten that time.
As you can imagine, many people cannot wait years to get housing assistance. Several people on the list before you will probably move to another area or find a different housing option. Either move can help you accelerate your time in line so you can get a voucher quicker.
Others in line will get disqualified, which can help you even more. What can lead to a disqualification? Committing a crime, abusing a housing authority employee, and in some cases, there have been reports of disqualification for something as simple as a traffic ticket.
You can also get disqualified from a low-income housing waitlist if you miss an interview or incomplete paperwork. And if your income increases too much due to a new job, side hustle, or disability benefits, that could disqualify you as well.
How To Get On A Section 8 Waiting List
Since it can take so long to process, your best move is to apply for Section 8 now so you can get on a waitlist as quickly as possible. Contact your local Public Housing Agency to get the ball rolling.
Once on the waitlist, do the following to see if you can shorten your waiting time:
- Apply to other waitlists that may have less demand.
- Apply to every housing unit you can find that fits your needs.
- If a waitlist closes, keep checking back to see if it opens.
- Keep records of all of your contacts and communication with landlords or housing agencies.
- Keep contacting your housing agency to check your waitlist status.
