Applying for
Housing Assistance

The Housing Authority has various affordable housing programs that provide housing assistance to eligible, low-income households. The Housing Authority is only funded by the federal government for a certain number of housing vouchers and units. So even if your household qualifies for rental assistance, you will be placed on a waiting list until a housing voucher or unit is available, which often take years before you receive assistance.

The Housing Authority does not provide emergency housing. Individuals in need of emergency housing/shelter should contact United Way 211 by dialing 2-1-1.

Am I Eligible – Eligibility Criteria

• The head of household must be at least 18 years of age or be a legally emancipated minor.
• The household must meet Section 214 requirements governing U.S. citizenship and eligible immigration status.
• All adults are subject to a criminal background check when your application is processed for eligibility.
• Site based waiting lists have additional eligibility requirements which include meeting the guidelines of acceptable credit.
• For most households, their total gross yearly income must not exceed the federal income limits below at time of final eligibility.
• Tax Credit properties will follow applicable Tax Credit income guidelines.

What bedroom size unit do I quality for?

Households are assigned a housing voucher or unit based on two people per bedroom regardless of age, gender, or relationship, with exceptions for live-in aides and/or approved reasonable accommodations for persons with disabilities. Additional space is not provided to the family members of a live-in aide.

What is available – Housing sites and Waitlist Applications

The Housing Authority has a Tenant-Based Voucher Program (formally known as Section 8), which provides rental assistance to an eligible family renting a unit of their choice in the private market. The Tenant-Based Voucher Program waitlist is closed.

The Housing Authority also has a Project-Based Voucher Program, which provides rental subsidies for specific housing units that are owned or managed by the Housing Authority or other housing providers. The following Project-Based Voucher Program waitlists are currently open:

Location of the Affordable Housing Sites

Click on the link below to access housing sites HACSB manages the waiting list for some or all the units at these respective housing sites. If you are applying to any of the six region waiting lists, these are scattered housing units throughout various cities in the County, and applying to a specific region means a household may be housed in a unit that is available and the appropriate room size for that household. Region waiting lists are not broken up by city.

How do I apply – Applicant Portal

Applying for housing assistance is free! Interested applicants may submit an online pre-application. If you are applying for the first time or if you are already on a waiting list, you will need to register to the applicant portal. If you have already submitted a waiting list pre-application with HACSB, please contact us at techhelp@hacsb.com to request your registration code. By registering to our Applicant Portal you will be able to do the following:

• Apply to any open waiting lists
• Check the status of your application(s)
• Update your contact information
• Update your any information provided in your pre-application

I applied, now what?

All applicants will receive an email confirmation upon submission of their online application. Online applications can take up to 90 days to review, at which point eligible applicants will be added to the waiting list they qualify for. Applicants will remain on the waiting list with an “On List” status until selected for the initial eligibility process.

New households are assisted as current households move off the program. Serving families through attrition causes long wait times even if a family may be eligible.

After a household is called off the Tenant-based program waiting list, the Housing Authority issues a Family Obligations Agreement – which is essentially the household’s “voucher”. Once the household finds a housing unit in the rental market, the unit passes inspection, and the appropriate paperwork is filed, the landlord will enter into a lease with the family and the Housing Authority will enter into a Contract with the landlord to provide the Housing Authority’s portion of the rent on behalf of that household.

If an applicant is called off of a project-based program waiting list and found eligible, the Housing Authority will refer the applicant to the Property Management Company for further eligibility screening, and if eligible, the applicant will be assigned a unit. Once the unit passes inspection and the appropriate paperwork is filed, the landlord will enter into a lease with the family and the Housing Authority will provide housing assistance for the unit.

Quick Links

• Applying for Housing Assistance
• Am I Eligible – Eligibility Criteria
• What bedroom size unit do I quality for?
• Housing sites and Waitlist Applications
• Location of the Affordable Housing Sites
• How do I apply – Applicant Portal
• I applied, now what?