You are under pressure to find affordable housing. But did you know that Section 8 is under pressure to help you too? Although it may seem you can wait quite a while on the waiting list, Section 8 must keep the list moving, accept new and get units leased at a very high percentage rate to keep it’s funding.
It is the federal governments goal that all of the funding allocated to your local Section 8 housing authority is utilized. And that means advancing people off the waiting list and into homes so those funds can be used on rents. In fact, if the public housing authority’s utilization rate falls under 90 percent, it can lose part of its funding when those decisions are made by the federal government. See how this happened at Berkeley Housing Authority.
Some Section 8 housing authorities seem to struggle with their waiting list, causing major delays and closures of the list. Here’s why:
- They fail to determine when people usually leave the program and space opens. For example if their yearly data shows that most tenants leave Section 8 in May they should be ready to fill those spots immediately. But they don’t.
- Often Section 8 cannot get a hold of families on the wait list or they simply don’t have enough staff and resources to contact and interview the next people on the list.
The number one thing you can do to keep yourself on the Section 8 waiting list and moving up is to make sure you are reachable. If you move, change a phone number, etc… notify Section 8. And double check that they have the information correct by calling back a second time.
Feel Free to Contact me with any questions. I’ll get back to you ASAP.
Regards,
Jason Strick
