Section 8 Housing in Texas
The Federal program called the Housing Choice Voucher, more commonly known as the Section 8 is a program designed to help low income families and individuals, it also supports low income elderly and disabled citizens by providing them with affordable housing options in good localities.
US Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) main criterion for people qualifying for this program is that their income needs to be 50% or less as per the defined HUD’s median income guideline. This is only one of the many different requirements that are needed by the HUD.
The people who qualify for this program can utilize their benefits by directly dealing with landlords and negotiating prices for homes that they find suitable. The Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs (TDHCA) then directly pays the individual’s or family’s landlord a pre-approved rent amount. http://www.tdhca.state.tx.us/section-8/
Applicants will have to provide their local PHA or PHAs (if they’ve applied at multiple offices) with proof of their income (from all sources including child support), details about all the other members in the family, proof of citizenship or legal immigrant status, the assets owned by the family (their monetary value), and bills proving medical expenses as well as childcare. Once all this is done and the application is filled out, the PHA runs a background check to ensure the applicant doesn’t have a criminal record. When the next housing unit gets available, the PHA gets in touch with the applicant via email and informs him.
As mentioned above this program also extends to disabled individuals falling in the low income group. Through this program, the federal and state government work to rehabilitate such individuals by providing them homes in the midst of safe communities.
To be eligible, however, the individual must exhibit a mental, physical or emotional disability that interferes with his/her daily life and has been incurable for an extended period with no future expectation of cure. The applicant must also be below the age of 62 and should have been a prior resident of a medical facility such as a nursing home or a transitioning care facility to qualify.
Applicants need to fill out five different forms and attach a few documents to start the process. Details of this can be found at this link – http://www.tdhca.state.tx.us/section-8/project-access/index.htm. The website also lists the documents that need to be submitted for each relative or aide intending to live in the same house with the applicant. The form, along with the necessary documents must only be posted in to the address listed on the same website as only hard copies of application forms are taken into consideration.
When the applicants are found eligible, they are given vouchers which they can use to find homes that are in good condition. This fact is verified by the inspection team that checks to see if the house meets safety and sanitary standards before the tenant moves in. Such inspections are a regular feature even after the tenants have moved in to ensure that both the landlord and the tenant are fulfilling their obligations towards each other in a timely manner.
