Section 8 (housing)

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Section 8 is a type of Federal assistance provided by the United States Federal government dedicated to sponsoring subsidized housing for low-income families and individuals. It is formally known as the Housing Choice Voucher Program, but is still commonly referred to as simply Section 8. Section 8 subsidized housing is not related to the United States military's Section 8 discharge.

[edit] Summary

Federal housing assistance programs began during the Great Depression to address the country’s housing crisis. In the 1960s and 1970s, the federal government created subsidy programs to increase the production of low-income housing and to help low income families pay their rent. In 1961, the Section 23 Leased Housing Program amended the U.S. Housing Act of 1937. This subsidy program, the predecessor to Section 8, was not a pure housing allowance program. Housing authorities selected eligible families from their waiting list, placed them in housing from a master list of available private units, and determined the rent that tenants would have to pay. The housing authority would then sign a lease with the private landlord and pay the difference between the tenant’s rent and the market rate for the same size unit. In the agreement with the private landlord, housing authorities agreed to perform regular building maintenance and leasing functions for Section 23 tenants, and annually reviewed the tenant’s income for program eligibility and rent calculations.

In the 1970s, when studies showed that the major low income housing crisis was no longer substandard housing, but the high percentage of income spent on housing, Congress passed the Housing and Community Development Act of 1974, further amending the U.S. Housing Act of 1937 to create the Section 8 Program. In the Section 8 Program, tenants pay about 30 percent of their income for rent, while the rest of the rent is paid with federal money.

The Section 8 program initially had three subprograms — New Construction, Substantial Rehabilitation, and Existing Housing Certificate programs. The Moderate Rehabilitation Program was added in 1978, the Voucher Program in 1983, and the Project-based Certificate program in 1991. The numbers of units a local housing authority can subsidize under its Section 8 programs is determined by Congressional funding. Since its inception, some Section 8 programs have been phased out and new ones created, although Congress has always renewed existing subsidies.

Currently, the two main Section 8 programs are tenant-based vouchers and project-based vouchers. In the tenant-based program, eligible families with a certificate or voucher find and lease a unit and pay a portion of a reasonable rent. Their portion is based on income, generally around 30%. The local housing authority pays the owner the remaining rent, capped by the Fair Market Rent (FMR) or a fixed percertage thereof. The housing authorities determine the reasonable rent and the FMR is determined by the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).

One of the essential features of the tenant-based voucher is the idea of portability. Eligible families may in theory move anywhere in the United States (and Puerto Rico) where there is a public housing authority operating a Section 8 program; however, in practice, some jurisdictions are unable or unwilling to take transferred vouchers, primarily due to the differences in the costs of program administration in different housing markets around the country.

Public Housing Authorities can choose to project-base up to 25% of their vouchers, meaning that the vouchers are linked to a particular apartment, not an individual family. Eligible families pay 30% of their income while living in the apartment, but cannot take that voucher with them.

Whether voucher or project-based, all subsidized units must meet federal Housing Quality Standards, thus ensuring that the family has a healthy and safe place to live. This improvement in the housing stock is an important by-product of this program, both for the individual families and for the larger goal of community development.

In many localities, the waiting lists for Section 8 vouchers may be thousands of families long, and waits of 3 to 5 years to access vouchers are not unusual.

Families who participate in the program must abide by a series of rules and regulations, often referred to as "family obligations," in order to maintain their voucher, including accurately reporting all changes in household income so the amount of their subsidy can be updated accordingly. In recent years, the HUD Office of the Inspector General has spent more time and money on fraud detection and prevention.

Currently, there are no time limits for family participation in the program, though occasionally reform bills are introduced in Congress that suggest time limiting the program.

[edit] See also

Hills v. Gautreaux (1976) U.S. Supreme Court case upholding use of Section 8 vouchers to remedy housing discrimination in site selection by the Chicago Housing Authority.
Federal assistance in the United States
Public housing