Public Housing

What this actually is

Rental homes owned and managed by a local housing agency and rented at what you can afford — about 970,000 households live in them, in everything from scattered single-family houses to apartment buildings. Your rent, called the Total Tenant Payment, is the highest of several formulas including 30% of your monthly ADJUSTED income (after allowances), a welfare rent where applicable, and a minimum rent of $25, which an agency may set as high as $50. Allowances that reduce the income the rent is calculated on: $480 per dependent, $400 for an elderly family or a person with a disability, and certain medical deductions for elderly or disabled-headed households — claim them, because nobody volunteers them. The honest part, in HUD's own words: demand for housing assistance often exceeds the limited resources available, long waiting periods are common, and an agency may close its waiting list when the list outruns what it can serve. Applying is free and the application must be written. This is not the same program as a Section 8 voucher and you should apply to both.

Who qualifies, and what trips people up

Income limits are HUD's area figures: "low-income" is 80% and "very low-income" is 50% of the median income for the county or metro area, and they vary enough that you may qualify with one agency and not another. The agency also considers whether you qualify as elderly, a person with a disability, or a family, and citizenship or eligible immigration status, and it will check landlord references — it may deny admission based on habits and practices expected to affect other tenants. It may also visit your current home. Expect to supply names and addresses of current and previous landlords. If you are found eligible you go on a waiting list; agencies may give preference to particular groups. If you are found INELIGIBLE the agency must tell you why in writing, and you can request an informal hearing — do that, because denials on suitability or paperwork grounds are frequently reversed.