Caller: I am 45 years old, I receive SSDI, and I am too old to be sleeping on my son’s couch. He lives in Union City, and I would like to stay fairly close. How do I get a housing choice voucher? If I get a voucher, where can I look for places that accept Housing Choice Vouchers?
Pathfinder: Finding affordable housing can be a very long quest in this day and time. Affordable housing is rare and in extremely short supply all over Tennessee, and acutely so in the more urban areas. Seekers are lucky when they find a waitlist open because many waitlists are closed. In other words, there are more people on the waitlists than can reasonably be served in a reasonable period of time.
The Tennessee Housing and Development Agency (THDA) manages a rental assistance program funded by the U.S. Housing and Urban Development (HUD) called the Housing Choice Voucher program, commonly known as HCV. The program serves 77 of the 95 Tennessee Counties, including Obion County. To get a Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher (HCV), you can apply online if the wait list is open for the county you seek. This is where you need to watch for your county’s waitlist to open.
At Pathfinder we frequent the site and most of the time all the waitlists are closed. Occasionally, we receive notice of one or more counties that are open or going to be open in the near future. When that happens, you can apply online here, following these instructions.
If you are applying for a county in which you have not lived for 12 months, you may have to agree to live in that county for 12 months. An eligibility overview and links to income limit data are here.
Eligibility is primarily based on the gross annual income and size of the household. But there are also exclusions for persons with certain drug convictions, and those listed on the abuse and sexual offender registries. Federal rules require that 75 percent of new HCVs issued must be to families in the extremely low-income category. New vouchers become available when families leave the program, so THDA cannot tell you how long an opening on a waiting list will take.
However, if a person has a voucher, it can be used for any rental property if the owner agrees or has agreed to be in the program and meets the requirements. The owner must also allow the inspections. The housing can be a single-family home, an apartment, or a mobile home as long as the property meets certain safety and quality standards. Someone an individual may know or already rent from could be within the program. Their renters with an HCV would provide a portion of the rent and the other portion would come from the federal government.
Owners who have properties in the HUD program, list their vacancies free online at TNhousingsearch.org. This site is a good place to search for properties which are already in the HCV program.
If you have any questions or concerns, or just can’t seem to navigate your way alone as you search for resources for affordable housing, don’t wait, give us a call at 1-800-640-4636 or visit our website at TNPathfinder.org.
| Questions and scenarios found in the Call Pathfinder column represent questions received by Pathfinder but are not taken from actual Pathfinder calls. Actual resource information provided varies based on the specific situation and needs of each individual. |