The Section 8 Housing Act
Section 8 housing assistance originally appeared in the U.S. Housing Act of 1937. This portion of the act provided financial assistance toward housing for qualified families of lower income.
Other People Are Reading
-
History
-
The Housing Act predated the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), the government agency that now administers the act, by almost 30 years. Passed during the economic turmoil of the 1930s, the act contained several provisions that provided assistance to lower-income families. The Department of Housing and Urban Development Act of 1965 created HUD.
Function
-
The original Declaration of Policy of the Housing Act, which has been amended and altered several times since passage, states the intention of the act. In its words, the act was intended to remedy "the acute shortage of decent, safe, and sanitary dwellings for families of lower income."
-
Considerations
-
The original act has been amended several times, including by the Quality Housing and Work Responsibility Act of 1998. Currently, HUD administers the program under the name of the Housing Choice Voucher program. This program is administered locally by Public Housing Agencies (PHAs) that receive federal funding from HUD. Housing must be inspected by HUD before owners can accept housing vouchers to pay rent.
-
References
- Photo Credit apartment for rent image by dead_account from Fotolia.com
