How to Get Florida Section 8
If you need rental assistance, you will probably investigate options offered by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. Because it gives low-income families "choice" by allowing them to secure rental housing from private market landlords at market rate prices, many households attempt to obtain Section 8 benefits. While you employ the same procedures to apply across Florida, the program's popularity, coupled with limited resources, triggers long waiting lists that impact the immediate availability of Section 8 vouchers.
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Instructions
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Download a copy of HUD's most recent income limits. You can find a copy at HUD's Data Sets website. HUD only accepts Section 8 applications from families with annual household incomes at or below 50 percent of their area's median income. These numbers vary by county or metropolitan area. For example, 50 percent of the Lakeland-Winter Haven, Florida Metropolitan Area's median income for a six-person household equals $30,600, as of 2010. In the Miami-Miami Beach-Kendall metro, this number increases to $40,800 for a family of six. As household size increases or decreases, so do HUD's income limits.
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Contact the public housing agency that manages the Section 8 program for your area. You can search a database at HUD's website to find yours.
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Ask your housing agency about the status of its Section 8 waiting list. Most programs use a waiting list. Some housing agencies close their lists periodically, due to high demand. For example, the Orlando Housing Authority notes that it is not accepting Section 8 applications, as of December 2010. HUD requires housing agencies to alert local newspapers and media outlets that serve minorities before they reopen a Section 8 waiting list.
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Inquire with your housing agency about local preferences. Some, but not all, housing agencies move certain families up on the waiting list. For instance, the Tampa Housing Authority gives preference to applicants who are working, attending school, homeless or disabled.
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Fill out an application. Generally, your housing agency will mail you one, make it available online or ask that you stop by their office to pick one up. When a housing agency uses a waiting list, the application just gets you a spot on the list; it does not constitute a guarantee of future Section 8 benefits.
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Attend an eligibility interview. When your name reaches the top of the waiting list or if your housing agency has a voucher available right away, you'll need to meet, in person, with a representative to confirm the information you submitted with your application. For instance, your housing agency requires that you confirm household makeup by producing birth certificates and Social Security numbers; income and assets by providing paycheck stubs, tax returns and bank account statements; and rental history by offering current and prior landlord contact details.
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Begin your search for rental housing after your housing agency processes and approves your application and issues your Section 8 voucher. Look for the maximum unit size your housing agency permits you to rent on your voucher.
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