Can You Use Your Section 8 in the State of New Jersey to Convert From Rental to Homeownership?
HUD helps low-income families afford market rate rents in their area through the Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher program. Eligible families can turn their federal rental subsidy payment into mortgage payment assistance. While HUD does not require all state and local housing agencies to participate in the Homeownership Voucher Program, many across the State of New Jersey do.
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Who to Contact
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To inquire about using your Section 8 voucher to pay part of the mortgage on a qualifying home, contact the agency that distributed your original Section 8 benefits. This is either the local New Jersey Housing Authority that administers Section 8 in your area or the New Jersey Department of Community Affairs. Simply contact the agency that you interviewed with to confirm your eligibility for Section 8 rental assistance in the first place.
Process
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If your current housing authority participates in the program, you deal solely with them. If you plan on moving to another part of New Jersey, your current Section 8 benefits administrator will help you determine if the housing authority at your destination participates in HUD's Homeownership Voucher Program. If you receive benefits through the state's Department of Community Affairs, you might be able to transition to a homeownership voucher directly through them.
To give you an idea of the scope of the program in New Jersey, HUD data shows that New Jersey housing agencies, including the Department of Community Affairs, executed 379 homeownership vouchers between 2004 and November 2010. The Department of Community Affairs facilitated 98 of them.
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Considerations
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To qualify for a homeownership voucher, you must be a first-time home buyer. HUD also holds all other family members to this stipulation. HUD defines a first-time home buyer as somebody who has not owned all or a part of any residential property during the last three years. Any house you wish to purchase under the program must pass two housing inspections: one that HUD conducts and an independent one that you commission.
Income and Employment Eligibility
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HUD restricts eligibility for the Homeownership Voucher Program to families with combined annual income--earned by all adult household members--equal to the federal hourly minimum wage times 2,000 hours or higher. For disabled families, HUD requires that the annual income of all adult family members who will have an ownership interest exceed the monthly Federal Supplemental Security Income benefit times 12. With the exception of elderly and disabled families, HUD requires one or more adult family members to have held uninterrupted full-time employment at the time assistance begins and for at least one year prior to its commencement. HUD gives local housing agencies the authority to impose stricter income and employment requirements.
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