The Easiest Way To Get A Section 8 Voucher Faster

Life would be a lot easier if your rent were cheaper. Not only could you get your landlord off your back, but you could also start paying down debt, handling other bills, or stashing cash for a rainy day.

What can make your rent cheaper? Besides moving somewhere remote or getting a roommate, a Section 8 voucher can cut those rent costs so you can keep more money in your pocket.

Get a Section 8 voucher, and you’ll only be paying about 30 percent of your income to your landlord. But since a voucher makes rent so affordable, many people want to get one. And this high demand has led to long wait times that could last years.

Will your wait for a voucher last several years? That depends on several factors like voucher availability, where you want to live, and so on. You can reduce the delay by applying to several waiting lists, which increases your chances of getting a voucher quicker. You could also look for places where people may not want to live, as their voucher demand could be lower.

What’s another way to speed up the Section 8 process? Using preferences that give you priority over other voucher applicants.

How Preferences Reduce Section 8 Wait Times

The government created the Section 8 program to provide housing assistance to those who need it most. As such, Public Housing Agencies (PHAs) have come up with preferences to determine who has the greatest need.

The more preferences apply to your household, the better your chances of getting your voucher sooner. So, if any of the following apply, tell your PHA as quickly as possible. If you don’t, you could find yourself waiting a long time to get rental assistance:

• Homelessness (not living with friends or family)
• Living in a shelter
• Veteran (must be honorably discharged)
• Elderly (age 62 or older)
• In the extremely low-income bracket (earn 30 percent of your area’s median income)
• Have a disability (especially if where you’re living is making the disability worse)

You’ll have to provide documentation to prove those preferences, but it’s well worth putting in the time to report them, as they can move you up the Section 8 waitlist a lot faster than you thought.

Checking Your Voucher Status

Once you’re on the Section 8 waitlist, there are a couple of ways to check the status of your voucher. The first is to use the Waitlistcheck website. It’s a safe and secure site from the HUD that lets you see how you’re progressing on the waitlist. The second way to check your status is to call the PHA every couple of months. Ask them if you’re still on the list and if you’ve moved up at all.

Be sure to document any calls with the PHA, especially concerning your voucher status. Errors are not uncommon, so having documentation could save you a lot of hassle if you find you’ve been kicked off the waitlist by mistake.