Each Wednesday, Dave Layfield, our founder and resident affordable housing expert, does a live video chat with our users at 3:00 pm ET on Blab.im. He usually spends an hour or more answering users’ questions about affordable housing assistance. Users can come on camera live with Dave and ask any question. Most of the time, he has the answer, but if he is unable to answer the question at the time, he will research the question after the chat and then reach out to the user.
Following are the questions and Dave’s answers from the live video chat of Wednesday, September 23, 2015. We have embedded the recording of the video chat for you to watch.
@MarkWolfe39: “The apartment complex I’m in is a Low-Income Housing Tax Credit property. Is there any other affordable housing program I can qualify for?
Dave: There are several affordable housing programs available other than Section 8. For example, there are also millions of privately owned, publicly financed affordable rental housing units that you might qualify for. These aren’t vouchers nor public housing. These opportunities can include Project-Based Section 8, Section 202/811 properties or other Federally subsidized affordable housing properties. Visit our website and search for your area of interest to find out what other affordable housing programs are available.
@FmOvaEverythng: “How long after the income verification assessment is completed does it take for an housing inspector to come out to inspect the unit?”
Dave: There are more than 2,300 housing authorities in the country that manage a Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher program. Each office is run differently, and their policies can differ. Their staffing may be different as well, as an office may have an efficient inspector, or one who may be inundated with work. We recommend contacting the housing authority in your area to find out if the office can estimate when the inspector will inspect your unit. You can search our database for housing authority contact information.
@BessieGollett: “Can I smoke in my apartment?”
Dave: Recently, housing authorities have been establishing policies that ban smoking in the units they manage.
Individual apartment communities and entire housing authorities are instituting smoking bans at their properties. Many of these smoking bans are ALL areas of the property, including inside your apartment and even outside in the parking lot. Many will designate a smoking area like a gazebo or bench on the outskirts of the property.
Remember that if there is a no smoking policy in place, it is very likely that violating the policy could be grounds for eviction. Make sure you understand the particular policy at your apartment community.
If your property doesn’t currently have a smoking ban, it could very well institute one in the near future as public health is receiving more and more attention.
And, we don’t need to remind you that you’re far better off financially and health wise if you quit smoking! 🙂
Please contact your landlord or housing authority in it has a no smoking policy.
@BessieGollett: “What can you do if the housing authority isn’t updating your contact information? I wasn’t able to do it online, even though the website says so. I have also gone to the local housing authority office to fill out a change form, but that was several months ago, and my information is still not updated.”
Dave: We recommend speaking to a supervisor at the housing authority to find out a solution to this issue. If the office is not assisting you in this matter, you may send a complaint to HUD. Another option could be contacting someone in the local government like your city councilman or county commissioner or the mayor’s office. Community leaders like this often intervene on the part of their constituents if the agency is being unresponsive. As a last resort, you could also contact your Congressman as housing authorities receive Federal funding (like Section 8).
@Pizza_Slice: “I heard this is a scam.”
Dave: Our website is not a scam, but unfortunately there are affordable housing scams on the Internet. One example of an online affordable housing scam is a website that poses as a housing authority that is accepting waiting list pre-applications. These websites ask questions that would never be found on a HUD waiting list pre-application, and collect personal information from “applicants” to sell to advertisers. You can read more about these scams on our blog, and we also offer how to report these scams to the FTC and BBB. Other scams operate by charging for affordable housing information. The information provided after paying can be found online at no cost. You can read more about this specific scam, and how to report it, on our blog.
All of our information is available for free, and we do not ask for any of our users to log in or submit information to access our content. If there are any concerns, we recommend contacting the housing authority to confirm that the waiting list is legitimate.
@marcial34: “Do you have to live in the city that you get approved for?”
Dave: In regards to the Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher program, yes, you must live within the jurisdiction of the housing authority that gave you the voucher for at last one year. However, after that year, you are able to transfer that voucher to a new area, known as porting. You may only port your voucher to a housing authority that is absorbing. Furthermore, due to a recently incorporated HUD policy, porting may now be harder in certain areas, but easier in others. Please contact the housing authority in your area of interest to find out if it is absorbing. You can search our database for housing authority contact information.
@DavahnaM: “I am disabled and living with my mother. What can I do to find an apartment?”
Dave: You apply to be put onto an open waiting list through a local housing authority. You may apply to any open waiting list in the country, regardless of your location. How to get a pre-application varies depending on each office’s policy. Pre-applications are usually available online, by mail, or in the office. After submitting your pre-application, the housing authority sorts through applicants and places a select number on the waiting list. Keep in mind that in most cases, due to the volume of applicants, even those who are qualified are not guaranteed to be placed on the waiting list. Many housing authorities operate a preference point system that would place those qualified higher on the waiting list than general applicants. Disabled applicants is a common preference. We recommend searching for an opening with the appropriate preference. Please view all open Section 8 waiting lists we are aware of, and all open Public Housing waiting lists we are aware of. You may also search for your area of interest through our database.
@BriannLindsey1: “Are there any open waiting lists in New Jersey?”
Dave: We are not aware of any Section 8 waiting lists currently open in New Jersey, but we are aware of 62 Public Housing waiting lists open in the state, and you can read more about those openings on our New Jersey Public Housing information page.
@BriannLindsey1: “What should I look for to know if a website is a scam?”
Dave: There are several indicators of scams. The most clear indicator of a scam is a pre-application that requires a fee to access. HUD policy states a housing authority may not charge a fee to obtain or submit a pre-application. Also, there are scams that charge a fee for affordable housing information. However, the information given is available for free on the internet. You can read more about this specific scam, and how to report it, on our blog. Other scams ask for personal information that would never be found on a legitimate pre-application, such as, “Does anyone in your house have diabetes?” These scams don’t charge a fee, but obtain your personal information, and sell it to advertisers. You can read more about these scams on our blog, and we also offer how to report these scams to the FTC and BBB.
@prinney: “I’m interested in the home ownership program. What credit score is needed to participate?”
Dave: First, the Section 8 Homeownership program is only available at specific housing authorities that participate. For more info on the program, read about it on HUD.gov here.
As far as the credit score required, there wouldn’t be a specific credit score required under the program. The score would be established by the private lender that makes the home loan. Generally, lenders will want to see a good credit rating. If you have poor credit, you should work on improving it before expecting to be approved. But, you should always contact potential home lenders to find out what their specific credit requirements are.
@chandra_greene: “I just received a voucher, and I can’t find a place. I’m in jeopardy of losing my voucher. What should I do?”
Dave: Please contact your local housing authority, government office, or related non-profit organization in your area to find out what services are available to find a landlord. You can search our database for housing authority contact information.
@dmc3mari: “I work with people with disabilities, and it is hard to find accessible units in affordable housing, do you have any suggestions?”
Dave: Finding fully accessible units is still difficult. There isn’t yet a good online database of accessible housing, though we are working on improving our own data to better serve persons with disabilities.
With that being said, remember that all Federally subsidized affordable housing is required to be “adaptable” meaning that if a unit isn’t currently accessible and an incoming resident is disabled, the property manager is required to make a “reasonable accommodation”. That would be something like swapping out a stove with rear controls for one with front controls if a resident is in a wheel chair and unable to reach the rear controls.
Also, some Federal housing programs (like HUD 811 properties) are targeted specifically at persons with disabilities and therefore have building designed as fully accessible.
Lastly, most newer properties, especially Low Income Housing Tax Credit programs strongly encourage developers to build more accessible properties and apartment units. In many of these cases, they are required to hold these units open for people with disabilities until they are filled. Most of these properties conduct co-marketing campaigns with the local disability service organizations, so if you contact local organizations that assist persons with disabilities, they may be able to direct you to these opportunities.
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