A voucher is a kind of subsidy that allows a housing agency to pay a portion of your rent for an apartment that you must find in the private market. While the actual tenancy is between you and a private landlord, you also have a relationship with the housing authority or regional nonprofit housing agency that
The largest voucher program is the federal Section 8 voucher program, which is also called the
There are also two state tenant-based voucher programs: the Massachusetts Rental Voucher Program (MRVP), which currently has 3,600 tenant-based vouchers; and the Alternative Housing Voucher Program (AHVP), for people with disabilities, which currently has 800 vouchers.
Section 8 vouchers
The Section 8 voucher program is funded by the federal government through the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).1 With a Section 8 voucher, you can live anywhere in Massachusetts. If you move, you can take the voucher with you and, after the first year, you can use it anywhere in the country.2
Section 8 vouchers are given out by roughly 130 housing authorities and 9 regional nonprofit housing agencies in Massachusetts. For a listing of authorities and agencies which administer the Section 8 program, visit the Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher Program of the Massachusetts Department of Housing and Community Development website. The housing authority or regional nonprofit where you apply determines whether you are eligible for a voucher.3 It calculates how much your share of the rent is—usually between 30% and 40% of your income.4 While a housing agency is required to do an adult criminal record check, in general, landlords who take Section 8 are responsible for
When you first get a Section 8 voucher, you have a certain period of time to find an apartment.6 This is called the
A landlord who is willing to rent to a household with a Section 8 voucher holder submits a form called a
In addition to the requirement that the
Once a
Once an apartment is approved, the landlord and tenant sign a lease. Usually a lease has a term of one year. During this first year, the landlord can terminate your lease only for
In addition to your relationship with the landlord, under the Section 8 voucher program you have an ongoing relationship with the local housing authority or regional nonprofit agency and have to report on your income and household composition. The housing agency can terminate you from the Section 8 program if it believes that you have violated any Section 8 program rules (for example, not properly reporting on income or family composition, or engaging in fraud). If this happens, you can request an informal hearing to show why you should not be dropped from the program.13
Useful websites:
- Housing Choice Voucher Program from HUD
- HUD's
Housing Choice Voucher Program Guidebook - Section 8 program from DHCD
- Visit the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities for more information about efforts being made to protect the Section 8 program
Massachusetts Rental Voucher Program (tenant-based vouchers)
The Massachusetts Rental Voucher Program (MRVP) is a state-funded voucher program.14 There are two components to this program:
MRVP vouchers are given out by housing authorities and regional nonprofit housing agencies, which determine eligibility and generally conduct
For an MRVP tenant-based voucher, as of July 2005, the tenant family cannot pay more than 40% of income for its share of the rent. The value of the subsidy depends on your income, the number of bedrooms, and the geographic area. There is no utility allowance or heat deduction for the MRVP program.17 You may have difficulty renting or relocating with an MRVP voucher because housing authorities usually pay a landlord less than what they pay for the Section 8 program.18
Owners who accept an MRVP tenant must have a written lease and sign an MRVP lease addendum. This guarantees that during the one-year lease term you will not be evicted except for
As with the Section 8 voucher program, you will have an ongoing relationship with staff at the local housing authority or regional nonprofit agency. You will have to report regularly on your income and household composition, and can have your assistance terminated if you violate program rules or are evicted for a lease violation. You can request an informal hearing if the housing agency is proposing to terminate you from the program.20
Alternative Housing Voucher Program
The Alternative Housing Voucher Program (AHVP) is a state-funded voucher program created in 1995.21 There are currently about 800 AHVP vouchers in use at 39 housing authorities in the state. A list of all housing authorities, with a notation about those that administer AHVP vouchers, is included in the Alternative Housing Voucher Program of the Massachusetts Department of Housing and Community Development website.
AHVP provides vouchers to people with disabilities who are under 60 years of age and their families who are on waiting lists for state public elderly/disabled housing at housing authorities that have rented 13.5% of their apartments to non-elderly disabled tenants. AHVP waiting lists open and close periodically as additional funding is released to housing authorities by DHCD. As with the Massachusetts Rental Housing Voucher program, you must find an apartment within 120 days of getting a voucher. This search period can be "frozen" or suspended for one 30-day period or less if you are unable to do housing search because of a hardship. Your share of the rent is 30% of income if utilities are included, or 25% of income if utilities are not included. As with state public housing, if you have to pay for heat, there is an additional heat deduction.22 DHCD places a limit on the amount of rent that may be approved for apartments in the AHVP depending on bedroom size and geographic region. If the rent requested by the owner exceeds this limit or ceiling, it cannot be approved, even if the tenant is willing to pay the difference between the rent demanded and the ceiling rent. You can use your voucher anywhere in the state, but you cannot relocate to another city or town if the apartment is located in an area where 40% or more of the people live at or below the Federal Poverty Level.23 See the chart for the Federal Poverty Levels. You cannot use an AHVP voucher outside of Massachusetts.
As with the MRVP tenant-based voucher program, you can have your assistance terminated if you fail to comply with program rules, but you are entitled to a hearing process with the housing agency to contest this action.24
DMH rental assistance program
The Department of Mental Health (DMH) also operates a state-funded rental subsidy program, separate from the MRVP and AHVP programs.25 Some of this assistance is tenant-based, and some is project-based. You must be eligible for state public housing tenant selection criteria and also be in need of supportive residential services as determined by DMH. Service providers select residents to occupy eligible units, and the local housing authority determines the rent and pays the subsidy. Your rent is set at 30% of income if you pay for some or all utilities, and 35% of income if you do not pay for any utilities.
Specialized Section 8 voucher programs
In addition to the Housing Choice Voucher Program, there are some other types of Section 8 vouchers in use that have specific purposes. They include:
Section 8 Mainstream Program for people with disabilities
Some housing authorities have obtained additional funding for Section 8 vouchers for households where one or more family member has a disability. The waiting list for Mainstream Program vouchers is usually shorter than for other types of Section 8 vouchers. Only a family that is income eligible and includes a person with a disability may receive a Mainstream Program voucher.26
- Visit HUD's Mainstream Program for more information
Section 8 Family Unification Program
Some housing authorities, including the Boston Housing Authority and DHCD, have obtained extra funding from HUD for the Family Unification Program. It is for two groups of people: (1) battered women and their children who have been displaced because of battering and who have not secured permanent housing large enough for the entire family; and (2) families with children in foster care placement who have substantially complied with all the Department of Social Services (DSS) service plan tasks, but who do not have permanent or adequate housing to which their children can be returned. Clients must have an open DSS case and must be referred by DSS.27
- Visit HUD's Family Unification Program for more information
Section 8 Family Self-Sufficiency (FSS) Program
The Family Self-Sufficiency program is open to all households that have a Section 8 voucher. The way it works is that a housing authority enters into a five-year contract with a participating family, and with the participant establishes goals and describes the various work-related activities which the participant agrees to do. As the participant's income and rent share increase, an escrow account is established by the housing authority to set aside funds for the participant at the end of the program. Upon successful completion of the program, the participant can use these funds for any purpose, such as homeownership, starting a business, paying off loans, or going back to school. The participant is also able to use the money in the escrow account during the five-year contract term as long as it is for work-related purposes, such as paying car insurance, buying a uniform, or enrolling in a job-related course.28
- Visit the Center on Budget and Policy Priority for a helpful question-and-answer handout about FSS
- Visit HUD's FSS Program for more information
Section 8 Welfare-to-Work (Job-Link) Program
HUD has allocated a significant number of Section 8 vouchers to the Boston Housing Authority and to DHCD to support families who are transitioning from Transitional Aid to Families with Dependent Children (TAFDC) to employment. DHCD's program is called Job-Link. To be eligible, participants must be receiving, or have recently received, TAFDC benefits and either be employed or be engaged in a welfare-to-work training or employment plan. This program is in the process of being phased out due to lack of continued funding from HUD.
- Visit HUD's Job-Link Program for more information
Section 8 Homeownership Option
Housing authorities may choose to participate in the Section 8 homeownership option and use their regular Section 8 vouchers to cover homeownership expenses for a home that the participant has purchased.29 Housing authorities may establish their own eligibility criteria for this program in their
- Visit HUD's Homeownership Option for more information
Section 8 Project-Based Voucher (PBV) Program
Each housing agency that administers a Section 8 voucher program is permitted to set aside up to 20% of its Section 8 inventory for
- Visit HUD's PBV Program for more information
Section 8 Veterans Affairs Supported Housing (VASH) Program
This is a DHCD pilot program established by HUD and the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). The program is targeted to homeless disabled veterans who are Section 8 eligible and who have had severe psychiatric and/or substance abuse disorders. Participants must agree, as a condition for the subsidy, to participate in ongoing treatment. Case management and clinical services are provided by VASH. All applicants must be referred to DHCD by VASH staff. Subsidies are distributed throughout Greater Boston and the North Shore regions.32
Section 8 Housing Options Programs (HOP)
HOP is a collaborative effort of the Department of Housing and Community Development (DHCD), the Department of Mental Health (DMH), the Department of Mental Retardation (DMR), the Department of Public Health (DPH), the Office of Health and Human Services (EOHHS), and the Mass. Rehabilitation Commission (MRC). The program combines Section 8 vouchers with support services. HOP subsidies are allocated by disability with appropriate services provided to each disability group. Clients must be disabled persons who are homeless or living in transitional housing, and must be referred to DHCD by the lead service agency, the Justice Resource Institute (JRI) Health staff.
- Visit JRI for more information
Section 8 Grandfamilies Program
DHCD and the Boston Housing Authority have set aside some of their Section 8 funds for low-income elderly or near elderly households (where the head of household is 50 years of age or older) that have custodial responsibility for raising young children. The program is operated in the Greater Boston area, and all applicants must be referred by staff from a local service agency (Boston Aging Concerns Old and Young United).
- Visit Boston Housing Authority's Grandfamilies Program for more information
Designated Vouchers
In some instances, federal law permits housing authorities and owners of certain project-based Section 8 multifamily housing to restrict the number of non-elderly disabled households that can occupy elderly/disabled public or assisted housing.33 When HUD has permitted this, it usually also authorizes an additional set-aside of Section 8 vouchers for regional nonprofit housing agencies or for the housing authority designated for non-elderly disabled households whose housing opportunities are limited due to the restrictions. You need to inquire at your regional nonprofit housing agency or local housing authority whether it has such vouchers.
- Visit HUD's Designated Vouchers for more information about designated vouchers
Federal HOME tenant-based rental assistance program
The HOME program, a federally funded housing program that is not part of the Housing Choice Voucher Program, provides funding directly to states, cities, and towns for a variety of housing purposes, including tenant-based rental assistance. If the state, city, or town has chosen to use HOME funds in this manner, it must have written tenant selection policies and criteria. The term of the rental assistance may not exceed 24 months, but it may be renewed if there are sufficient funds. The lease term must be for at least one year, and can be terminated only for
Endnotes
1 42 U.S.C. § 1437f(o); 24 C.F.R. Parts 5 and 982.
2 24 C.F.R. § 982.353(c);
3 G.L. c. 6, § 172; 803 C.M.R. §§ 1.00 et seq.
4 24 C.F.R. §§ 5.609-5.611, 5.628; 24 C.F.R. § 982.508.
5 24 C.F.R. § 982.307.
6 24 C.F.R. §§ 5.609-5.611, 5.628; 24 C.F.R. § 982.508.
7 24 C.F.R. § 982.303.
8 24 C.F.R. § 982.507. The housing agency also must write into its Section 8 administrative plan the method it uses to determine whether a rent is reasonable. 24 C.F.R. § 982.54(d)(15).
9 42 U.S.C. § 1437f(o); 24 C.F.R. §§ 982.4, 982.305(a)(5), 982.503, and 982.505.
10 Some Section 8 leases still have an indefinite renewal term. You should read your lease to see if it has this clause, because, if it does,
11 24 C.F.R. § 982.309.
12 G.L. c. 151B, § 4(10).
13 24 C.F.R. § 982.551-982.555.
14 760 C.M.R. § 49.00.
15 760 C.M.R. § 49.08(7).
16 760 C.M.R. § 49.08(1).
17 760 C.M.R. § 49.05; DHCD MRVP Notice 2005-1, on file at Massachusetts Law Reform Institute.
18 760 C.M.R. § 49.08.
19 760 C.M.R. § 49.09(3).
20 760 C.M.R. § 49.03(2); 760 C.M.R. §§ 6.02(2) and 6.08(4)(a).
21 760 C.M.R. § 53.00.
22 760 C.M.R. §§ 6.02(2) and 6.05(4)(d).
23 760 C.M.R. § 49.08(7).
24 760 C.M.R. § 53.03; 760 C.M.R. §§ 6.02(2) and 6.08(4)(a).
25 760 C.M.R. § 38.00.
26 Funds and criteria for Mainstream Section 8 vouchers are published by HUD in Notices of Funding Availability (NOFAs) in the Federal Register, and housing agencies and nonprofit organizations can apply for such funds. See, for example, 68 Federal Register 21,002 (April 25, 2003) (Super NOFA). The vouchers are administered in the same way as other Section 8 vouchers. 24 C.F.R. Part 982.
27 42 U.S.C. § 1437f(x).
28 42 U.S.C. § 1437u; 24 C.F.R. § 984.
29 If a housing agency has opted not to implement a Section 8 homeownership program, it must consider the homeownership option as a reasonable accommodation for a person with a disability. 24 C.F.R. § 982.625(d)(2).
30 42 U.S.C. § 1437f(y); 24 C.F.R. §§ 982.625-982.643.
31 42 U.S.C. § 1437f(o)(13); 24 C.F.R. Part 983, as revised at 70 Fed. Reg. 59913 et seq
32 42 U.S.C. § 1437f(o)(19).
33 42 U.S.C. § 1437e (public housing); 42 U.S.C. §§ 13611 et seq. (covered multifamily Section 8 project).
34 24 C.F.R. §§ 92.209, 92.216, and 92.253.
Produced by Massachusetts Law Reform Institute Created May, 2006
