09/13/2016
"Section 8" Home Purchase Program (Part II)
The voucher programs, both for homebuyers and for rentals, are administered through local public housing agencies (PHAs). To be a participant in the Homeownership Voucher program, you need to be referred by your local PHA. Not all PHAs enroll in the program, most do.
Getting approved can be difficult regardless if your family meets the guidelines, this can be a discouraging affordable housing program to get into. Be persistent!!! In recent years, roughly 1,000-2,000 families nationally have been accepted into the program each year. On top of that, participating PHAs maintain waiting lists for the program that can be lengthy - often several years. Furthermore, the lists may open up to new additions, which is rare, and close again after just a few days.
You are not eligible if you are currently receiving Section 8 rental assistance for living in a federally subsidized housing project, but you may be eligible if you are receiving Section 8 rental assistance for a non-project unit.
Work and income requirements
The work requirements specify that at least one person in the household work full-time, defined as a minimum of 30 hours a week. On top of that, there is a minimum income requirement that the adult family members combined earn at least 2,000 times the federal minimum wage each year, currently $7.15 an hour. Done by one person, that would be nearly a full year of 40-hour weeks at minimum wage, the traditional definition of full-time work.
Welfare benefits cannot be factored in calculating qualifying family income unless the family qualifies as elderly or disabled.
A different minimum applies for families classified as elderly or disabled. In that case, the minimum annual family income must be no less than 12 times the monthly Supplemental Security Income benefit for a single individual living alone.
