Introduction

The Section 8 Program is a federally funded Village service designed to assist clients pay their rent. Recipients of this assistance pay market-rate rents and are scattered throughout the Village. Some clients live in apartments out of the Village, but the service is intended primarily to serve residents and those who work in Spring Valley. The number of Section 8 vouchers authorized by the Village is set annually and the amount of funding available is set annually. The funding level has become the limiting factor over the past few years. as the US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) has reduced funding to most housing agencies managing Public Housing and Section 8 programs.

Other Village Housing Authorities

There are Section 8 Project Based Vouchers in the Village but they are not managed by this office. Public Housing is also managed by a different agency, the Spring Valley Housing Authority. These other two village services are not covered in this description. 

Voucher

Clients get a Housing Choice Voucher (HCV) when accepted in the program. The number and age of household members determines the size of the HCV. Various rules pertain to how many children must share a bedroom. Full Time students away at college can in some cases have a spare bedroom as long as they verify their enrollment. When issued, the client has 60 days to find an apartment. The Section 8 Program office tries to help clients find apartments but the responsibility to find an apartment and get a landlord to commit to rental rates within our Payment Standard is solely up to the Client. Payment Standards are dictated by the federal, and have to include both the rent and any utility allowances. Utility allowances (heat, cooking, electric lights, water, water heat) are estimated as an average cost determined by surveys annually from local utilities. Various size apartments (number of bedrooms) have corresponding allowable rents and associated utility allowances — small units have smaller utilities.

Recertification

           Annual recertification is required for anyone with a Voucher. This includes an interview to get new documents on income, family size, birth certificates, social security card numbers, citizenry and other persona1 data. After reviewing the information, new Leases and Housing Assistance Payment Contracts are prepared for the Client and the Landlord.

Housing

The Lease is between the client and the landlord, the HAP Contract is between the Section 8 Program officer and the Landlord. Annual recertification includes another inspection of the rental unit to insure that it meets US HUD Housing Quality Standards and rent reasonableness criteria The Housing Assistance Payment is made by check from this office to the landlord, while the balance of the monthly rent not subsidized is paid by the client to the landlord.

Clients may drop off the program by notifying the Section 8 Program offices and their voucher will become available for the next party on the Waiting List.

Waiting List

In order to get a voucher one must first be on the Waiting List. This list is a compilation of applications that individuals provide during the period that the Waiting List is open.

This open waiting list period is usually a short week which is advertised locally in newspapers and media in advance. Prospects come to the office, get an application and complete a form that outlines family and personal data. Furthermore, the application includes a series of questions called preferences which have been created by the Village Board of Trustees in order to rank all applicants. The family data from these applications are entered into a computer software program. This program then generates the list of all applicants in a sort which ranks all applicants. Selection of the next client to receive a voucher is based on answers to these preferences. The software provides an automatic sorting of all those on the waiting List. Date and Time of application is no longer the single method of selection for distribution of vouchers. Date and Time is only now used with cases of ties from all other criteria.

When a voucher becomes available, the party on the Waiting List is contacted to determine current eligibility and interest in getting this assistance. Again, the Waiting list is opened once each year for a limited period of time. New applicants art then added to the existing list, and all are resorted.

The Waiting List is not open at this time.

Please contact our offices for further information and answers to any question that may arise.

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