Applicants

HCV is a rental assistance program to assist low-income families in the private rental market by paying a portion of their rent.

You must apply when applications are being accepted. Your name is placed on a waiting list. Once you reach the top of the waiting list, you will be called in for eligibility determination. At least one family member must be a US Citizen. The family’s income may not exceed 50% of median income for the Mobile County area. You must meet background screening requirements. Additionally, you cannot participate if you owe money to any housing authority.

What happens once I am approved? You are invited to a special meeting called a Briefing. At the Briefing, the Section 8 Department explains program rules and regulations. You are told of your rights and responsibilities, as well as how to search for a unit. You are given information to assist your search, such as a form that tells you an estimate of the rent you can afford. Then, at the end of the meeting, you are issued your housing choice voucher.

Once your family has been issued a housing choice voucher, you can search the private rental market for a unit that is decent, safe and sanitary according to Housing Quality Standards (HQS) established by HUD and Prichard Housing Authority. When you have found a suitable unit and the owner agrees to lease the unit to your family under the program, Prichard Housing Authority will inspect the unit assure suitability. After the unit passes HQS inspection and the rent has been approved, you and the owner enter a lease for an initial term of one year. Prichard Housing Authority and the owner sign a Housing Assistance Payment contract through which the rent is assisted on your behalf. You will be responsible for the monthly payment of difference between the total contract rent and the housing assistance payment.

Once you are approved, you will have sixty days to find a unit. The voucher can be extended by 30 days if there are extenuating circumstances (i.e., illness, hospitalization or other similar emergency).

Your must sign the lease for one year. After the initial term, the lease is renewed for a specific time period (ex. month-to-month, six months, etc.) You or your landlord may terminate your lease with notice in accordance with your lease.