It's hard to get Section 8 vouchers, and getting a voucher doesn't guarantee you'll find a place that will take them. Almost half of voucher recipients can't find a landlord who’ll accept them.
"The federal Housing Choice Voucher program, better known as Section 8, provides rental assistance to more than 2 million low-income people, but that’s about one-fourth of those who are eligible," Aaron Schrank reports for Market Place. In Los Angeles, where rents are up, the Section 8 vouchers waiting list opened up this October for the first time in 13 years.
Only a fraction of those eligible for Section 8 apply, but there's no guarantee they will get on it. "Even with a voucher, there’s no guarantee you’ll find a landlord who will take it. Recipients have just six months to sign a lease or lose their voucher altogether. In LA, only 60 percent are successful," Schrank writes.
Valerie Stacker a retiree who shares a room with her grandson, applied for Section 8 and didn't get picked for the waiting list. "If she can’t find assistance elsewhere, Stacker can always reapply for Section 8 when Los Angeles opens its waiting list again in another decade or so," Schrank reports.
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