Rochester Housing Authority announces improved waitlist

ROCHESTER N.Y. (WROC) — Tuesday at the Rochester Housing Authority on West Main Street, County Executive Adam Bello, Mayor Malik Evans, and City Council President Miguel Melendez joined with RHA Executive Director Shawn Burr to announce a waiting list that will soon be open for the Housing Choice Voucher Program which was previously referred to as section 8.

This federally funded HUD program will pay part of the cost of rent for those in low-income households.

Leaders say they expect roughly 25 thousand residents to apply, however of that bunch only 4 thousand will be selected for the waitlist.

“So do not miss this. That’s a 1 in 5 chance for you to have access to this voucher. The odds are better than the lottery and its free,” said Melendez.

The eligibility of the applicants will be based on total annual gross income and family size.

“Once they’re selected, we determine their eligibility. So that’s the first thing once they’re determined to be eligible then they go through a training process, they’re issued a voucher and then they’re given instructions on what they need to do next,” said Burr.

Executive Director Shawn Burr says after that comes the search for a private landlord who’ll provide housing for section 8 recipients followed by unit inspection prior to move in —then lastly a negotiation with the landlord on the rent.

He says prior RHA would open up their waiting list and take everyone who applied until the list reached zero and then open it up again which could take up to 10-12 years. This new waitlist he believes is more efficient

“So, what we did is develop a process where we would open a waiting list, randomly select 3 or 4 thousand people depending how many we needed given that time out of all the applicants and then every 3 to 4 years we do the same thing over and over again,” said Burr.

The application to be put on the waitlist opens up this Thursday May 23rd at noon. The deadline the apply for the voucher program will be Friday June 7th 4pm

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