Housing Choice Voucher Program

The Housing Authority currently manages 241 Housing Choice Vouchers (previously called the Section 8 Program). The Housing Choice Voucher Program assists qualifying families with rental assistance in the private market within Santa Fe County. Once a family comes up on the waiting list and the Housing Authority determines that the family still qualifies for assistance, the family will be issued a “Voucher”. The Voucher allows the family to seek and secure a housing unit that is inspected by Housing Authority staff to ensure that it is decent, safe, and sanitary and meets the family’s needs. Once the unit is approved, the family goes into a lease agreement with the landlord and the Housing Authority goes into a Housing Assistance Payments (HAP) Contract with the landlord.

Interested families must complete an application at the Administration Office between the hours of 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Monday thru Friday. The average time a family will spend on the waiting list prior to receiving Housing Choice Voucher assistance is three to four years.

Program Qualification Guidelines

To qualify for housing assistance, families must qualify as low income (below 80% of the area median income). The income limits that are published annually in the Federal Register dictate what these figures are and will determine income eligibility.

The Housing Authority has also implemented a Working Family Preference. Applicants who have been working a minimum of 24 hours per week at minimum wage for the previous 6 months qualify for the preference. Applicants who are attending school full-time (12 credit hours per semester) or who are participating in a self-sufficiency program also receive the preference.

Families who are determined to be elderly, handicapped or disabled also receive a preference.

Guidelines that regulate the Pubic Housing Program are stipulated in the Housing Authority’s Admissions and Continued Occupancy Policy (ACOP). The Guidelines that regulate the Housing Choice Voucher Program are stipulated in the Administrative Plan. The Family Self-Sufficiency Program guidelines are contained in the Program’s Action Plan. These guidelines are posted in the lobby of the Housing Authority’s Administration Office.

Click here to download the Housing Assistance Application