Housing Authority Accepting More Voucher Applicants

A highly sought-after housing program will accept new applicants for a period of three days next week.

The Housing Authority of the City of Milwaukee (HACM) will accept new applicants for its Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher Waiting List from June 23rd at 9 a.m. through June 25th at 6:00 p.m. With luck, some of the applicants may eventually get a voucher for subsidized housing.

HACM provides over 5,500 vouchers to low-income households on an annual basis that pays for individuals or families to live in private housing.

The voucher recipients are required to pay approximately 30 percent of their income in rent and HACM, with funding from the US Department of Housing and Urban Development, pays the remainder, with an upper limit, to the building owner. The voucher is tenant-based, with the holders being able to move to a new building and take the subsidy with them.

After the lottery signup closes, HACM will hold a “random lottery” to select 3,000 households to be added to the waiting list. The households will be notified after July 31st with information on any next steps.

The last time the housing authority accepted new entrants to the list was July 2015. Over time, some drop out of the program for various reasons, so the waiting list needs to be updated periodically.

The three-day signup process will be held entirely online at waitlist.hacm.org. In a press release announcing the lottery, HACM said no advantage is given to anyone submitting a pre-application on the first day.

“The Housing Authority’s Housing Choice Voucher program helps ensure that Milwaukee’s low-income families have the quality, affordable housing they need to achieve good quality of life. I encourage those who are eligible to pre-apply for the waiting list lottery. All Milwaukeeans deserve housing they can afford, no matter their income, and we will continue to advocate for more affordable housing resources,” said Mayor Tom Barrett.

Income limits for the program range from $29,350 for an individual to $55,350 for a family of eight. The head of the household must be at least 18 years old.

To apply for the waiting list lottery, an individual needs to provide the name, social security number, mailing address, phone, date of birth and email address for the head of the household.

The federal Section 8 voucher program was created in 1983.

In 2018 the Milwaukee County Board of Supervisors, led by then-Supervisor Marina Dimitrijevic, passed a regulation that prevents landlords from denying a lease to a prospective tenant solely on the basis of their using a voucher.