Nevada applicants may meet U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Section 8 requirements in Nevada if they are low income, elderly or have qualifying disabilities. HUD partners with local Public Housing Agencies (PHAs) to help struggling renters who meet program criteria find and afford safe, stable and sanitary types of housing options appropriate for their needs. Section 8 assistance is open to families of all sizes and backgrounds. HUD housing requirements do not discriminate against applicants on the basis of race, gender, gender identity, marital status, pregnancy or any other protected characteristic.
In addition to age, disability status and income, Section 8 eligibility guidelines focus on identifying applicants who are a good fit for the program and meeting priority needs in the community. To that end, PHAs may evaluate applicants on factors such as their tenancy histories, involvement in criminal activity, their statuses as veterans or displaced persons or their risk of homelessness.
“Do I qualify for low income housing assistance if I live in a non-traditional family?” is a common question among those interested in completing the Section 8 application procedure. HUD regulations allow for a wide variety of family types to meet program eligibility standards. Under Section 8 qualifications, a “family” can be:
Live-in aides qualify as members of a household if they are necessary for the support, care and health of an elderly or disabled person.
Section 8 housing eligibility standards may further qualify families as:
These designations may qualify families for priority assistance, depending on the needs and policies of their local PHAs.
Section 8 income limits in Nevada are determined by the size of applicants’ families and the regions of the state in which they live or are apply for assistance. Federal HUD housing regulations use the following the guidelines to define household income levels.
Section 8 income requirements are determined using a sliding scale that accounts for family size and regional income variations. For example, a single person household in the Southern Nevada Regional Housing Authority’s jurisdiction would qualify as low income with an annual income of $39,250. He or she would be considered very low income with an annual income at or below $24,550 and extremely low income with a gross income of $14,750 or less.
Under the same Section 8 qualifications, a family of four in the Southern Nevada region would qualify as low income at $56,050, annually, very low income at $35,050 and extremely low income at $25,100 or less. Section 8 income eligibility for families in the Reno region, by contrast, would be judged using the same percentages (80, 50 and 30) but different dollar amounts, as the median income on which calculations are based in Reno is different than the median income in Southern Nevada.
As per federal HUD housing requirements, applicants do not need to be residents of Nevada to apply for rental assistance in the state. Applicants must, however, be United States citizens or eligible non-citizens. Section 8 regulations allow PHAs to grant vouchers to resident non-citizens if they are:
Section 8 housing eligibility guidelines define qualifying disabilities as physical, mental or emotional impairments which are:
Applicants applying for assistance on the basis of a disability must be able to document their diagnoses.
Public Housing Agencies often apply supplemental criteria when evaluating applications to determine not only which applicants technically qualify for low income housing, but which applicants are best positioned to benefit from assistance. Most often, this takes the form of identifying and disqualifying applicants with behaviors and histories known to be incompatible with program requirements. These tenant disqualifications can include:
Section 8 program requirements also deem families ineligible for assistance if they do not satisfactorily complete the application process. Applicants must submit their applications through approved methods and provide all required supporting documentation within the timeframes set by their PHAs to qualify for assistance. Applicants can contact a Nevada HUD office by reviewing the information here.