The HOUSING CHOICE VOUCHER (HCV) PROGRAM WAITING LIST LOTTERY IS OPEN STARTING MONDAY, January 23, 2023 AT 6:00 A.M. ENDING SUNDAY, February 5, 2023 AT 5:59 P.M.

PHA is accepting online applications for individuals and families to participate in a lottery for a position on the HCV waiting list. The HCV Program offers housing assistance to families by paying a portion of their rent to private property owners. Any income-eligible family or individual can apply and someone in your household must have legal residency, even if the legal resident is a minor child. To learn more, click FAQs.

Individuals and families can apply online 24 hours a day, seven days a week, during the two week application period using a smartphone, computer, or other mobile device with Internet access. Paper applications will not be accepted in-person or by mail or email.

Applications to apply for the lottery will be accepted online from Monday, January 23, 2023, at 6:00 A.M. through Sunday, February 5, 2023 at 5:59 P.M. The HCV Program provides income-based assistance to eligible participants.

Applicants must apply online at WWW.PHA.PHILA.GOV. PHA will not provide or accept paper applications.

What you need to apply:  You need a phone number, the address where you live (if you have one) and mailing address where you can be contacted; the combined annual income for the household; and the full name, date of birth and Social Security number/ Alien Registration number (if you have one) for the Head of Household.

For assistance, call (215) 999-3102, between 9:00 a.m. - 6:00 p.m. Eastern Standard Time, during the waiting list opening period. For partners providing application assistance, email setup, free access to computers and internet are located at WWW.PHA.PHILA.GOV. If you need application or email setup assistance due to a disability, need translation services, or communication in an alternative format, please call (215) 999-3102 between 9:00 a.m. - 6:00 p.m. Eastern Standard Time, every day during the application period. Individuals with hearing or speech disabilities using TDD or TTY technology may call 7-1-1.

After the HCV Waiting List Lottery opening period has concluded, PHA will conduct a random lottery to place and sort 10,000 applicants on the PHA HCV Waiting List. A lottery preference for housing assistance will be given to applicants who live, work, or have been hired to work within the city of Philadelphia. PHA will notify all applicants of whether they were randomly selected to be placed on the HCV Waiting List by March 1, 2023 by sending a letter to the mailing and email address on the application.

Background:

• PHA's HCV Waiting List Lottery has been closed since March 2010.
• PHA currently administers more than 19,000 Section 8 vouchers.
• More than 55,000 applications are anticipated to be received during the two-week application period.
• The Housing Choice Voucher program provides eligible low-income households with opportunities to live in rental homes owned by private property owners.
• Eligible families choose where they want to live, as long as the unit is approved by PHA through 1) a Housing Quality Standards (HQS) inspection, and 2) a Rent Reasonableness and Affordability determination. PHA then pays a portion of the contracted rent as a "housing assistance payment (HAP)" to the landlord on behalf of the participant.
• The participant's portion of the contracted rent is generally based on 30% of the household's monthly adjusted income or the monthly minimum rent requirement of $50, whichever is greater (unless the participant is determined to be exempt from the minimum requirement).

Preliminary eligibility of applicants will be based on HUD's Federal Income and other eligibility guidelines established by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). Applicants must have annual household incomes that do not exceed the following limits established by HUD.

HUD Provided 2022 HCV Eligibility Income Limits - Philadelphia County

PHA is committed to Fair Housing and the achievement of Equal Housing Opportunity. We encourage and support affirmative advertising and marketing program in which there are no barriers to obtaining housing because of race, color, religion, sex, handicap, familial status, or national origin.