Housing vouchers are power!

A housing voucher can be a lifetime benefit providing you and your family stability and the opportunity to choose where you want to live. This page will help you make the most of this powerful resource.

Understanding Your Options with a New Voucher

Housing Choice Vouchers (HCV or Section 8) are administered or managed by public housing authorities (PHAs). Many towns have a public housing authority, and others cover a region or the entire state. The Rental Assistance Program (RAP) funded by the state of Connecticut and is administered by J. D’Amelia LLC. It is important to understand which type of voucher you have and who administers it because this impacts where you can look in your initial housing search and what you can afford with your voucher.

OCA’s mobility app will help you figure out what your voucher is worth. You enter the town you are interested in living in, and the number of bedrooms provided by your voucher and find out the maximum amount different agencies will pay for rent in that area. Find the app at ctoca.org.

Understanding Your Right to Move

A housing authority may restrict your right to move out of the area it covers during the first year of your voucher. However, after one year every voucher holder has the right to move anywhere in the United States served by any housing authority. Moving from one housing authority’s area to a new housing authority’s area is called “porting” your voucher.

Some families move to be closer to community resources, family members & friends, work opportunities, schools, health and safety and transportation. Others move because, on average, moving during early childhood from a high-poverty into a lower-poverty neighborhood increases college attendance, increases earnings and results in fewer teen pregnancies. Moving may also allow families to take advantage of higher payment standards in other parts of the state or made by a different voucher- administering agency.

Housing Search Tips for Voucher Holders

Get ready to start your search by attending the orientation provided by the housing authority, determining the list of cities or towns where you would like to live, and learning if your voucher will automatically allow you to move there. (If not, OCA may be able to help you.) Some voucher holders are eligible for housing search assistance from mobility counselors trained to help voucher holders find units in higher-income areas. In the Greater Hartford area, you can contact My Sister’s Place to request mobility counseling. In the New Haven area, you can contact Elm City Communities for mobility counseling.

These days rental applications are complex. The following are common requirements:

• Applying for the unit: each person 18 or over must complete an application (often requires a fee)
• Background checks: you will need to do this for everyone 18 and over (usually requires a fee)
• Other fees: watch out for other fees (holding fee, guarantor fees, extra fees due to low credit) – These may NOT be refundable!

When you apply for the unit, you will also need to submit a move-in packet. Tip: you can get a copy of your packet from the PHA, we advise you to have a few copies of the packet ready.

Know Your Rights and Learn Signs of Discrimination!

Federal and state laws prohibit landlords, property managers, real estate agents, tenant screening companies, and anyone else involved in your rental process from discriminating against people based on certain protected characteristics they may have.

It is illegal in Connecticut for a landlord to refuse to accept your voucher, advertise that state voucher holders are not accepted, or to make an offer to rent you an apartment only to take that offer away after you explain you have a voucher. Discriminating against you because you hold a housing voucher is called “source of income discrimination.”

These are some examples of source of income discrimination you may encounter:

• “We don’t accept vouchers”
• “We required that applicants have earnings equal to 3 times the rent”
• “You don’t have credit history” or “You must have a __ credit score”

You may also encounter greater difficulties if you, as a voucher holder, also identify with another group protected by law. For example:

• You have an old, irrelevant criminal record
• You have children
• You belong to a particular racial or ethnic group
• You speak a language other than English
• You were born outside the United States
• You are part of a household that includes someone with a disability
• You identify as a member of the LGBTQ+ community

You cannot control whether a landlord violates the law, but there are things you can do to reduce your exposure to discriminatory practices:

• When you call, do not mention that you have a voucher in your first contact with the agent/landlord.
• Take notes/keep records of your conversations with agents/landlords. Dates, names and addresses are important.
• Bring a friend with you to look at units.
• Seek help right away if you believe you have been discriminated against!

How can Open Communities Alliance help you?

Open Communities Alliance and voucher holders can work together to break through the barriers that can sometimes make vouchers hard to use. We may be able to help!

Overcoming Voucher Program Barriers Like…

• Voucher values that are too low to rent a unit in the community where you want to live.
• Voucher program restrictions that limit you to only certain towns or cities.
• Delays in approving a unit you found that caused you to lose out on the unit.

Addressing Landlord Barriers Like…

• Unreasonable delays filling out paperwork, scheduling or completing repairs.
• Income requirements, for example a requirement to have income that is three times the rent.
• Rejecting applicants based on older criminal records or imperfect credit.

Contact Us!

You can call us at 860-610-6040 x3590 or fill out this form and we'll get back to you as soon as we can.