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Orange County Opens Up Section 8 Housing For The First Time In A Decade
Orange County is opening up its Section 8 wait list.
(
Apu Gomes
/
AFP via Getty Images
)
Orange County is accepting applications for Section 8 housing for the first time in more than a decade.
The details
The waitlist opened at 8 a.m. on Monday, Sept. 18. It closes on Friday, Sept. 29, at 11:59 a.m.
There are three ways to submit an application:
- Online at Waitlistcheck | Orange County Housing Authority
- Mailed to P.O. Box 11387, Santa Ana, CA 92711. Must be postmarked from Sept. 18, 2023, through Sept. 29, 2023.
- Via email to OCHA.WaitingList2023@occr.ocgov.com
Paper applications are available at participating city halls, branches of the Orange County Public Library and select community organizations.
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The number to call for individuals living with disabilities who need support is (714) 480-2798.
What’s new
This year’s program will accommodate 12,000 applicants.
Landlords will also receive a sign-up bonus for up to $1,000 through a new incentive program.
The selection process
Preference will be given to residents living or working in all cities and unincorporated areas of Orange County, excluding Anaheim, Garden Grove and Santa Ana. Those cities have their own programs.
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In addition, U.S. veterans; the elderly; those living with disabilities; working families; and non-working families will be given preference in that order.
Applicants from each of those groups will be chosen randomly.
The backstory
Orange County Housing Authority’s Section 8 program was last opened in 2012, and it’s taken the agency this many years to support the nearly 50,000 approved applicants with housing.
Funding and voucher turnover play into when the list is reopened. Per federal guidelines, OCHA will generally pull the trigger when the existing backlog is reduced to no more than 6 to 9 months wait time.
OCHA is lowering the number of approved applicants this time around to reduce wait time in between.
For more information: Visit www.ochousing.org or call OCHA at (714) 480-2798.
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