Housing authority opens waiting list By DAVID SHAROS For Sun-Times Media For the first time in nearly a decade, the DuPage Housing Authority on Sept. 15 will begin accepting pre-applications for the Housing Choice Voucher/Section 8 Rental Assistance Program.Applications will be accepted, online only, beginning at 9 a.m. Sept. 15 and will be suspended at 5 p.m. Sept. 30.Lorraine Hocker, HCV program manager, said that after eight years, the former waiting list has been exhausted and that applications are again going to be accepted for residents in communities served by the DuPage Housing Authority."The list we have generally is reduced about 1 percent per month, based on placements, people being terminated for violating the rules, nursing home placement or people who are deceased," Hocker said. "It takes us about five to eight years usually to go through the list, and it is purged on an annual basis. We expect that given the current economic conditions, the number of applications will be high."Hocker said she expects anywhere from 25,000 to as many as 100,000 applications to be filed within the two-week span. Chicago, Hocker said, opened its housing list this summer and received about a quarter million applications. Properties are located throughout DuPage County and are often "found" through landlords who either advertise vacancies in newspapers or through the Housing Authority.Property owners retain the right to screen applicants, Hocker said."We do screen tenants and do initial background checks of the applicants," she said."Those who are renting the property complete a packet and send it back to us. We inspect the property and make sure it is affordable for the applicant. Those who rent have to provide us with an annual update about their income."Basic restrictions include maximum income levels from $26,300 for a single-person household to $49,600 for a family of eight. Applicants must also have a valid Social Security number and have no drug or violent criminal activity on their record for at least five years.The Housing Authority notes that all applications received during the open period will be placed into a random selection lottery conducted by an outside organization, by which 2,000 households will be selected to form the general waiting list. That list will be administered in descending order according to the number of preferences verified and date and time of the application.Those with disabilities may contact the DHA or the DuPage Center for Independent Living by phone or e-mail. Call 630-690-3555, ext. 243, 630-469-2300, or e-mail [email protected] or robert_dupagecil @sbcglobal.net.
Posted on: Wed, 17 Jul 2013 13:06:42 +0000
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