How to File for Rent assistance
Paying rent can be a challenge if you are a low-income family, disabled, or elderly. Get the rent assistance you need.
Up next in All about Apartment Rentals (18 videos)
Whether you're a renter or a landlord, you'll find money-saving tips in this Howcast video series on apartments and rentals.
You Will Need
- Private housing
- Public housing
- Section 8 voucher
- HUD-approved housing counseling agency
- Security deposit (optional)
Steps
-
Step 1
Search for privately owned housing
Search for privately owned apartments that offer lower rent for low-income tenants. Visit the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development's website at hud.gov to search for apartments in your area.
-
Step 2
Apply for public housing
Contact your local city or county housing authority about public housing if you are disabled, elderly, a low-income family, or have been displaced by government action or a disaster. Public houses are publicly owned and typically feature affordable rent.
-
Step 3
File for Section 8
File for a Section 8 housing voucher with the Public Housing Administration, or PHA. With a housing voucher, your rent is set at 30 percent of your income, and the voucher covers the rest. You sign a lease with the landlord, and the landlord signs a housing assistance payments contract with the PHA.
-
Be prepared to pay a security deposit if the landlord requires it.
-
Step 4
Check with the state
Check with your state government for rental assistance in your area.
-
Step 5
Ask for help
Contact a HUD-approved housing counseling agency, or call HUD at 800-569-4287 if you need advice about getting rental assistance.
-
President Lyndon Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act of 1968, which included the Fair Housing Act that prohibited discrimination in the sale, rental, and financing of housing.
