Section 8 Housing

In 1975, the Housing Authority of the City of Los Angeles (HACLA) implemented the Section 8 Program providing rent subsidies in the form of housing assistance payments (HAPs) to private landlords on behalf of eligible families.  The Section 8 program, funded by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), provides housing assistance to extremely low and very low-income individuals, families, senior citizens, and persons with disabilities.  Its objective is to provide affordable, decent and safe housing for eligible families, while increasing a family’s residential mobility and choice.  HACLA, a state chartered public housing agency since 1938, now administers the second largest Section 8 Program in the country with an allocation of 45,432 Housing Choice Vouchers.

The Housing Authority has two different types of rental subsidies—tenant-based and project-based programs. Both programs have similar income-based admission requirements set by HUD.  Households with a tenant-based subsidy are issued a Housing Choice Voucher that allows them to move from one place to another.  Those in the project-based programs live in a building in which the units are subsidized.  If a tenant moves from the building, they lose their rental subsidy.  Generally, those in the project-based programs, and some tenant-based programs for special populations, are referred by various agencies and building owners to the Housing Authority, which confirms that they meet all the Section 8 eligibility requirements. Households on the Housing Voucher tenant-based program come from the Housing Authority’s waiting list of applicants.