Section 8 Application Lottery

A. The Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher Program is a federally-funded (HUD) program which subsidizes the rents of eligible low-income households in the private rental market. The rental units must be approved by RHA. The rents for the units must be reasonable and the units must pass a Housing Quality Standards (HQS)
inspection. RHA conducts the inspection and determines the reasonableness of the requested rent. If approved, the section 8 family pays a percentage (generally, 30% to 40%) of its monthly income for shelter (rent plus utilities) and RHA pays the difference directly to the owner of the unit.

A. Because the demand for Section 8 assistance far exceeds funding levels, RHA has established a lottery system for selecting applicants. Every 12-18 months, RHA opens the process, preceded by extensive advertising. During a two-week period, application/lottery cards will be available at libraries and community agencies throughout the City of Rochester and Monroe County. Interested individuals may pick up an application/lottery card at any location and return it to a designated Post Office Box by a pre-established deadline. At the end of this period, RHA will randomly select and rank a pre-established number of applicants. As Housing Choice Vouchers become available, applicants are contacted according to their position on the waiting list.

A. RHA expects that the Section 8 waiting list will re-open each year during the fall. Prior to re-opening, there will be extensive advertising in the local media, as well as, this web site.

Q. Do you have to be a resident of Rochester or Monroe County to participate in RHA's Section 8 lottery?

A. The primary eligibility requirement is household income. In order to be eligible, the gross annual income of all adult members of the household may not exceed:

Additionally, for single-member families, RHA has a preference for those individuals who are either elderly, handicapped or disabled. Also, current federal law requires that ¾ of all applicants that come off the waiting list and that are issued Vouchers, must have gross annual incomes below 30% of the area median. For example, for a family of three, this amount would be $8,880 (Take the above amounts; multiply by two and multiply the result by 30%).

Q. If I complete an application/lottery card, does this mean my name will be placed on the Section 8 waiting list?

A. No. RHA will conduct a computer-generated, random selection drawing to select and rank a specified number of applicants. For example, in 2001, RHA received over 5300 application/lottery cards, from which, 2500 names were randomly selected.

A. No. Each application/lottery card must include the names and Social Security numbers of all household members. All names may appear on only one card. Duplicates will be disqualified.

A. The lottery will be conducted approximately two to three weeks after the deadline date. Successful applicants will be notified of their selection, along with their position on the waiting list. Those not selected will also be notified and invited to submit another application when the process re-opens.

A. This is extremely important. If you move at any time during this process, in addition to filing a change-of-address notice with the Post Office, you must notify RHA in writing. If, at the time we reach your name on the waiting list, we cannot contact you by mail, your name will be removed from the waiting list.

A. If you are active on the Section 8 waiting list you can call the automated waiting list inquiry line to obtain your waiting list position at (585)697-7574.

For more information regrding RHA's Section 8 waiting list lottery, contact: (585) 697-6100