Estimated read time: 7-8 minutes
- Utah's Housing Choice Voucher Program faces long wait times, some lasting years.
- Rising rents and stagnant funding exacerbate the shortage, leaving many without immediate assistance.
- Only 72% of voucher recipients find housing, with significant regional disparities in wait times.
The following story was reported by the Utah Investigative Journalism Project in partnership with KSL.com.
SALT LAKE CITY — Utahns hoping to access a popular public housing program face long waits and difficulty finding units in most regions in the state.
Wait times for the Housing Choice Voucher Program, formerly known as Section 8, can last years. Meanwhile, immediate housing assistance is nonexistent in many areas, leaving some vulnerable Utahns in even more desperate situations.
A survey of 16 Utah housing authorities by the Utah Investigative Journalism Project found that wait times for a voucher range between a few months in Grand and San Juan counties to several years in Salt Lake County and St. George.
The housing authority serving Duchesne and Uintah counties did not provide the project with data. The Housing Authority of Salt Lake City and Housing Connect, which serves Salt Lake County, share a waitlist.
Only 27% of the housing authorities reported wait times under a year, while a third reported wait times of at least three years.
It's a common story across the country — which helps low-income households afford housing in the private market — as rent prices continue to outpace wages.
Glenn Bailey, who has spent more than three decades serving low-income Utahns as the executive director at Crossroads Urban Center, said there have been long waitlists for housing vouchers "as far back as I can remember."
"Vouchers have never been available anywhere near the degree needed to meet the demand," Bailey said. "So in periods like this, where we're seeing rapid rent increases due to gentrification, we fall even further behind than we already are."
"We get those calls like every day, every week. They're hard phone calls ... they're not coming for help in five years. They're coming for help right now," said Ilez Brady, the Housing Choice Voucher director for Housing Connect. "People call a housing authority assuming that we can offer immediate help and we just can't. We just don't have emergency programs. Unfortunately, we have to turn people away all of the time."
Wait times aren't the only indicator the programs can't keep up with demand. The number of households on many of the waitlists far exceeds the number of families the programs can serve.
The West Valley City Housing Authority, for example, reported over 3,000 families on its waitlist but said it can serve fewer than 550 at a time. Likewise, nearly 1,400 families are on Weber County's waitlist, while it can serve just over 240 families at a time.
The Department of Housing and Urban Development, which oversees and regulates the program, said nearly all of Utah housing authorities are operating at over 110% of their budgets due to rising rents and a plateau in funding for the program.
HUD Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary Richard Monocchio said this phenomenon means housing authorities often can't give out all their vouchers because they are spending more per voucher than before.
"The budget appropriation hasn't necessarily kept up with the need," he said. "Wait times are difficult because it's a function of the budget and we haven't seen a major increase in the number of vouchers in the country in a long, long time. … For those wait times to be reduced, we need more funding."
Davis Community Housing Authority is one of those agencies in shortfall.
"The market has not slowed down as far as rent increases are concerned," said Pam Tomney, the authority's Housing Choice Voucher supervisor. "The graph is just astronomical, how much it has increased."
Understanding the basics
The Housing Choice Voucher program is the nation's largest rental subsidy program. And although it is a federal program, local housing authorities administer the vouchers. Once someone receives a voucher, they are responsible for finding a unit and paying 30-40% of their income to their landlord. The housing authority that issued the voucher covers the rest.
Individual housing authorities can establish local preferences, such as for families or individuals who are disabled, elderly or homeless. Households with those preferences are moved up on the waiting list.
Once an individual receives a voucher, they usually have 60 days to find a unit, although it is possible to get an extension. After an initial yearlong lease, participants can transfer their voucher to any other housing authority in the country if they wish to move.
Finding a unit, however, is often easier said than done, according to multiple housing authorities across the state.
"Even as few as five to seven years ago, it used to be incentive enough for landlords to know that they would have the guaranteed rent of our program to get somebody into a unit, but that's not enough anymore," said Andi Beadles, executive director of the Weber Housing Authority. "For one unit, they'll have multiple applications, and so they don't just have to rent to the first person that applies for their unit."
Common barriers for voucher holders include poor credit, a recent eviction or insufficient funds for a security deposit.
"They think that, 'Oh, I got my Section 8 voucher, I'm gonna be able to find a place now,''" Brady said. "Just because we gave someone a voucher doesn't mean that (it) automatically gives them housing. They still have to find a landlord that's going to rent to them."
Only about 72% of Utahns who receive a voucher are able to find a unit to lease, according to Monocchio, the HUD official. That's much higher than the national rate of 56%.
Limited resources
Many housing authority employees say the resources individuals can access while waiting for a voucher are limited, over-tapped, or, in some cases, nonexistent.
"Unfortunately, in our area, we have no homeless shelter or emergency housing. That's our biggest problem," said Gayla Pressett, executive director of the Carbon-Emery Housing Authority. "Not very many of the rural areas in the state have emergency housing available for those that are experiencing homelessness or are in transition."
Claudia Garcia, Housing Choice Voucher manager for the Provo City Housing Authority, said it's "extremely difficult" to tell community members that vouchers aren't available.
"We refer them to other agencies. There's some people that have already been to other agencies and when it comes to that point, it's heartbreaking," Garcia said.
Britnee Dabb, deputy director of the Housing Authority of Salt Lake City, said the agency does its best to point individuals to other resources in the community.
"We never want to try to send someone away without information or where to possibly get help, because there's nothing more crushing for them and us than to do that," she said. "You're putting yourself out there to come and get help, so to leave with nothing — that's hard. We want to do our due diligence to let them know what programs are out there that could be helpful."
For services near you, call or text 211. The 24/7 system is free and confidential and connects Utahns to services across the state, ranging from shelter and housing assistance to health care.
If you're applying for a voucher:
- Don't leave anything blank on your application. Missing information can be the difference between getting on a waitlist now versus weeks from now.
- Make copies of everything you provide a housing authority. If you don't have a copier or don't live near a library to access one, you can use apps like Apple's Notes or PDFelement to convert a photo of the documents into a PDF.
- Get on as many waitlists as possible — including Housing Choice Voucher waitlists in other areas as well as waitlists for public housing projects or other specialized programs. Tell housing authority employees about any disabilities, military service, age, or other factors to help them determine which programs you might be eligible for.
"Our advice is to just get on as many waiting lists as you possibly can, and whichever one comes up first, take it," said Mike Barben, executive director at the St. George Housing Authority. "And then when you get up to the Section 8 … they can transfer onto our program."
Here is a list of housing authorities in the state with Housing Choice Voucher waitlists. Some areas' waitlists are closed but don't forget to ask if they have other waitlists open.
- Beaver Housing Authority: 435-438-2935, 40 N. 300 East, Beaver.
- Logan and Bear River Regional Housing Authorities: (Box Elder, Rich and Cache Counties): 435-713-1419, 170 N. Main, Logan; and 35 E. 100 South, Brigham City.
- Cedar City Housing Authority: 435-586-8462, 364 S. 100 East, Cedar City.
- Davis Community Housing Authority: 801-451-2587, 352 S. 200 West, Suite No. 1, Farmington.
- Carbon-Emery Housing Authority: 435-637-5170, 251 S. 1600 East, No. 2647, Price.
- Housing Authority of Utah County: 801-373-8333, 485 N. Freedom Boulevard, Provo.
- Housing Connect (Salt Lake County): 801-284-4400, 3595 S. Main, South Salt Lake.
- Housing Authority of Ogden: 801-627-5851, 1100 Grant Ave., Ogden.
- Provo City Housing Authority: 801-900-5676, 688 W. 100 North, Provo.
- Housing Authority of Salt Lake City: 801-487-2161, 1776 S. West Temple, Salt Lake City.
- St. George Housing Authority: 435-628-3648, 975 N. 1725 West, No. 101, St. George.
- Tooele County Housing Authority: 435-882-7875, 66 W. Vine Street, Tooele.
- Weber Housing Authority: 801-399-8691, 237 26th Street, No. E220, Ogden.
- West Valley City Housing Authority: 801-963-3320, 4522 W. 3500 South, West Valley City.
- Housing Authority of Southeastern Utah (Grand and San Juan counties): 435-259-5891, 380 N. 500 West, Moab.
- Roosevelt Housing Authority: 435-722-5858, 192 S. 100 East (336-221), Roosevelt.
- Uintah Basin Assistance Council (Myton, Vernal and Duchesne and Uintah counties): 435-722-3952, 125 E. Main, Myton.
If you are on a waiting list, call or visit the housing authority in person to make sure your contact information is up to date. If you don't have a permanent address, you can use a friend's or family's so you don't miss any communication about your place on the waitlist.
"A lot of the times when people have been on the list for however many years then they reach the top and we can't get in touch with them. Their phone numbers change, their emails change, their addresses change. That is probably one of the biggest reasons why people fall off that list," Brady, with Housing Connect, said. "I understand — if someone's in a situation where they're just trying to figure out where to live day to day, the last thing they're probably thinking of is, 'Oh, I need to log in and update my address.'"
Sending an email to yourself in the future or using apps like Google Calendar can help you remember to check in with the housing authority. Remember, up-to-date contact info can make sure you don't miss out on a voucher or get removed from the waitlist.
You can also use your time on the waitlist to:
- Gather IDs or other documentation needed for the voucher (check with each housing authority to see what they require).
- Work on improving your credit.
- Expunge criminal histories or evictions from your record if possible.
- Apply for the Home Energy Assistance Target (HEAT) Program, which provides assistance with heat and power bills for low-income households.
- Get a letter from your doctor or therapist for any emotional support animals.
- Improve your financial literacy skills (local service providers may be able to point you to churches, colleges or others offering free finance classes).
- Save money for a security deposit and apartment application fees.
- If you have received a voucher, start your search for a unit immediately.
While housing authorities can't tell you where to rent, many can provide a list of landlords. These lists can include things like which complexes are low-income or which landlords are open to tenants with low credit scores or criminal histories.
Some housing authorities also have landlord outreach or other staff who can help negotiate with landlords.
Check out Affordablehousing.com for locations of available affordable rentals.
"Do not feel bad or worried or embarrassed or any negative emotion about calling a housing provider that is issuing you the voucher and asking, 'Hey, I've got a few weeks left, and I'm nervous.' Don't be afraid to ask them because it happens a lot. We see that a lot," Dabb said.
Other tips include:
- Call every day on a unit or complex you may be interested in since units go fast.
- Be up-front about bad credit or criminal history to see if landlords or property management companies will work with you to avoid wasting time and money on the application process.
- Be open to a unit that might not check all of your boxes and get creative about options that could make that unit feasible (such as asking around for carpooling options if the unit isn't located near your job).
Remember you can move to other areas of Utah or even outside the state with your voucher after the first year.
"I know that this maybe isn't the place you want to go, but this at least allows you to have the voucher and you can always move down the road," Brady said. "But don't take the chance of losing the voucher."
