Find accessible housing

HUD says the Housing Choice Voucher program, also called Section 8, helps low-income families, older adults, and people with disabilities pay rent in a private apartment or house. You apply through a local public housing agency, not by sending an application to HUD.

HUD says demand is high and wait lists are long, so you may need to apply to more than one agency. You do not have to live in that agency's area to apply. An agency may still require you to live in its area for the first 12 months of help if you lived outside the area when you applied.

If the agency finds you eligible, your name usually goes on a wait list. HUD says the wait depends on how many vouchers the agency has, when you applied, and any preference you marked, such as veteran or disabled. When your name reaches the top, the agency checks income and eligibility again. After a briefing, a voucher may give you 60 to 120 days to search, and the agency sets that time.

HUD's Section 811 program supports rental housing, with supportive services available, for very low-income adults with disabilities. HUD says a resident cannot be required to accept those services in order to live there.

There is not one national renter application for every Section 811 building. HUD's resource locator says to contact the management company for that building and ask for its application. A funding notice for developers is a different process. It is not the way a renter asks for a unit.

HUD's helping page says its map shows apartment locations and contact details. It does not show vacancies, wait lists, or how to apply. HUD does not keep those applications. Call the management company and ask if a unit is open and whether you can use the entry, the door, and the bathroom.

The pages we opened at the California Department of Housing and Community Development do not give one statewide list of open accessible apartments. Start with the public housing agency directory and the HUD resource locator.

The California Housing Finance Agency posts a map of apartments it connects to Section 8 or lower rent. The page says the map depends on vacancies, and the property's phone number is the way to ask if a unit is open. A pin on that map is not an offer.

The Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs says it does not own or manage the apartments. Its Vacancy Clearinghouse lists rent-reduced apartments. Search by city, county, or ZIP code, then call the property. Help for Texans points to that list and also to HUD and USDA rental lists.

A voucher is still a public housing agency application. TDHCA's apartment page says to use the HUD agency list for that step.