Section 8 by the numbers

Section 8 is a federally-funded rent-subsidy program for low-income tenants administered in the county by the Housing Authority of Los Angeles County. The program, at a cost of $230 million in the county, helps needy families, as well as elderly or disabled adults, live in homes and apartments they couldn’t otherwise afford.

Qualifying renters pay about 30 percent of their monthly income toward the rent. Using federal Department of Housing and Urban Development funds, the Section 8 program pays the balance, up to prescribed limits, directly to the landlord. The Housing Authority, an arm of the County’s Community Development Commission, distributes rent vouchers and is responsible for making sure that tenants meet the program’s requirements. The Housing Authority also is supposed to conduct annual inspections of rental units.

The program can be complicated, but here are the basics:

• The program is named for the section of the U.S. Housing Act of 1937 that laid out the first federal rent-subsidy program.
• L.A. County’s Housing Authority administers vouchers for about 20,900 units in unincorporated areas and 62 cities within the county. It also has a contract with six other cities, including West Hollywood, to distribute 1,000 vouchers through their housing agencies.
• Annual income levels for most tenants can not exceed $16,650 for a single person or $23,800 for a family of four—30 percent of the county’s median income. A much smaller percentage of solo renters can make up to 50 percent of the median income, or $27,750, as a way to guarantee more economic diversity.
• Maximum rents range from $943 for a studio to $2,295 for a four bedroom unit.
• Roughly 99 percent of L.A. County vouchers are in use at any given time.
• The county closed the Section 8 waiting list on December 1 to avoid giving new applicants false hopes of getting a voucher. With only 250 units becoming available every month, the current wait for a voucher is five years.