The Sunnyvale Sun

News

Section 8 waiting list to open at end of April

By JASON GOLDMAN-HALL

Sunnyvale residents hoping to get on the waiting list to receive Section 8 subsidized housing vouchers will have five days to get their names in when the list reopens at the end of April.

From April 24 to 28, the Housing Authority of the County of Santa Clara will open the waiting list for Section 8 housing vouchers for the first time since 1999. It expects more than 27,000 people to apply.

On April 16, specific information on how to register will be on the housing authority's website at www.hacsc.org. According to the site, applications will be accepted online or through traditional mail.

Nancy Tivol, Sunnyvale Community Services executive director, said she has clients who have been waiting for the list to reopen for years, and her agency is now working to make sure all its interested clients know when and where to sign up.

Tivol said Section 8 housing is a huge boost for her agency's clients because they get the security of a home with the dignity of being able to select it for themselves and pay for part of it on their own.

Section 8 housing vouchers enable tenants to pay one-third of their income for rent, and the Housing Authority pays the rest. But due to slow turnover in vouchers--HACSC executive director Candy Capogrossi said approximately 100 people stop using their vouchers each month--the authority has spent seven years working through its last waiting list. Capogrossi said there are still roughly 800 people on the waiting list, and they will be served before any new applicants.

Once all the new names are gathered, the waiting list will be updated and the order will be determined through a random lottery.

For more information on the waiting list, visit www.hacsc.org. The Housing Authority of the County of Santa Clara asks that no one contact them for information prior to April 16.