What Disqualifies You From Section 8?

Very few things disqualify you automatically. Federal rules require a housing authority to deny you if your income is over the limit, if nobody in the household has eligible immigration status, if a household member is on a lifetime sex offender registry, if someone was convicted of making methamphetamine in assisted housing, or if someone was evicted from assisted housing for drug activity in the last three years. Almost everything else, including most criminal records, past evictions and money owed to a housing authority, is a "may deny" that depends on local policy and your circumstances.

Bad credit is not on either list. Neither is being single, being unemployed, or having no rental history.

This is general information, not legal advice. Screening policies differ by housing authority. If you are denied, you have the right to ask for an informal review.

The Basic Eligibility Tests

Under 24 CFR 982.201, an applicant has to pass three tests before screening even starts.

1. You are a "family." That word is broad. 24 CFR 5.403 says a family includes "a single person," and a group of people living together, "regardless of actual or perceived sexual orientation, gender identity, or marital status." You do not need children. You do not need to be married.

2. Your income is under the limit. Most applicants must be "very low income," which means at or below 50 percent of the area median income for their household size. Some categories of low-income families (up to 80 percent of median) qualify under local policies. The limits are set by HUD each year and vary by county. The rules also require that at least 75 percent of the families a housing authority admits each year be extremely low income, which is why lower-income applicants often move faster.

3. Citizenship or eligible immigration status. At least one household member must be a U.S. citizen or have eligible immigration status. A "mixed" family, where some members are eligible and some are not, can still receive prorated assistance under 24 CFR 5.520. Members without eligible status are not required to claim any status. They are simply not counted in the subsidy.

Two more federal rules now sit alongside these:

• Assets. Under 24 CFR 5.618, a family is not eligible if its net assets exceed a cap that was set at $100,000 and is adjusted each year for inflation, or if it owns a home that it has the legal right to live in and sell and that is suitable for the family. There are exceptions, including for victims of domestic violence and for a home the family is actively trying to sell. Retirement accounts and ordinary personal property generally do not count toward net assets.
• College students. Under 24 CFR 5.612, a student who is under 24, unmarried, not a veteran, has no dependent child, and is not a person with disabilities generally qualifies only if their parents would also be income-eligible.

Automatic Disqualifiers: The "Must Deny" List

These come from 24 CFR 982.552(b) and 24 CFR 982.553(a). The housing authority has no discretion.

One note on marijuana: it remains illegal under federal law, so a housing authority treats current marijuana use as illegal drug use even in a state where it is legal.

Things That May Disqualify You

Under 982.552(c)(1) and 982.553(a)(2)(ii), a housing authority "may" deny assistance for these. Whether it does depends on its written policy and your situation.

• Criminal activity within a "reasonable time." This covers drug-related crime, violent crime, and other crime that threatens the health or safety of residents, the owner or housing authority staff. The housing authority defines the lookback period in its administrative plan. A conviction from long before that window should not count.
• Eviction from federally assisted housing in the last five years. This means public housing, a voucher unit, or other HUD-assisted housing. An eviction from a regular private apartment is not on the federal list, though a landlord may still care about it.
• A past voucher termination. If any housing authority ever terminated assistance for a family member.
• Money owed to a housing authority. Unpaid rent, damages or a broken repayment agreement from any earlier public housing or Section 8 tenancy. Paying it off or signing a repayment agreement usually clears this.
• Fraud connected with any federal housing program.
• Threatening or abusive behavior toward housing authority staff.
• Local screening standards. A housing authority may screen applicants for "family behavior or suitability for tenancy" if its administrative plan says so (982.552(e)). Many leave that job to landlords.

When it uses any of these, the housing authority is allowed to consider "the seriousness of the case, the extent of participation or culpability of individual family members, mitigating circumstances related to the disability of a family member," and the effect on family members who were not involved. It can also approve the rest of the family on the condition that the person who caused the problem will not live in the unit.

Things That Do Not Disqualify You

• Bad credit or no credit. Federal voucher rules do not include a credit test. A landlord may check credit when you apply for a specific apartment.
• Being single or having no children. A single person is a family under the federal definition.
• Not having a job. There is no work requirement in the standard voucher program rules. A small number of housing authorities with special federal flexibility have added one.
• Having a job. Working does not disqualify you as long as household income is under the limit.
• An arrest without a conviction. A housing authority must base a denial on evidence that the activity happened, and if it relies on a criminal record it must give you a copy and let you dispute it.
• A felony by itself. Outside the two permanent bans above, no federal rule bars people with felony convictions.
• Being a victim of domestic violence. Federal protections apply to applicants, and abuse committed against you cannot be the basis for denying you.
• A disability, including a history of addiction if you are no longer using. The housing authority may consider completed rehabilitation in your favor.

What Happens After a Denial

You must get "prompt written notice" with "a brief statement of the reasons" and instructions for requesting an informal review (24 CFR 982.554). The review has to be conducted by someone other than the person who made the decision, and you get to present written or oral objections.

If the denial is based on a criminal record, the housing authority must give you and the person named in the record a copy before it denies you, and let you dispute whether the record is accurate and relevant. Background check mix-ups with similar names do happen. Ask for the copy.

What to bring to a review:

• Proof of the actual date and outcome of any conviction or eviction
• Certificates from treatment, job training or education programs
• Letters from a probation officer, employer, landlord or counselor
• Receipts or a payment plan for any housing authority debt
• For disability-related issues, a written reasonable accommodation request. See our guide to accommodation requests

If you are already on the program and worried about keeping it, the rules are different. See what can make you lose your Section 8 voucher.

What Landlords Should Know

• The housing authority's screening is about program eligibility. It does not vouch for the tenant. You may run your own screening, as long as you apply the same standards to every applicant and follow fair housing and local source-of-income laws.
• The housing authority must give you the family's current and prior address from its records, and the name and address of the landlords at those addresses if it knows them. Call those landlords.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does a felony disqualify you from Section 8?

Not automatically. The only permanent federal bans are lifetime sex offender registration and a conviction for producing methamphetamine in federally assisted housing. Other records are judged under each housing authority's lookback period.

Can I get Section 8 with an eviction on my record?

Usually yes. The federal rule concerns evictions from federally assisted housing in the past five years, and even then denial is optional. A drug-related eviction from assisted housing carries a three-year mandatory bar.

Does owing money to a housing authority disqualify me?

It can. Most housing authorities will process your application once the debt is paid or you sign a repayment agreement.

Does Section 8 check your credit?

The program rules do not include a credit check. Individual landlords may run one.

Can I be denied because of someone else in my household?

Yes. Screening covers every household member. If one person is the problem, ask whether the rest of the family can be approved without that person living in the unit.

How much money can I make and still qualify?

Generally up to 50 percent of your area's median income for your household size. HUD publishes the figures for every county each year, and your housing authority lists them on its website.

Sources

• 24 CFR 982.201, Eligibility and targeting
• 24 CFR 982.552, PHA denial or termination of assistance for family
• 24 CFR 982.553, Denial of admission and termination of assistance for criminals and alcohol abusers
• 24 CFR 982.554, Informal review for applicant
• 24 CFR 5.403, Definitions
• 24 CFR 5.612, Students
• 24 CFR 5.618, Asset restrictions
• 24 CFR 5.520, Proration of assistance

---

Looking for a place that takes your voucher? Browse voucher-friendly listings on VoucherMatch.

Have a unit to rent? List your property and reach tenants who already have a voucher in hand.