Section 8 Housing in Dallas, TX

The single most important fact for a DFW voucher seeker: DHA (Dallas Housing Authority, now branded DHA Housing Solutions for North Texas) keeps its Housing Choice Voucher waitlist open continuously. Most housing authorities open for a few days then close for years, but DHA accepts pre-applications on a rolling basis through the RentCafe online portal. Apply at dhantx.com. DHA serves seven counties: Collin, Dallas, Denton, Ellis, Kaufman, Rockwall and Tarrant, and manages about 20,330 vouchers reaching roughly 55,000 people.

The other big agencies are closed. As of mid-2026, Fort Worth Housing Solutions and the Tarrant County Housing Assistance Office had no open lists and none scheduled. The Dallas County Housing Agency list is also closed; call (214) 819-1871 to check. Because DHA's list is open and covers Tarrant County too, a Fort Worth-area applicant can often still apply through DHA. Never pay a fee to apply, applications are always free.

Getting the voucher is only half the battle in DFW. Landlord participation is low, especially in nicer areas. A 2017 Inclusive Communities Project survey found only 12% of North Texas multifamily owners would rent to a voucher family, dropping to just 4% in majority-White neighborhoods versus 46% in majority-Black neighborhoods. In 26 North Texas cities, surveyed landlords denied 100% of voucher holders. A 2020 ICP survey found 96% of landlords with affordable units in Collin County refused vouchers.

This matters because Texas gives you no legal recourse for a flat 'no vouchers' policy. Practically, that means budgeting extra time, applying to many units, and using mobility help. Voucher holders often report that a leasing agent has a vacancy until the voucher comes up, then the conversation ends. Give yourself the full voucher search window and line up help before it expires.

Texas has no source-of-income protection. In 2015 the Legislature passed SB 267, which bans cities from adopting ordinances that require landlords to accept vouchers. It wiped out measures Austin and Dallas had tried to pass (Austin kept a narrow grandfather exemption). So in Dallas and Fort Worth, a private landlord can legally refuse you just because you have Section 8. The Texas Fair Housing Act still protects race, color, religion, sex, familial status, national origin, and disability, so if a refusal is actually a cover for one of those, that IS illegal and worth a complaint.

Two cracks in the wall: First, properties built with Low-Income Housing Tax Credits (LIHTC) cannot reject you solely for having a voucher, seek those out. Second, a 2023 state law bars homeowners associations from banning voucher tenants, passed after Bloomberg found at least 15 Dallas-area HOAs, including Providence Village, had restricted voucher users.

DHA sets payment standards at 100% of HUD's Fair Market Rent for each ZIP code (the Walker Voucher program uses 125%). Because DFW uses Small Area Fair Market Rents, the amount varies by ZIP code, so the subsidy is higher in higher-rent neighborhoods and you won't know the exact figure until you pick a unit. Payment standards include a utility allowance, and every unit goes through a rent reasonableness check against comparable local rents. As a tenant you generally pay about 30% of your income toward rent.

Heads up on a recent change: DHA's FY2026 payment standards, effective January 1, 2026, went down in nearly every ZIP code it serves, with only about four of roughly 400 ZIP codes seeing an increase. Lower payment standards can shrink the pool of units that will 'make rent' under the program, so check the current ZIP-code chart on dhantx.com before you commit to a neighborhood.

If you want to move to a lower-poverty area with stronger schools, use the help that exists. The Inclusive Communities Project (ICP) in Dallas runs a Mobility Assistance Program that covers security deposits and assigns a caseworker to help you find a unit and deal with the landlord and housing authority. DHA refers new voucher holders to ICP.

In October 2024, DHA launched Children First North Texas, funded by a HUD Community Choice Demonstration grant. DHA was one of only seven housing authorities in the country selected. The program targets families with children and helps them move to 'high opportunity' census tracts (poverty rate 10% or lower). It offers landlord incentives and navigator support. Separately, High Opportunity Neighborhood Partners (HON) buys single-family homes, many in North Texas suburbs near good schools, and rents them only to voucher holders. These are the practical routes into suburbs that otherwise reject vouchers.

Because a plain voucher refusal is legal in Texas, focus your complaints where the law still protects you: discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, familial status, national origin, or disability. File with HUD's Fort Worth Regional FHEO office at (817) 978-5900 or (800) 669-9777, the City of Dallas Fair Housing Office at (214) 670-5677, or the Fort Worth Human Relations Commission at (817) 392-7525.

For eviction defense and legal help, Legal Aid of NorthWest Texas covers Dallas and Fort Worth and runs an eviction line at 1-855-548-8457 (free representation for tenants at or below 200% of the federal poverty level). The Texas Tenants' Union (214-823-2733) offers free tenants'-rights workshops across DFW but not court representation. If your landlord is in a LIHTC property and rejected you only for having a voucher, that may violate federal rules, document it and raise it with legal aid or HUD.