Section 8 Housing in Washington, DC

There is no single Section 8 office for this metro. Each jurisdiction runs its own program, and where you can apply depends on where you live or want to live. The biggest program, run by the DC Housing Authority, is not taking new applications. Its Housing Choice Voucher waitlist has been closed to new applicants since 2013 with no scheduled reopening. DCHA says it will announce any reopening on its website, social media, and through local media. If you think you already applied years ago, call the DCHA call center at 202-535-1000 to check whether your name was 'pulled.'

The suburbs vary. Montgomery County's HOC list is open on an ongoing basis, the best current option in the region; apply online at wl.hochousingpath.com or call 240-627-9400. Arlington's list is closed (it last opened in September 2023 by lottery, the first time since 2012). Prince George's County's list is closed after a December 2025 lottery window. Fairfax County's tenant-based list is closed, but it opens short project-based voucher lotteries for specific buildings a few times a year. Apply to any list you qualify for, and never pay anyone to apply.

Demand far exceeds supply everywhere in this metro. About 40,570 people were on the DC voucher waitlist as of early 2024, some waiting since the mid-2000s. Even where lists are technically 'open,' getting a voucher takes years. In Fairfax County, households that already hold vouchers waited an average of 14 months after selection, and that is after getting onto a closed list.

Most authorities use preferences to move certain applicants up. Montgomery County's HOC prioritizes people who live, work, or attend school in the county, veterans, homeless applicants, and those displaced by government action. Arlington's 2023 lottery gave preference to residents and workers, unhoused people, domestic-violence survivors, and people with disabilities. To qualify anywhere in the metro your income must fall under HUD limits. For FY2025 the Very Low Income limit for a family of four is $81,950, based on a very high area median income of $163,900. Extremely low income households (under 30% of median) usually get the strongest preference and make up most voucher holders.

If you are looking in the District, the law is on your side. The DC Human Rights Act makes it illegal for landlords to refuse you or treat you differently because you use a voucher. A 2022 law, the Eviction Record Sealing and Fairness in Renting Amendment Act, went further: landlords cannot reject you based on your income level, credit score, or rent-payment problems that happened before you got your subsidy, and your voucher must count toward any minimum-income requirement. If you pay part of the rent yourself, a landlord can only check your income against your portion.

Enforcement is real here. In 2022 the DC Attorney General won a $10 million settlement against the DARO companies, the largest housing-discrimination civil penalty in US history, after uncovering emails from a manager trying to push Section 8 out of their buildings. In November 2025 the OAG settled with Portico Investments over discriminatory income rules aimed at rapid re-housing tenants. Save every email, text, and denial letter. You generally have one year to file a complaint with the DC Office of Human Rights (202-727-4559).

On paper a DC voucher works citywide, but in practice most holders end up in a few neighborhoods. More than half of DC voucher holders live in Wards 7 and 8 east of the Anacostia River, with only about 11% in Wards 1, 2, and 3 combined. The highest-concentration areas are Washington Highlands, Douglass, Fort Davis, and Lincoln Heights. Few units west of Rock Creek Park rent low enough to meet program rules.

DC tries to counter this with generous, neighborhood-based payment standards. DCHA sets standards up to 187% of the area Fair Market Rent, which lets voucher holders afford rents in most District neighborhoods, including higher-opportunity areas like Van Ness and Chevy Chase. Without those raised standards, voucher holders could afford only about 20% of DC neighborhoods, mostly in Wards 7 and 8. DCHA also offers housing counselors and a database of rentals in higher-quality neighborhoods. In Montgomery County, HOC sets payment standards by ZIP code using HUD Small Area Fair Market Rents, so the amount your voucher covers changes from ZIP to ZIP.

DCHA has been under heavy scrutiny, and some recent changes hit voucher holders directly. Effective December 1, 2025, DCHA paused voucher rent increases, and as of January 9, 2026, it stopped covering security deposits for voucher holders moving into apartments, so families now pay deposits out of pocket. The Equal Rights Center testified that DCHA rejected 55% of units in 2024 as not 'rent reasonable,' which can delay or kill a lease you want to sign.

These come on top of long-standing management failures. A 2022 HUD audit found DCHA had the nation's highest public housing vacancy rate and mismanaged its voucher program and waitlists, and HUD warned it could take temporary control (receivership) if the agency did not improve. DCHA is now working through a multi-year recovery plan and converting 19 public housing campuses to voucher-based subsidies through RAD/Section 18. If your move or recertification stalls, document everything and get legal help early, because losing a unit can put your voucher at risk.

If a landlord turns you away because of your voucher, or you are facing eviction, free help is available across the metro. The Equal Rights Center (202-234-3062) is the region's private fair-housing organization and can help you file a complaint and does undercover testing of landlords. The Washington Lawyers' Committee Fair Housing Project (202-319-1000) provides free legal services in DC, Maryland, and Virginia. For eviction and landlord-tenant disputes in DC, the Landlord Tenant Legal Assistance Network (202-780-2575) connects you to free attorneys and is staffed by Bread for the City, Legal Aid DC, Neighborhood Legal Services, and others.

File discrimination complaints with the DC Office of Human Rights (202-727-4559) within one year of the incident. In DC, a landlord who denies you must give written reasons, and you can request copies of everything they reviewed. For your housing search, DC offers a free listing site at dchousingsearch.org. If you have an emergency housing need, the DHS shelter hotline is 202-399-7093.