Seattle Housing Authority Section 8 Waitlist Lottery Opening 2/4-2/22

Hi, if you or someone you know need subsidized housing: One week from today, on February 4th, the online lottery registration will open for Section 8 housing vouchers through Seattle Housing Authority.

Section 8 vouchers allow participating tenants to choose and rent units from private landlords. The Housing Authority pays a fixed amount of the rent to the owner each month, and the tenant pays the difference between this subsidy and the total rent, in addition to any utilities not included in the rent. In general, tenants pay between 30 percent and 40 percent of their monthly income for rent and utilities.

Seattle Housing Authority will be opening a new waitlist in the Spring of 2013 for the Housing Choice Voucher (Section 8) Program using a lottery system with registration available online-only. Any person may register for the lottery no matter where he or she lives. If someone lives outside of Seattle and receives a lottery number, and later a voucher, they will be required to live in Seattle during their first year on the program. Residents of Seattle Housing’s Low-Income Public Housing units are welcome to register.

Important information:

• Registration will be open from February 4, 2013 at 7 a.m. through February 22 at 5 p.m. and a lottery will be held to determine who is placed on this new waitlist. The registration period will not close early; it will remain open from February 4th at 7 am through February 22nd at 5 pm.

• There is no limit to the number of registrations that will be accepted. After the registration period closes on February 22nd, 2000 households will be selected by random drawing to receive spots on the new waitlist. Everyone who registers for the lottery will receive a letter by March 31st to notify them whether they have been selected in the lottery or not.

• Only one person per household may register. Households may only register once.

• Registering for the lottery, does NOT mean you are applying for housing.

• This is not a first-come, first-served process, so there is no need to be the first in line to register. A rush at the beginning of the registration period may result in website instability. If you experience this, please come back to the site later. Also, please do not leave registration until the last minute on February 22 in case you experience technical difficulties.

• The registration form asks you to provide the name, date of birth, social security number, race and gender of all members of your household. Since it is not possible to save an unfinished registration, it is best to have this information on-hand before beginning your registration.

• A link to the online-only registration form will be made available on seattlehousing.org/waitlist once the registration period officially opens on February 4 at 7am

• To access the most up-to-date information about this lottery and the waitlist process, visit their website at seattlehousing.org/waitlist and check back for updates. You can also call the waitlist hotline at (206) 239-1674. For technical problems with registration, call the waitlist hotline at (206) 239-1674 for help or submit an email using their contact form at seattlehousing.org/waitlist.

• If you do not have access to a computer, call the waitlist hotline at (206) 239-1674 for a list of locations that can serve you, or visit one of their Computer Access Points.

For a preview of the registration process, watch an online video tutorial. Spread the word, by posting a Section 8 Waitlist Lottery flyer.

Good luck!