Mesa to open Section 8 housing wait list for first time since 2013
Mesa expects to receive 5,000 applications for Section 8 housing assistance vouchers in three days.
- Mesa will open its wait list for Section 8 housing assistance for the first time since 2013
- The vouchers help low-income families and individuals with rent
- Applications open Oct. 11 at 10 a.m. and close Oct. 13 at 5 p.m. To apply: mesaaz.gov/hcvwaitlist
For the first time in three years, Mesa will open its wait list for Section 8 housing assistance — and like last time, the city expects thousands of people to apply.
Online applications for the vouchers, which help low-income families and individuals cover rent, will open Oct. 11 at 10 a.m. and close Oct. 13 at 5 p.m.
"Mesa has been fortunate in that we haven't ever had to keep (the list) closed for more than three or four years, unlike Phoenix," said Liz Morales, Mesa's housing and community-development director. "But we're still looking at 4,000 to 5,000 applications when we open it, and wait times of about 22 months (for a placement)."
Community needs differ
Phoenix reopened its waiting list in August after an 11-year closure, drawing 27,000 applications. When Chandler reopened its list in January after five years, nearly 2,100 people applied.
"Every community is very different," Morales said, when asked why demand sometimes varies dramatically from city to city. "We find that in Mesa, we have a significant number of seniors and disabled (people) apply, where Phoenix may have larger number of families."
MORE: 27,000 apply for Phoenix rental assistance
The federal Department of Housing and Urban Development funds Section 8 vouchers to make housing more affordable for people with lower incomes. Mesa gets 1,715 vouchers each year, 191 of which must go to veterans.
The city reviews applicants' eligibility, examining income levels, residency status and other factors. Officials then work with private landlords to place voucher recipients, with tenants putting at least 30 percent of their incomes toward rent.
Recipients can continue to receive assistance as long as they meet HUD requirements. People spend an average of 3½ years in the program, Morales said.
Vouchers offer flexibility, choice
Vice Mayor Dennis Kavanaugh, a longtime affordable-housing advocate, said Section 8 vouchers "have proved to be a good option for residents, since many multifamily apartment complexes throughout the city accept them as opposed to the old model of city-owned housing projects."
The system "provides flexibility in the choice of housing and geographic location of housing," he said.
"I think the decision to reopen (the wait list) does reflect the ongoing housing needs of our residents for affordable housing," Kavanaugh said. "And I suspect the increasing demand for housing assistance such as this also reflects the growing number of Baby Boomers who are retiring and are now on lower and more limited incomes than when they were in the labor market."
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Indeed, Morales said Mesa needs more landlords to participate in the program to meet demand, especially those with one- and two-bedroom units available.
Application accessibility a priority
This year's application period will mark the second time Mesa has accepted submissions only electronically. A similar process and deadline in Phoenix this summer spurred discrimination complaints from fair-housing organizations, resulting in an extension of the application period.
In Mesa, officials said they worked with advocacy groups to proactively address accessibility concerns, making sure applicants without internet access could use computers at Mesa libraries, the state Department of Economic Security office and at social-service agency A New Leaf, among other sites.
Mesa also translated materials into Spanish, Chinese and Vietnamese, Mesa's three most common languages besides English. Phoenix had initially translated materials only into Spanish.
"This process is really about ensuring people can access everything easily, and not have to deal with coming in during office hours," Morales said. "We've all seen those horror stories in other cities with people waiting in line for hours. No one should have to do that."
To apply: mesaaz.gov/hcvwaitlist.