Rental assistance applications offered

Orange County Housing Authority invites residents to apply for Section 8 rental waiting list.Applications for the county Section 8 rental assistance waiting list are available in the city’s Community Services Department, 515 Forest Ave.

Due to limited funding, the Orange County Housing Authority anticipates the wait for rental assistance could be up to several years. All pre-applications received by the authority this month will have an equal chance for placement on the waiting list.

“The last time this opened up was two or three years ago,” Community Services Director Pat Barry said. “The county got more than 10,000 applications.”

Laguna has four sites that qualify: senior projects on Broadway and Vista Aliso in South Laguna; affordable units at Alice’s Court on Glenneyre Street; and disabled housing, with preference given applicants diagnosed with HIV or AIDS, at Hagen Place on Mermaid Street.

“There also may be some owners of private properties that accept Section 8 certificates,” Barry said. “The county has a list online of all Section 8 housing.”

Pre-application processing will not begin until after November 30. The pre-applications will be grouped by preference categories, and applicants will be randomly placed within each group.

The county housing authority gives preference to applicants that live or work in its jurisdiction, which includes most of Orange County; applicants who are elderly, disabled or have worked a minimum of 20 hours per week for 42 weeks in any one year from the date of the pre-application; and veterans, who will be placed ahead of nonveterans in each group.

Qualifications for rental assistance include having at least one family member who is a U.S. citizen or has legal immigration status. The head of the household must be at least 18 or legally emancipated. Gross income is not to exceed $26,900 for a family of one, $30,700 for a family of two, $34,550 for three, $38,400 for four, on up to $50,700 for a family of eight.

“The income limits are different for each county,” Barry said.

Applications may be denied if the applicant or family members have been terminated from any rental assistance due to fraud, engaged in illegal drug-related activity or violent crime activity or owe money to any housing authority.

Only one application per family should be submitted.

Once placed in a preference group on the pre-application waiting list, applicants are then assigned a sequential number for their position on the waiting list. Applicants will be notified and scheduled for an interview when housing vouchers become available.

Applicants can apply directly to www.ochahousing.org or mail the completed preliminary application to P.O. Box 22032, Santa Ana, Calif. 92702; or fax it to (714) 480-2855 and print fax confirmation.

Information: (949) 497-0716.