McKeesport Housing Authority

You can apply for the housing choice voucher program by reaching out to the local housing authority office. You fill out their application form and provide all supporting documents. After you have all the forms and supporting documents, you drop them at the local office, and then you are placed on a waiting list. If approved, you will receive a mail at your current address stating the details. You will then notify your landlord. After you have been accepted onto the housing choice voucher program go to the housing office and sign the contract.

The Housing Choice Voucher Program is aimed at helping low-income families who meet the requirement of income lower than 50% of the local area median income. The idea is that the cost of the rent is split between the tenant and the federal assistance program. The part that you pay depends on your income. You could get up to 30 % assistance on your rent or more, all depends on the specifics of the situation.

The main unit of measurement is the Fair Market Rent cost. If the unit that you live in has a cost that is in the range of the Fair Market Rent, you will get the 30% or more rent assistance as designated from the program and you pay the rest of the rent. If you choose to live in an apartment that is above the fair market rent, the Housing Choice Voucher Program will cover their percentage as a total of the housing market rent. Anything above the housing market rent will be charged out of your pocket.

The housing authority provides help with rent money. They can also help you with a very frequent housing problem: dead-beat landlords. If you have an issue with your landlord, and they do not do anything even after you complain, then hoping that things will change is a waste of time. It is time to act on your own and there are many resources that you can use to help yourself.

There is the rental protection agency, which then reports to higher housing authorities for inappropriate landlord conduct. The service can be completed online and there is a small fee for each application. The rental protection agency will take care of money issues, house code violations, or any management problems.

You are also welcome to go to the local police, which is free and immediate assistance. If you live in a place where the landlord is getting housing vouchers from you, then you can complain directly to the Department of Housing and Urban Development. You can reach them at this number : (800) 685-8470.

The most common HA program is Section 8. There is a long waiting list for this program. With the Covid-19 pandemic, the number of people that have applied for the vouchers of Section 8 has skyrocketed, hence there are a lot of application delays. As of right now, the housing authority waiting list is 1 year and a half. The public housing authority programs favors specific groups of people or families that fit certain profiles. Priority is given to veterans, to the elderly, to the people that are exiting domestic violence.

The housing authority does detailed research to make sure that the people that are helped with rental assistance will get better and will make use of the help. This means that background checks are an important part of the work. The housing authority will disregard any applicant that has a criminal background. The housing authority will deny any applicant that is a sex offender or has records of drug use. The other detail is that if you have had a previous housing authority assistant and you got evicted, that is a big no, and your application will be rejected.

Regarding the use of the drug, there is a way around that and is the fact that you show that you have completed a drug treatment program. Even if you have a criminal background, each case is special, and you are given a chance to say your plea and to explain the circumstances. Also, felonies older than 5 years are not considered part of the application.