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Like water in a pinched hose, the demand for Section 8 affordable housing vouchers has been building in Santa Clara County for almost seven years.
On March 31, the Santa Clara County Housing Authority will announce when and where people can apply to get on the waiting list for the vouchers. Agencies in the South Bay predict tens of thousands of residents will flood the housing authority website and an unspecified office location in an attempt to get on the waiting list as soon as the announcement is made.
The final location and time is a closely guarded secret to avoid people camping out in front of the location. The county will accept applications for only five days, and a lottery will determine the order of the waiting list for new applicants.
"We get calls all the time from people who can't afford market-rate housing," said Campbell Housing Coordinator Sharon Teeter. "I'm going to encourage people to get down there."
Section 8 housing vouchers--part of the federal Housing Choice Voucher Program--subsidize rent for low-income families. Generally, Section 8 participants pay 30 percent of their monthly income for rent, and the program picks up the rest. The program allows low-income families to rent safe, clean homes, but the demand for the vouchers is expected to outpace the supply.
"It's just so hard to keep up with the need," said Marjorie Matthews, director of the Santa Clara County Office of Affordable Housing, an agency set up in 2003 to fund and assist the development of affordable housing units in the county.
To qualify for Section 8, an applicant's income cannot exceed 50 percent of the area's median income, and 75 percent of the available vouchers must go to people who make less than 30 percent. According to the housing authority, 50 percent of the median income is approximately $37,150 for a single person, $47,750 for a family of three.
The Section 8 waiting list was last opened--for a week--in 1999, and 27,000 people signed up. Since then, the waiting list has gradually shrunk to the point where the Housing Authority is ready to accept new applicants.
Candy Capogrossi, executive director of the Santa Clara County Housing Authority, said the housing authority does not have new money for vouchers.
"Vouchers are only made available as people graduate from the program," she said.
Approximately 100 people leave the Section 8 program each month, so the waiting list generally shrinks by about 1,200 people a year.
"We're always trying to get more money for vouchers, but unfortunately the federal budget is geared mostly toward international policy right now, not domestic," she said.
There are still 800 people on the waiting list, who Capogrossi said will be served before any new applicants.
Capogrossi said her counterparts in Oakland recently reopened their voucher waiting list and got 46,000 applicants.
After receiving a voucher, applicants must find a landlord willing to participate in the program. The housing authority inspects all Section 8 rental units to make sure they are clean, safe and livable.
Since the vouchers have been unavailable for years, the city has been assisting low-income families in other ways.
"We keep a list of all below-market-rate housing, which is the next best thing to having a Section 8 certificate," Teeter said.
For the most part, she said, Section 8 vouchers should provide sufficient financial assistance for those who qualify for them.
"The only time it is not enough money is when someone is changing apartments and needs to cover the first and last months' rent," Teeter said.
In those cases, the city can provide assistance through its one-time rental assistance program.
For more information, or for final dates and times from the Santa Clara County Housing Authority, 505 W. Julian St. in San Jose, visit www.hacsc.org or call 408.275.8770.
For more information about Campbell housing programs, contact Sharon Teeter at 408.866.2137.
Staff writer Stephanie Condon contributed to this story.
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