ByRequest Section 8 from the Charleston, SC Housing Authority Fast
If you're a low-income family and in need of a rental assistance program, you should apply for . Times are tough enough as it is, adding high rent payments to your monthly bills won't cut it when your monthly income doesn't spread far enough.
Getting through the application process takes quite a bit of time. But, with DoNotPay, we can help you learn how to get Section 8 Housing quickly, so you can have safe, affordable housing without sacrificing a lot to put a roof over your head. Let's take a look at the process and how we can help.
How Do You Qualify for Section 8 Housing in Charleston, SC?
The local public housing authority has some specific qualifications for those who are seeking to apply for .
- You must be a U.S. Citizen or a qualified alien (which will need to be verified).
- You meet income requirements for low-income housing.
- You have no previous evictions for drug-related criminal activities.
- You are elderly, disabled, or part of a family.
Housing Urban & Development considers people living together as a group a "family". It doesn't matter if they're directly related or not. As long as the group of people live together and the total household earnings don't exceed income limits for the household size, you can still qualify. Also, individuals can be considered family in certain circumstances.
The Housing Authority will perform background checks and criminal checks to make sure you and the household are a fit. If something questionable comes up, they may deny your application due to the risks to others.
How to Apply for Section 8 in Charleston, SC?
Before applying for Section 8 Housing in Charleston, SC, you will want to check the public announcement page on their site, to see if they are accepting new applications or not. If they are, they will provide a link to a pre-application you can fill out to see if you qualify.
If you prefer to talk to someone, you can contact your local public housing agency to have an application mailed to you.
On that application, they will request
- All the names of the people that will be living in a unit (as well as their gender, date of birth, and relation to the family head)
- Address and telephone number where you're currently staying (and an email address, if you have one)
- Contact information for your previous landlords
- Contact information for your bank and employers
- Documents to verify your identity (birth certificate, social security card, etc.)
The Housing Authority uses the information they get from previous landlords, banks, and employers. This is to determine if you're a good fit as a tenant and to see if your household income qualifies for the Section 8 government housing program.
Once it's determined that you're eligible, they will add your name to a waiting list. When you get to the top of the list, you will be contacted and asked to fill out the full application.
What Happens if You Get Accepted for Section 8 Housing in Charleston, SC?
Once you've been accepted into the Section 8 Housing program in Charleston, SC, they will locate housing for you. When they find a place that meets your needs, you will have a chance to accept it or not. If you do, you will be asked to sign a lease and make a $150 deposit, and you will need to attend an orientation that's required for new residents.
Rent is then determined. The Housing Authority in Charleston will take your estimated annual income and subtract any allowable deductions from it. They will figure out your monthly adjusted earnings, and the rent is calculated based on either:
- 30% of your adjusted monthly income
- 10% of your earnings
- $25 minimum rent amount
The rent total will depend on the total earnings from everyone over 18 years of age that will reside in the home. When the amount is figured out, they will issue a Section 8 Voucher to pay for the remainder of the rent to the landlord.
How DoNotPay Can Help With the Application Process
Applying for Section 8 Housing isn't all that easy to do. Charleston's Housing Authority asks for tons of information, and they're not all that clear on what they're looking for. If one local housing agency has no openings, you can apply at another one, but each place has a different application process, so it can be quite confusing what you should do.
DoNotPay will contact your local housing agency for you to help you save time. We'll inquire about any openings, and if you qualify, based on the information you give us.
To use our service, sign up for DoNotPay and navigate to the Section 8 Housing category.
- Answer a few questions about your income, family size, veteran/disability status, which county you hope to live in, etc.
- DoNotPay will find the PHA in charge of that county and contact them with all of your eligibility information to determine if you can start applying. They'll get back to you directly via email with the next steps.
Once they've contacted you, the application process can begin. You won't have to waste time trying to figure out the application only to find out you don't qualify or they don't have any openings.
What Else Can DoNotPay Do?
Aside from Section 8 in Charleston, SC, we can also assist you with the following inquiries:
To help speed up the process, let us do the hard parts for you. Once you know you're qualified, you can then begin the application process without wasting valuable time. Sign up with us, and see what else we can do for you.