Nevada Section 8 Housing Offered

Low Income Housing Information

Low income housing can be a godsend, but if you don't know how to apply, or who to get your information to, how can you ever expect to be approved?

Since laws and procedure vary from state to state, you'll need to learn a few specifics before applying. We can help!

How is Section 8 Housing Offered in Nevada?

Section 8 subsidized housing is a federal program operated by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and its basic guidelines are the same nationally. However, at the local level, the program is administrated by local public housing agencies and authorities (PHAs) and they have a lot of say so regarding which applicants they accept. Further, most states also have a state-wide body that coordinates the state's housing policies, and frequently these state-level entities have a lot of influence on the local PHAs and help determine how the federal program is implemented.

In Nevada, the primary state agency is the Nevada Housing Division (NHD, www.nvhousing.state.nv.us) which oversees the Section 8 program PHAs and provides a series of its own additional programs to help people find affordable housing in the state. Nevada has been very serious about affordable housing in the mid-1970s and continues to be so today, taking advantage of most of the federal programs available as well as running its own state one. Further, has worked to create an overall strategy to help residents throughout the state and has stayed abreast of all the newest trends and ideas. This fact is reflected in Nevada's heavy emphasis on Housing Choice Vouchers, or tenant-based Section 8 housing as opposed to project-based vouchers.

One of the best examples of Nevada's success with Section 8 housing is the Nevada Rural Housing Authority (NRHA, www.nvrural.org). Section 8 is best known as an urban program, but in Nevada they have successfully implemented it throughout the state, including in rural areas. The NRHA has been repeatedly recognized by HUD as a "high performing" PHA that has done an above average job of providing Section 8 housing to qualifying people throughout the state. Overall, Nevada has an excellent PHA network, and thanks to the NRHA the entire state has Section 8 housing available.

As mentioned before, Nevada has really been an enthusiastic supporter of the Housing Choice Voucher (HCV) program, the version of Section 8 housing that is based on the tenant as opposed to being based on the rental unit. Las Vegas and other larger Nevada cities are still dealing with the ramifications of the old project-based housing schemes, with large slum areas, so its acceptance of the HCV option can come as no surprise. The HCV program allows people that qualify to find their own apartments and as long as the landlord is willing to accept the vouchers, they can live wherever they would like. The basic idea is to help integrate low income people into the larger community as opposed to creating "poor areas", which tend to have plenty of their own problems and tend to end up costing the community in other ways.

In order to participate in the HCV program in Nevada, the basic approval process is the same as it is with any Section 8 program. The applicant has to apply to the local PHA, verify their legal status and their income and then they are approved or rejected based on this information. The difference with HCV is that once approved, the recipient does not have to wait until there is a vacancy in a particular place, but can shop around and find their own rental unit that will accept the Section 8 vouchers.