Rental Assistance
Created by the Housing and Community Development Act of 1978, the Housing Choice Voucher program, formerly known as Section 8, provides assistance to eligible low- and moderate-income families to rent housing in the private market.
On-Duty Housing Specialists
Contact the Rental Assistance department via phone or email and a housing specialist will be in touch with you within one business day.
Looking to get Rental Assistance?
Need a particular form?
Housing Choice Voucher Program
The HCV program works as a rental subsidy that allows households to pay a reasonable portion of their income, no more than 40%, toward their rent. A voucher pays the rest. Eligibility for the HCV program is based on a household’s adjusted annual income and family size. Clients can rent a unit in any home/complex in Washoe County as long as it meets RHA’s Housing Quality Standards, as outlined by HUD.”
Housing Choice Voucher participants must comply with all program requirements, including completing their regular re-certification, accommodating Housing Quality Standards inspections, allowing property owners to make any needed repairs, and adhering to the terms of their lease.
Project-Based Voucher Program
With a PBV, the voucher is tied to the individual unit and the client’s portion of rent and utilities is generally 30% of their household’s adjusted monthly income. If a client moves out of a PBV unit, they cannot take the voucher to another property.
However, once a PBV client has completed his/her PBV lease, they may apply for a traditional Housing Choice Voucher and use that voucher in another rental unit.
Special Purpose Vouchers
In addition to the roughly 2,400 Housing Choice Vouchers issued by RHA each year, HUD also provides us about 550 special purpose vouchers. These are vouchers earmarked for specific populations including victims of domestic violence, former foster youth and military veterans, and are issued to households that require case management and other wraparound services. Applicants for these vouchers must be referred to RHA by our community partners.
Supporting Veterans
Through the HUD Veterans Administration Supportive Housing (VASH) initiative, RHA provides more than 400 housing subsidies specifically for veterans who have experienced homelessness. A condition of eligibility for a VASH voucher is mandatory participation in case management services, provided locally by the Department of Veterans Affairs.
Supporting the Youth
RHA provides housing subsidies for 15 former foster youth, each of whom are also provided supportive case management services through Eddy House and Washoe County Human Services department.
Emergency Housing
More than 130 Emergency Housing Vouchers are also distributed to Washoe County households for those who are homeless, at risk of homelessness, fleeing or attempting to flee domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, stalking or human trafficking. They’re also for households for whom providing rental assistance will prevent the family’s homelessness or having high risk of housing instability.
Like the other special purpose vouchers, households must be referred to RHA through one of four community partners including Catholic Charities of Northern Nevada, Health Plan of Nevada, Washoe County Housing and Homeless Services, and Washoe County Human Services: Our Place. Emergency Housing Voucher holders must also continue to receive ongoing case management through these community partners.
Portability
Portability is the process of transferring, or porting, a family’s rental subsidy to another Housing Authority’s jurisdiction. Portability is only available through the Housing Choice Voucher and Emergency Housing Voucher programs and only under certain circumstances.
Porting In to RHA
RHA is currently absorbing all incoming ports. Please direct all questions and portability paperwork to portability@renoha.org. Once your completed file has been received, the RHA will contact you to conduct a recertification of your file. After your file has been updated, you will be scheduled for a briefing where you will be issued the RFTA paperwork required to receive housing assistance in Washoe County.
Please note that in accordance with HUD guidelines, the RHA re-screens incoming portable clients for eligibility according to the policies in our Administrative Plan by conducting fingerprinting on all adult household members during the briefing. The RHA will not delay issuing a voucher in order to conduct this screening; however, should you be found ineligible in our jurisdiction, we may refuse to assist you (by either referring you back to your original Housing Authority or terminating your assistance per 24 CFR 982.552 and 24 CFR 982.553).
Porting Out of RHA
If you are a Housing Choice Voucher or Emergency Housing Voucher holder wishing to “port out” of RHA, please submit the Portability Request Form to leasing@renoha.org.
Have a question about Rental Assistance Vouchers or need a particular form?
For any questions you might have contact us through the form and a person from the Reno Housing Authority will contact you as soon as possible.
You can find all of the Rental Assistance Forms here:
Have a general question? Contact us here: generalRA@renoha.org
