Section 8 - Home Ownership Program

The HCR Section 8 Voucher Home Ownership Program has evolved from a small pilot program in calendar year 2000 to its current status as a national leader in home ownership closings where Section 8 Voucher assistance is available and being used to help families obtain and retain a home of their own.

Although this program is primarily designed for working families, elderly and disabled persons and families also qualify. Current participants include single and two-parent families, grandparents and single individuals. The minimum income requirements for participation include a stable monthly income such as wages from full-time employment, Social Security or other pension benefits. The minimum annual income eligibility also varies by county.

Green = HCR Housing Choice Voucher (HCV) Program

Grey = Non-HCR Housing Choice Voucher (HCV) Program

• The family must be a HCR Section 8 participant for at least one year, and be a first-time home owner, or single-parent displaced homemaker.

• The family must attend home buyer education classes and be credit-qualified and pre-approved by a mortgage lending institution. The family must not have defaulted on a previous mortgage. The type of home a family may purchase utilizing Section 8 Voucher assistance includes single-family, co-operative, condominium or manufactured homes. The home that the family chooses to purchase must pass a Housing Quality Standards (HQS) inspection before voucher assistance can be authorized. The family must also arrange and pay for an independent professional inspection of the home, and provide a copy of the inspection report to the local Section 8 Program. Based on findings in the professional inspection report, the local Section 8 Program reserves the right to authorize voucher assistance.

• For home buyer education classes, HCR has partnered with several HUD-approved housing counseling agencies located in each local program area, see list below. Generally, once an individual or family has completed home buyer education classes and received housing counseling services, they may apply to a mortgage lending institution of their choice in order to become pre-approved for a mortgage and begin shopping for a home. The mortgage lender must meet HUD guidelines as set forth in Section 8 Voucher Home Ownership Program regulations. The family is also responsible for any down payment on the home. Not less than 1% of any required down payment must come from the family's personal resources unless the family has secured 100 percent financing. After the closing occurs, the family must occupy the home as their primary residence - no sub-letting is allowed.

  If a family wishes to move from their current HCR local program area and continue to use Voucher assistance to purchase a home in another area, they may do so as long as the receiving Housing Authority operates a Section 8 Voucher Home Ownership program and is accepting new families.

  The Voucher assistance for home ownership is, depending on the term of the mortgage, limited to either ten or fifteen years. These time limitations are not applicable to elderly or disabled families.

If you would like more information, please contact HCR's Statewide Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher Program for a list of HCR Local Administrators that manage the Section 8 Home Ownership Program directly, or visit the HUD web site at https://www.hud.gov/program_offices/public_indian_housing/programs/hcv/homeownership.