The Hialeah Housing Authority activated on Wednesday the enrollment period for its waiting list for the Housing Choice Voucher Program, commonly known as Section 8 or Plan 8, with a brief seven-day window for eligible residents to submit their pre-registration online.
The deadline began at 12:01 a.m. on this Wednesday, July 22, and will extend until 4:59 p.m. on Tuesday, July 28, according to the official notice from the HHA (Hialeah Housing Authority).
Applications are accepted exclusively through the portal www.hialeahhousing.org.
Paper applications or in-person submissions are not accepted.
What is Plan 8 and who does it help?
The program -funded by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and locally administered by the HHA- subsidizes a portion of the monthly rent for low-income families, seniors, and individuals with disabilities in the private rental market.
The call comes at a time of severe housing pressure in South Florida.
According to an analysis by RentCafe cited by the Miami Herald, “$1,500 in monthly rent in Hialeah only translates to approximately 576 square feet, the size of a studio or a small one-bedroom apartment.”
Who can apply and what are the income limits?
To participate, applicants must be U.S. citizens, be at least 18 years old, and reside in Miami-Dade County.
This year, the call introduces a significant change: for the first time, the HHA will not accept applications from legal permanent residents, that is, holders of the Green Card.
Julio Ponce, executive director of the HHA, explained to the Miami Herald that the change is due to federal guidelines issued after President Donald Trump returned to the White House, with HUD "enforcing the requirement to be a citizen."
The annual income limits for participation are as follows:
- 1 person: $47,700.
- 2 people: $54,500.
- 3 people: $61,300.
- 4 people: $68,100.
- 5 people: $73,550.
- 6 people: $79,000.
- 7 people: $84,450.
- 8 people: $89,900.
To complete the application, interested parties must have their full name, Social Security number, date of birth, citizenship status, veteran status, and disability status on hand.
How does the lottery work and who has priority?
Given the massive volume of requests anticipated, the HHA will not allocate spots on a first-come, first-served basis, but rather through a randomly managed computerized lottery conducted by an external provider.
The authority will select 2,500 applicants to join the waiting list.
A key point that HHA itself emphasizes: “submitting the application early does not increase the chances of being selected.”
Among those selected, preference will be given to older individuals or those with disabilities, people in situations of neglect, residents of Hialeah, and those displaced by federally recognized natural disasters.
Only one application is allowed per household.
Those who submit more than one on behalf of their family will be disqualified automatically.
The wait can be long: The context of the housing crisis
Being on the waiting list does not guarantee immediate attendance.
Ponce revealed to the Miami Herald that more than 400 families selected in the previous lottery, held in April 2024, have still not received their vouchers.
Those selected in this year's call could begin to receive assistance at the beginning of 2027, depending on availability.
The HHA manages approximately 6,000 active vouchers, and each year an average of only 300 are reallocated to new families, when current participants leave the program or become ineligible.
The magnitude of the demand is evident from a detail from the previous call: in the lottery of April 2024, more than 51,000 people applied for just 1,000 spots on the waiting list.
In addition, although the vouchers can be used anywhere they are accepted, beneficiaries must lease a home within a 10-mile radius of Hialeah during the first year.
Anyone with questions about the process can visit the official website or call the HHA at 305-888-9744.
Filed under: