Racine County Housing Authority Opens Section 8 Voucher Waitlist For First Time In Almost 4 Years

The Racine County Housing Authority opened up its Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher waitlist for the first time in almost four years this week. The agency plans to use a lottery system to add 1,500 people to the waitlist for government rental assistance but it expects up to 5,000 people to apply before the deadline at 4 p.m. Thursday.

Just getting on one of these waitlists can be difficult depending on the area housing authority. In fact, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development website warns of long waits on its list of frequently asked questions.

When the lists get beyond a number of people a housing authority can help in the foreseeable future, they close — sometimes for a very long time.

Linda Ring Weber, executive director of the Racine County Housing Authority, said the agency is moving to online applications in hopes to shave time off the notification process which involves mailing letters to peoples’ last known mailing address to confirm if they’re still in need of a voucher.

With the current mailing system, time can accrue with letters bouncing back. The hope is that an online system will shave off some time, avoiding the back and forth, according to Ring Weber.

“So, say in two years, we’ll be able to open the waiting list again and take … another batch of folks and the applications will always be current,” Ring Weber said. But it’s not a guarantee that the list will open up again in two years. So potential clients have until Thursday to apply.

Another change is the new online system will stop some of the agency’s older clients from having to come in in person. Ring Weber estimates about half of the agency’s 1,700 voucher clients are elderly or people with disabilities.

In the rest of Wisconsin, other housing authorities have seen demand outpace funds available for housing assistance and it’s taken years to serve the people on an agency waitlist.

The Dane County Housing Authority, for example, went eight years before it could accept additional applications in 2015.

The Milwaukee County Housing Authority went 15 years before adding to its Section 8 waitlist in 2016.

But even the housing authorities that have open waitlists are feeling the effects.

Georgia Crownhart, executive director of the Eau Claire County Housing Authority, said the agency has never closed its waitlist but rising rental costs mean each voucher costs the county more.

This year the Eau Claire County Housing Authority can only fund 190 vouchers — down from an expected 221.

Crownhart said rising rents are not only changing the number people the agency can help but also driving up the demand for assistance.

“Probably a couple of years ago we stayed around 200 to 225 for a waiting list, so the fact that it’s almost 400 now — it’s up significantly,” she said.