The housing choice voucher program is the federal government's major program for assisting low-income families, the elderly, and the disabled to afford decent, safe, and sanitary housing. Housing choice vouchers allow low-income families to choose various housing units, decent, and affordable privately-owned rental housing. Housing choice vouchers are administered locally by public housing agencies (PHAs). The Windsor Housing Authority receive federal funds from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to administer the voucher program. Windsor Housing Authority determines a payment standard that is the amount generally needed to rent a moderately-priced dwelling unit in the local housing market and that is used to calculate the amount of housing assistance a family will receive. A Housing Choice Voucher holder is told the unit size for which the family is eligible, based on family size and composition. The rental unit selected by the family must meet an acceptable level of quality and safety before Windsor Housing Authority can approve the unit. When the voucher holder finds a unit that they wishes to occupy and agrees with the landlord on terms of the rental agreement. Windsor Housing Authority must inspect the dwelling and determine that the rent requested is reasonable. A housing subsidy is paid to the landlord directly by the Windsor Housing Authority on behalf of the participating family. The family then pays the difference between the actual rent charged by the landlord and the amount subsidized by the Windsor Housing Authority. |