What is the Section 8 program?

Section 8, also known as the Housing Choice Voucher Program, provides rent subsidies to assist eligible low-income families obtain decent, safe, and affordable housing. Families can select housing within a neighborhood of their choice in privately owned housing and receive rental assistance. Rent subsidies, called vouchers, allow families to pay a reasonable share of their income toward rent while the program. The MHA pays the other portion. The term “Section 8” is used because the federal law which created the program is Section 8 of the Housing and Community Development Act of 1974. This is one of the many MHA housing programs.