The Housing Choice Voucher program is the federal government’s major program for assisting very low-income families, the elderly, and the disabled to afford decent, safe, and sanitary housing in the private market. Since housing assistance is provided on behalf of the family or individual, participants are able to find their own housing, including single-family homes, townhouses and apartments.
The participant is free to choose any housing that meets the requirements of the program and is not limited to units located in subsidized housing projects.
Housing Choice Vouchers are administered locally by public housing agencies (PHAs). The PHAs receive federal funds from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to administer the voucher program.
A family that is issued a housing voucher is responsible for finding a suitable housing unit of the family’s choice where the owner agrees to rent under the program. This unit may include the family’s present residence. Rental units must meet minimum standards of health and safety, as determined by the PHA.
A housing subsidy is paid to the landlord directly by the PHA 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 program.
Eligibility for a housing voucher is determined by the PHA based on the annual gross income and family size. The Housing Choice Voucher program is limited to U.S. citizens and specified categories of non-citizens who have eligible immigration status. In general, the family’s income may not exceed 50% of the median income for the county or metropolitan area in which the family chooses to live. By law, a PHA must provide 75% of its voucher to applicants whose incomes do not exceed 30% of the area median income. Median income levels are published by HUD and vary by location. The PHA serving your community can provide you with the income limits for your area and family size.
During the application process, the PHA will collect information on family income, assets and family composition. The PHA will verify this information with other local agencies, your employer and bank, and will use the information to determine program eligibility and the amount of the housing assistance payment.
Once an application is submitted, the PHA will put your name on a waiting list according to any preferences specified. Once your name is reached on the waiting list, the PHA will contact you to continue the eligibility process.
The Housing Choice Voucher program places the choice of housing in the hands of the individual family. Once a family is selected by the PHA to participate, they are encouraged to consider several housing choices to secure the best housing for the family needs. A housing voucher holder is advised of the unit size for which it is eligible based on family size and composition.
The housing unit selected by the family must meet an acceptable level of health and safety before the PHA can approve the unit. When the voucher holder finds a unit that they wish to occupy and reaches an agreement with the landlord over the lease terms, the PHA must inspect the dwelling and determine that the rent requested is reasonable.
The PHA 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. However, the payment standard does not limit and does not affect the amount of rent a landlord may charge or the family may pay. A family which receives a housing voucher can select a unit with a rent that is below or above the payment standard. The housing voucher family must pay 30% of its monthly adjusted gross income for rent and utilities, and if the unit rent is greater than the payment standard the family is required to pay the additional amount. By law, whenever a family moves to a new unit where the rent exceeds the payment standard, the family may not pay more than 40% of its adjusted monthly income for rent.
There is no emergency housing available through the Lafayette County Housing Authority. Reach out to your local MVCAA Family Resource Center if you need assistance with emergency housing.
Once your application is submitted, we will review the application to verify it is complete. When the application is complete, we will place you on a waitlist and a letter will be sent to you. This may take a few weeks to process.
It varies. Depending on your placement on the waitlist, it could take from six months to more than one year.
Yes, preference is given to individuals living within the MVCAA service area. Applications are placed on the waitlist in the following order:
- Applicants residing within Carroll, Chariton, Johnson, Lafayette, Pettis and Saline counties.
- Date and time of application.
- Terminated families – families terminated from the Housing Choice Voucher program due to insufficient program funding.
- Disabled – families with a disabled household member.
- Elderly households – any household with a member aged 62 or older.
- Veterans – current members of the U.S. Armed Forces, veterans or surviving spouses of veterans
- Working households with children – households where the head of household works at least 25 hours per week or participates in an accredited educational/training program designed to prepare for employment, and has permanent full-time custody of children under 18 residing in the home.
You must submit changes to your address and/or phone number in writing. It is critical that you keep your address and phone contact information up-to-date so that you can receive our documentation via the U.S. Postal Service. Periodically while on the waitlist, you will be sent a letter to determine if you are still interested in being on the waitlist. You will then have 30 days to respond. If you do not respond within the required timeframe, you will be removed from the waitlist.
Our mailing address is:
MVCAA
Lafayette County Housing Authority
1415 S. Odell Avenue
Marshall, MO 65340-3144
You can also email all changes to: hcv@mvcaa.net
Call our office at 660.886.7476 and dial extension 1401 for Kindall or 1402 for Alexis. You will need to have your social security number available and provide your birth date. Alternatively you can check your position in our system here.
Yes but only when the waitlist is open for applications. Call your local Family Resource Center to schedule an appointment when the waitlist is open. We cannot accommodate walk ins.
A family’s housing needs change over time with changes in family size, job locations and for other reasons. The Housing Choice Voucher program is designed to allow families to move without the loss of housing assistance. Moves are permissible as long as the family notifies the PHA ahead of time, terminates its existing lease within the lease provisions and finds acceptable alternate housing.
Under the voucher program, new voucher-holders may choose a unit anywhere in the United States if the family lived in the jurisdiction of the PHA issuing the voucher when the family applied for assistance. Those new voucher-holders not living in the jurisdiction of the PHA at the time the family applied for housing assistance must initially lease a unit within that jurisdiction for the first 12 months of assistance. A family that wishes to move to another PHA’s jurisdiction must consult with the PHA that currently administers its housing assistance to verify the procedures for moving.
When your name reaches the top of the waitlist, you will receive a packet delivered by the U.S. Postal Service. You will have 30 days to return the packet completed and with all requested documentation. The Housing Specialists will process the paperwork and once eligibility is determined, you are REQUIRED to come in person to MVCAA’s corporate office located at 1415 S. Odell Ave, Marshall MO 65340 for a housing briefing where you will meet your assigned Housing Specialist and receive your voucher, if all eligibility requirements are met.