Housing Choice Voucher Program (formerly known as Section 8)

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Basic Info

NOTICE: 

DCA's Housing Choice Voucher Program wait lists are currently closed. 

DCA’s Project Based Voucher Program wait lists are currently closed.

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We have moved!

Our new physical location is 60 Executive Park S NE, Atlanta, GA 30329.

  • All appointments are conducted virtually on Tuesdays and Thursdays.
  • Documents may be dropped off Monday - Friday, between the hours of 8am-4pm.

For questions, call: 1-800-359-4663

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The Housing Choice Voucher Program, also known as Section 8, is part of Georgia's comprehensive housing program administered by the Georgia Department of Community Affairs (DCA). This is a tenant-based rental assistance program that assists extremely low and low income individuals and families rent safe, decent, and affordable dwelling units in the private rental market. The program was created by the Housing and Community Development Act of 1974 and is funded by the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).

The goals of the Housing Choice Voucher Program (HCV) are to:

  1. Provide improved living conditions for extremely low and low income individuals and families while maintaining their rent payments at an affordable level;
  2. Affirmatively further fair housing for individuals and families;
  3. Promote freedom of housing choice and integrate lower income and minority persons into mainstream society;
  4. Provide decent, safe, and affordable housing for eligible participants; and
  5. Provide an incentive to private property owners to rent to lower income persons by offering timely subsidy payments.

The Department of Community Affairs provides the subsidy payment directly to the landlord on behalf of the program participant. The amount of the subsidy is based primarily upon the participant's income. DCA administers the program in 149 of Georgia's 159 counties through regional offices located around the State. The remaining 10 counties that DCA does not have jurisdiction are served by those county’s housing authority.

Housing Choice Voucher Program Funding
The Housing Choice Voucher Program is funded totally by federal funds from the Department of Housing and Urban Development. No State appropriations are used in the administration of this program. 

Families who meet program and income eligibility are selected from DCA’s wait list when funding and vouchers are available. Once a family is selected for a Housing Choice Voucher, they are required to attend an informational briefing to learn about the program rules and of their obligations to the program. When the family receives their voucher, they are responsible for finding a housing unit that meets their voucher size. Once the family finds a unit that meets their voucher standard and the unit passes HUD’s Housing Quality Standards, DCA will begin the subsidy payment, on behalf of the family, directly to the landlord.

Portability refers to the ability to relocate and select housing anywhere in the United States with continued rental assistance. The Georgia Department of Community Affairs (DCA) administers the Housing Choice Voucher Program within 149 of the state’s 159 counties. The 10 counties which DCA does not administer are: Bibb, Chatham, Clayton, Cobb, Dekalb (Decatur), Fulton (Atlanta), Glynn, Muscogee, Richmond and Sumter. These counties are served by their own respective housing authorities. If you wish to move to any of these counties, please contact the Housing Authority administering the Housing Choice Voucher for that county concerning your portability.  See our Frequently Asked Questions about our Port-In procedures. This information should be used by voucher holders when transferring into our program from another housing authority.

If you wish to port to DCA’s jurisdiction, please have your information forwarded to:

Georgia Department of Community Affairs
ATTN: Portability Department
60 Executive Park S NE
Atlanta, GA 30329
 
Phone: 770-806-0625
Fax: 770-679-8813
 

For wait list information,
PLEASE CALL 1-888-858-6085.

For more information on the Housing Choice Voucher Program,
please call 1-800-359-4663.

HCV Specialist Contact Information

If immediate assistance is needed because you are homeless or threatening homelessness, please email HomelessInfo@dca.ga.gov. Additional information can be obtained through DCA's Homeless and Special Needs Housing.

 

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  • Our new physical location is 60 Executive Park S NE, Atlanta, GA 30329.

    • All appointments are conducted virtually on Tuesdays and Thursdays.
    • Documents may be dropped off Monday - Friday, between the hours of 8am-4pm.

    For questions, call: 1-800-359-4663

  • The Georgia Department of Community Affairs (DCA) which administers the Housing Choice Voucher Housing Assistance Program, will conduct a public hearing to discuss the proposed FY2024 Annual Plan on January 29, 2023, at the Georgia Department of Community Affairs building located at 1854 Shackleford Court, Suite 400, Norcross, GA in the conference room at 9am.  

    The Annula Plan and Administrative Plan will be available for review at the Georgia Department of Community Affairs buildings in Atlanta, Norcross, and Waycross from December 16, 2022, to January 28, 2023, during normal business hours.  Any comments regarding the proposed changes can be presented at the public hearing or can be forwarded to Waquele Holley at the following address or submitted via email to waquele.holley@dca.ga.gov until Sunday January 28, 2023.

    GA Department of Community Affairs
    Housing Assistance Division
    Attn: 2023 Annual Plan Comments
    1854 Shackelford Court
    Suite 400
    Norcross, GA  30093
     
    The draft Annual Plan and draft Administrative Pan can be found at the link below:
     
  • Notice Issued Date:  December 27, 2021

    RE:  Update to DCA HCV Reasonable Accommodation Request Policy and Procedure

    Dear HCV Applicants & Participants:

    DCA is committed to ensuring that its policies and procedures do not deny individuals with disabilities the opportunity to participate in, or benefit from, nor otherwise discriminate against individuals living with disabilities, access to any of DCA’s programs, services and activities.  Therefore, if an individual with a disability requires an accommodation such as a modification to a DCA policy, DCA will continue to provide such accommodation unless doing so would result in a fundamental alteration in the nature of the program or undue financial and administrative burden.  In such a case, DCA will speak with the individual requesting the accommodation to discuss alternative accommodations that would not result in a financial or administrative burden.

    The Housing Choice Voucher Program (formally known as Section 8) has updated the procedures to submitting a reasonable accommodation request which can be found here: https://www.dca.ga.gov/sites/default/files/reasonable_accommodation_form_052020.pdf

    If you need a reasonable accommodation, complete the reasonable accommodation request form at the link above and submit them to your assigned housing specialist.  If you have any questions regarding your request or the reasonable accommodation process, you may now contact DCA’s Disability Rights Coordinator via email at drcoordinator@dca.ga.gov.

    The Disability Rights Coordinator can assist if you:

    • Need help understanding the DCA reasonable accommodation policies and procedures,
    • Have questions about information requested from you to support the review of your request for accommodation, and/or
    • Have questions or concerns about how your request is being/has been handled.

    Please note that the reasonable accommodation request form must be submitted to your assigned housing specialist to begin the reasonable accommodation review process.

    Best regards,

    HCV Management Team