San Mateo County to open Section 8 waiting list July 7-12
June 23, 2008 – 4:10 pmToday the Housing Authority of the County of San Mateo announced that it will open its waiting list — for the first time in several years — from Monday, July 7, to Saturday, July 12. The Housing Authority will then randomly select 3,600 pre-applications from the completed.
They will also be accepting applications online, though people can only apply in person or online, not both. The County’s announcement said, “Applicants may apply on-line at http://www.sanmateoform.com beginning 6:00 AM Monday, July 7, 2008 through 6:00 PM, Saturday, July 12, 2008. Each household must only submit one pre-application form by mail or online. Duplicate or multiple pre-applications will be rejected.”
The lottery process should make it fairer. It will also help limit the number of names on the mailing list. The longer the list, the less accurate it gets, especially for modest-income people who have unstable housing and qualify for Section 8. Federal law requires the Housing Authority to conduct due diligence with each name, making a certain number of attempts at contact before they can drop a name from the list. My guess is this process will enable the Housing Authority to have a cleaner list, which they can work through more quickly than the previous list, and then be able to open it sooner. (Maybe in two years instead of five?)
Check this page on the Department of Housing’s website for information and flyers to download in multiple languages: Click here.
The full announcement is online here.
Here is a list of frequently asked questions.
