Housing Choice Voucher Program (Section 8 “Tenant-Based” Voucher Program): Housing Choice Voucher Program is also known as the Section 8 Program (Tenant-Based) and is a federally subsidized housing program by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) by providing rental assistance (subsidy) to eligible households under a “Voucher” and tenant rent is based on household income.  Section 8 Program allows tenants to rent a unit from an eligible private landlord who is willing to participate in the program, dwelling unit contract rent must be “rent reasonable” and not exceed KHA’s Payment Standards per unit bedroom size, and unit must meet HUD’s Housing Quality Standards (HQS). A Section 8 Voucher is a “portable” Voucher allowing eligible households to transfer their Voucher assistance (subsidy) to another approved unit or to another Housing Authority and/or agency who administers a Housing Choice Voucher Program (Section 8 “Tenant-Based” Program).

Kennewick Housing Authority currently serves households under its Housing Choice Voucher Program (Section 8 “Tenant-Based” Program) in the cities of Kennewick and Richland and throughout Benton County, Washington.

KHA provides the following “Vouchers” under its Housing Choice Voucher Program:

  • Regular Vouchers:  Tenant-Based Vouchers
  • Family Unification Program (FUP):   Referral Based Program, must be referred by certified State Agency
  • Non-Elderly Disabled (NED):  Vouchers specifically for non-elderly disabled households only

How to Apply for Housing Choice Voucher Program

You can obtain a housing program application at KHA’s main administration office or via this website (see below) and submit at KHA’s main administration office only.

  • Applying to this program has steps containing submitting a full application.
  • Applications will be assessed for eligibility to be approved or denied. All applicants will be notified in “writing” if they have been approved or denied. KHA will not accept incomplete applications.
  • Currently the estimated waiting period for this program could be from 6 months to 2 years after submitting a completed application.

Current Status – Closed

The Waitlist is currently Closed. 

KHA is NOT accepting applications for the Housing Choice Voucher (familiarly known as Section 8) wait list at this time.

You may only apply for KHA properties when the Waitlist is open. You must meet qualifications for the housing unit, including income limits. See the FAQ below for more details.

Check Your Placement on the Wait List

To find your placement on the Waitlist please login to the Online Application website. You will see your place on the Wait List at the bottom of your Account Information listed on the right side of the page. If you have already applied for a housing program, please make sure that we always have your current mailing address. Mail returned by the Post Office will cause your name to be removed from the waitlist.

When your name is chosen, you will receive an Intake Packet to complete so we can confirm that you qualify for the apartment. KHA has the right to screen tenants. We will check records including past landlord references and criminal records.

Family Self-Sufficiency

The FSS program is administered by public housing agencies (PHAs) with the help of program coordinating committees (PCCs). Owners of a multifamily property with a Section 8 assistance contract may voluntarily have an FSS program and may pay for FSS coordinators using residual receipt accounts. The PHA/owner and an adult member of each participating family execute a Contract of Participation, generally for five years with a possible two-year extension for good cause, incorporating the specific training and services plan for the family.

Participating families are provided with an interest-bearing escrow account made up of the difference of the rent the family pays when entering the program and the increased rent that would be charged as the family’s earned income increased. On completion of the FSS contract, a family may claim its escrow account, if the person who signs the Contract is employed, no family member is receiving welfare assistance, and the family has met their other individual goals.

FSS Coordinators in each local program build partnerships with employers and service providers in the community to help participants obtain jobs and services. These services may include childcare, transportation, basic adult education, job training, employment counseling, substance/alcohol abuse treatment, financial empowerment coaching, asset-building strategies, household skill training, homeownership counseling, and more.

To learn more, contact Amanda Taylor at (509) 586-5676 ext 108.

Find out more about the Family Self-Sufficiency program.

Frequently Asked Questions

  • Households must meet the areas income limits based on household size (must be at or below 80% of the areas income limits)
  • Meet requirements for citizenship or immigration status (at least one household member must have U.S. Citizenship or eligible Immigration status)
  • Pass a criminal background check on all household members 18 years and older.
  • Based on previous participation in the program or other federally assisted housing programs
  • Meet other established HUD and Kennewick Housing Authority (KHA) administrative policies and requirements.
  • Eligibility requirements and application procedures for the Housing Choice Voucher Program

Before the Housing Choice Voucher (HCV) waitlist is opened, a notice will be placed on this website, as well as in the local newspaper, the Tri-City Herald. The notice will indicate what dates and times applications will be accepted, as well as where and how to apply.

When applications are accepted, the following conditions apply:

In order for an application to be placed on the appropriate wait list, the applicant is required to provide:

  • Photo Identification (ID) for All Adults (examples of picture ID include: State issued driver’s license or ID card, passport, etc.)
  • Birth Certificates for all household members
  • Social Security Cards for all household members
  • Immigration Card for all household members (if applicable)
  • Verification of Income and/or Employment for all household members
  • Bank Account Verification for all household members
  • Vehicle registration(s) for all household members

Interested parties may make an appointment to apply online at KHA’s administration office during regular business hours or on this website’s Forms page.

NOTE: Applicants must complete and submit an application for each housing opportunity (e.g. if applying for Public Housing and HCV, one application must be submitted for Public Housing and a separate application must be submitted for HCV).

Applications must be filled out completely in order to be accepted by KHA for processing.

Apply Online – Application Portal

No, but you must meet the other requirements.

No. You can make only one application to this waitlist. You may apply to more than one waitlist at a time.

At the end of the application process, you will receive a confirmation notice. Please keep this notice, this is your proof that you applied. KHA staff will not be able to retrieve this notice for you. No more than 15 business days after you apply, you will be able to check the status of your application.

If you have a disability that prohibits you being able to complete this application, please call the KHA at 509 586-8576 during normal business hours. Please expect to leave a message and receive a return call. TTY: (509) 586-4460

The application gives you an option to view it in Spanish or English. If you need assistance completing the application in a language other than English or Spanish, please contact the Housing Authority at (509) 586-8576 during normal business hours.  Please expect to leave a message and receive a return call.

No, an application will just give you a chance to be placed on the wait list.

Housing resources are limited and many more people need help with their rent than the Housing Authority can help. Working with community service providers, the Housing Authority learned that homeless children and homeless persons with chronic health problems are the most vulnerable residents of our community. By focusing our resources on these people we hope to make as great an impact as possible on the need for housing in our community.
Housing Authorities are permitted to establish local preferences to give priority to applicants that meet the preference criteria. HUD specifically authorizes and places restrictions on certain types of local preferences. Any local preferences established must be consistent with the annual plan and the consolidated plan, and must be based on local housing needs and priorities that can be documented by generally accepted data sources [24 CFR 960.206(a)].
KHA will use the following local preferences:

Elderly or Disabled

Elderly family. A family whose head, cohead, spouse, or sole member is a person who is at least 62 years of age; two or more persons who are at least 62 years of age living together; or one or more persons who are at least 62 years of age living with one or more live-in aides.

Disabled family. A family whose head, cohead, spouse, or sole member is a person with disabilities; two or more persons with disabilities living together; or one or more persons with disabilities living with one or more live-in aides.

HUD requires that families where the head and spouse, or sole member is a person age 62 or older, or is a person with disabilities, will also be given the benefit of the working preference [24 CFR 960.206(b)(2)].

Veteran Status

KHA also employs an admission preference for applicants who are veterans of United States military service who have been discharged or released, other than dishonorably, or are the unmarried spouse of a service person killed while in the active service military of the United States.

Local Preference

Person(s) who is/are otherwise eligible for assistance and where the Head of Household, at the time they seek housing assistance, is/are employed and reside with the jurisdictions of the Housing Authority of the City of Kennewick and Benton County and the Pasco Housing Authority.

Applicants should make every effort to ensure KHA has their current email, mailing address and telephone number so that when their application reaches the top of the wait list, they may be easily contacted.

Please be certain we know your current email and address at all times.

If your address changes from the information on your application you must tell us in writing. If we send you mail and it is returned by the post office, your name will be removed from the waitlist.

If your name is drawn from the waitlist, we will send you an email and letter inviting you to complete the eligibility process.

You have 60 days to find a home and complete the process for assistance now that you have a Housing Choice Voucher. The voucher has an expiration date on it. One thirty-day extension will be granted if you request it in writing before the expiration date. A second extension may be granted under certain circumstances if you have not found a unit for reasons beyond your control, or if you need a reasonable accommodation for a household member’s disability.

Step 1: Get information

We will give you a copy of the voucher and a Request for Tenancy Approval (RFTA) with a cover letter for prospective landlords. We will also give you a worksheet telling you how your rent was calculated, and the maximum contract rent you can afford.

Step 2: Find an available rental

You will need to look for housing that is currently available with a landlord that accepts vouchers. We also suggest that you use traditional housing search tools such as the local newspaper.

The landlord will ask you for references and other information to see if you are a good potential tenant. If the landlord does not think you are a good fit for their rental, you will need to find another unit to apply for with another landlord before your time runs out.

Step 3: Return documents to your voucher specialist

When you find a home, you will fill out the Request for Tenancy Approval form with your prospective landlord. You will also need to have a copy of the lease that is not signed or dated yet. These completed documents need to be given to your voucher specialist.

Your voucher specialist will get in touch with the prospective landlord, and ask for any additional information they need.

Step 4: Inspection

If your voucher specialist approves the rental, the Housing Inspector will call and set up an appointment to inspect the unit.

If the rental passes Housing Quality Standards, the Inspector reports to the voucher specialist.

If the unit fails inspection, the landlord is notified of the Required Maintenance. The landlord can:

  • Make repairs required to bring the unit up to standards or
  • Not repair the unit and not participate in the program

If the landlord chooses not to participate, you still have the remainder of the 60 days to find another unit.
Assistance will not begin until the rental passes inspection.

Step 5: Sign your lease and other documents

The final documents are signed by you and the landlord, and your payments will begin.

If you already have a Section 8 Voucher, you may be eligible to transfer it to KHA. This process is called porting.  If you are interested in porting to KHA, please contact your current housing authority.

If you are eligible to port, your initial housing authority will issue you a voucher to allow to port and prepare your paperwork for KHA, the “receiving housing authority.”

Your initial housing authority will need to send your portability documentation to KHA’s portability specialist by one of the following contact methods:

• Email: info@kennewickha.org (PREFERRED)
• Fax: (509) 586-8576 (Attention: PORTABILITY)
• Mail: Housing Authority of City of Kennewick, 1915 W. 4th Place, Kennewick, Washington 99336

Timing

It will take one to six weeks after we receive your paperwork to complete your move. The length of time depends on whether your household composition or income has changed since your last review, how quickly you respond to requests for information, whether the unit you choose is affordable to you, and whether the unit passes inspection the first time. We will issue you a voucher that expires 30 days after the expiration date on the voucher provided to you by your original housing authority. Please make certain you have enough time to complete the process before your voucher expires.

Your Section 8 voucher can be used anywhere in the country where there is a housing authority that will accept it. This is called porting. The rules for porting are the same as for another move.

In order to move, please give notice to your landlord in writing and provide a copy to the KHA no less than 20 days prior to the last day of the month in which you wish to move. If you are in a lease, your landlord must agree to let you out of your lease. You must be in good standing with the KHA and your landlord to move.

In order for you to port-out to another housing authority, here are the steps you must follow:

  1. You must inform your assigned housing specialist, in writing, of your request to port-out, where you want to move to, and when you intend to move out of your current unit. You will need to submit a copy of the vacate notice that you provide to your current landlord.
  2. Your housing specialist will determine if you are eligible to port out of KHA’s jurisdiction.
  3. If you are eligible to port out, your housing specialist will provide you with a Voluntary Portability release form to complete. The Voluntary Portability release form allows KHA to send your paperwork to the proper housing authority and gives the receiving housing authority your current contact information.
  4. Once the portability specialist has a completed Voluntary Portability release form and copy of your vacate notice, they will issue your family a Housing Choice Voucher (if one has not already been issued to you).
  5. Your portability documentation will be sent to the receiving housing authority within 10 business days. Once your portability documentation has been received, it may take the receiving housing authority 2 weeks to process your paperwork. If you have not been contacted by the receiving housing authority, please contact their portability contact to inquire how long you will have to wait before they can assist you in your new unit. It is possible you may have to pay the full rent for up to one month.