Your briefing and finding a place

When you are selected, the PHA contacts you and verifies your documents and income again. You then attend a voucher briefing, where the PHA explains how the program works, your rights and duties, and how moving with a voucher works.

After the briefing the PHA can issue your voucher. HUD describes the search time as 60 to 120 days, set by the PHA, and the rules require at least 60. The expiration date is printed on the voucher.

Finding a home is your job, so start right away. Ways to look:

• Ask the PHA for its list of landlords who accept vouchers.
• Never pay money just to see a unit. HUD says that is a sign of a scam.
• Use HUD's Resource Locator, linked from HUD's voucher tenant page, to find Low-Income Housing Tax Credit properties near you. HUD says these properties must accept housing vouchers.
• Ask friends and family, and ask the PHA about neighborhoods you might not have considered.
• Visit units in person before you decide.

HUD suggests avoiding units that cost far more than the PHA's payment standard, units owned by your relatives, and units unlikely to pass inspection. Plan for costs the voucher does not cover: some landlords charge application fees, and the security deposit is not paid by the program.

Some cities and states ban landlords from turning away renters because they use a voucher. Ask your PHA what applies where you are searching. For free legal help, look up your state on LawHelp.org.

When you find a place, fill out the Request for Tenancy Approval (RFTA) packet from your PHA. The landlord completes and signs part of it too. Turn it in with a copy of the proposed lease before your voucher expires.

The clock on your voucher stops while the PHA reviews your RFTA. It starts again when the PHA tells you in writing whether the unit was approved or denied.

If time is running out

Contact your PHA and ask for an extension before the voucher expires. PHAs decide their own extension rules, and there is no limit on how many extensions they can approve. If someone in your household has a disability and needs more time because of it, the PHA must extend the voucher as a reasonable accommodation when you ask.