How to Check for Open Housing Waitlists and Avoid Scams
Learn how to check for open housing waitlists at your local housing agency, what to have ready before a list opens, and how to spot fake waitlist sites.
KPCB Staff · Oct 23, 2026
7 guides
Section 8
Plain-language guides to Section 8 vouchers: who qualifies, how to apply and keep your place on the waiting list, and how to avoid scams.
Check what you may qualify for 
Section 8, officially the Housing Choice Voucher program, helps low-income families, older adults and people with disabilities rent a home from a private landlord. You usually pay about 30% of your adjusted income toward rent and utilities, and your local housing agency pays the rest, up to a limit, straight to the landlord.
Most of the work happens before you get a voucher. You apply to a housing agency, not to HUD. Applying is always free, waiting lists are common, and an agency can close its list when it has more families than it can help. These guides follow the order of events: how to apply, how to confirm you are on the list, how to spot a fake waitlist, what a background check covers, and how to move your voucher later.
Income limits depend on where you live. Use our income limit lookup to see HUD's limits for your county, the rent calculator to estimate your share, or take the free Section 8 course. Only your housing agency can decide whether you qualify.
Guides
Everything on Section 8
Does Medicaid Pay for In-Home Care? Coverage and How to Apply
Medicaid can pay for nursing visits, home health aides and help with daily tasks at home. See what's covered, who qualifies, and how family can get paid.
KPCB Staff · Jul 10, 2025
60,000 New Section 8 Vouchers? What HUD Funded and How to Apply
HUD never released a batch of 60,000 new Section 8 vouchers. See what new vouchers were funded in 2025 and 2026 and how to get on a waiting list.
KPCB Staff · Jun 18, 2025
How to Transfer a Section 8 Voucher to Another State
HUD's portability rules for moving your Section 8 voucher out of state: who can move, the steps to take, and what changes at your new housing agency.
KPCB Staff · Aug 4, 2022
How to Become a Section 8 Landlord: Steps, Inspections and Rent
How landlords join the Housing Choice Voucher program: contacting the PHA, screening, inspections, rent reasonableness, the HAP contract and payments.
KPCB Staff · Oct 26, 2021
Section 8 Background Check: What PHAs Look For and Who Is Denied
What a Section 8 background check covers, the four federal reasons a PHA must deny you, what's left to local policy, and how to dispute a denial.
KPCB Staff · May 18, 2021
How to Check if You're on the Section 8 Waitlist After Applying
How to confirm your Section 8 application made the waitlist, keep your spot, and know what happens when the housing authority calls your name.
KPCB Staff · Jan 15, 2021
From the archive
Where these programs began
Public-domain photographs from the history of these programs.
