Many cities across the United States have government-sponsored housing that is available to low income families. If you are eligible, you can move into a low income apartment and the government will subsidize some or all of the cost of your rent. This can help you afford the necessities of living when your income just cannot cover all your expenses. So how do you go about qualifying for low income housing?
Instructions
1. Find vacant low income housing. You cannot just move in anywhere; it must be in housing approved by the government. Your city offices or county housing agency can give you a list of the low income apartments available in your area. Sometimes, there is a waiting list to get into a low income apartment, so apply early.
2. Get a criminal background check. Part of qualifying for a low income apartment is a clean history. Before a landlord will let you rent, they will do a criminal background check on you. This can take up to a month.
3. Confirm your income with your employer. The only way that the apartment management can know what you make is by getting copies of your recent pay stubs and verifying the amounts with your employer. There are income caps on how much money you can make a year and still be eligible for low income housing. In most cases, the amount you make each month will determine how much you pay for rent. Generally, people who make less money pay slightly less in rent.
4. Verify bank account information. The apartment management will also have to make sure you do not secretly have thousands of dollars stashed away somewhere and they do this by verifying your bank accounts. All of these steps are very time intensive, so you should anticipate about a month's down time between when you apply for low income housing and when you can actually move in.
5. Sign your lease and move in. The apartment manager will want to go over basic apartment rules and outline the lease for you. In addition to this, the manager will have you sign papers where you state that you are not committing fraud and that the amount of income you make is correct.
Tags: income housing, income apartment, apartment management, background check, criminal background, criminal background check
