Housing Choice Voucher Program

The Housing Choice Voucher (HCV) rental housing assistance program serves low and very low-income households with housing assistance. The program is administered by public housing agencies, and anyone can apply. The HCV program is a federally funded program in existence since 1975 that serves over 2 million households nationwide and over 3,800 households in Arlington, Texas. The program provides financial assistance to enable eligible participants to lease existing rental units from private property owners who offer decent, safe, and affordable rental housing at rental rates within the HUD published Fair Market Rents (FMR). Click the Payment Standards tab below to view the current Payment Standards. Each unit must pass a Housing Quality Standards (HQS) inspection and the rent for the dwelling must be rent reasonable compared to other similar units in the same geographic area.

Participating tenants pay approximately 30% of their adjusted income toward their rent, with the balance paid by the Housing Authority.

The AHA does not have sufficient funding to assist all applicants that apply for rental housing assistance. As a result, the AHA maintains a waiting list. The AHA applicants via e-mail through AssistanceCheck the applicants selected from the waiting list. It is the responsibility of the applicant to update any changes to the information they provided on their application, especially their contact information. Applicants are expected to update their application or check the status of their application online via AssistanceCheck.

Eligibility to participate in the HCV program is based in part on household income. Applicants must meet the Income Limits established by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) applicable to the jurisdiction and to the number of persons that will reside in the HCV assisted dwelling unit. Applicants with gross annual income from all members of their household equal to or less than 50% of Area Medium Income (see HUD Income Limits(PDF, 551KB)) may be eligible to participate in the HCV program.

In addition to household income, the AHA reviews the criminal background, if any, for all household members age 17 and older.

Persons that have committed a felony, or are listed as a Registered Sex Offender, or have used, sold, distributed or manufactured methamphetamines are not eligible to participate in the HCV program.

The AHA lacks sufficient funding to assist all applicants. Applications are placed on a waiting list during open enrollment. The AHA selects applicants from its waiting list when funding becomes available to assist additional households. Applicants are selected on the basis of the AHA’s local preferences. The AHA defines the ‘residency’ preference as applicants that either live or work in Arlington. The ‘working’ preference is defined as persons that are employed. The ‘working’ preference is also awarded to persons with a disability and to the elderly (age 62 and older). Preferences are used as criteria to prioritize, sort and select applicants from the waiting list. Applicants meeting the local preferences are ranked above applicants that do not meet a local preference.

After the end of an open enrollment period, the AHA will place applications on the waiting list as follows:

1. Each application received will be assigned a position on the waiting list by random number assignment.
2. The AHA will sort the waiting list by local preferences as follows:
   1. Applicants that qualify for both the residency and the working preference will rise to the top of the waiting list.
   2. Applicants that qualify for the residency preference but not the working preference are ranked next on the waiting list
   3. Applicants that qualify for the working preference but not the residency preference are ranked next on the waiting list
   4. Applicants that do not qualify for either the residency or working preference are ranked next on the waiting list.

The AHA will select applicants from the waiting list as funding becomes available to assist additional households in the HCV program.

When selecting applicants from the waiting list, the AHA will contact applicants using the email address listed in their AssistanceCheck account. The AHA will communicate with applicants primarily by email but may, at its sole discretion, communicate with applicants by phone or mail. It is the responsibility of the applicant to update their HCV waiting list application with regard to any changes in information, especially changes to their contact information. Not keeping your contact information current could result in being removed from the waiting list. For example, the AHA will send an applicant notice by email that their application was selected from the waiting list and offer the applicant the opportunity to attend an eligibility meeting. If the applicant does not receive the email because they didn’t provide an updated email to the AHA and applicant fails to attend the scheduled meeting, the AHA will remove their application from the waiting list and notify the next applicant on the waiting list. As a result, it is critical that applicants are registered for AssistanceCheck and are properly maintaining their email address, telephone number, and physical mailing address on the Assistance Check Applicant Portal as soon as possible after Open Enrollment. Register on AssistanceCheck.

Open Enrollment occurs annually. Any unselected applications from any prior period are terminated prior to the new Open Enrollment and must reapply.

All applicants on the Housing Choice Voucher waiting list will need to register for AssistanceConnect. This portal enables applicants to:

1. check the status of your waiting list application
2. make changes to your application, and
3. receive important information, notices and invitations by email from the AHA
   You will register by using the PIN number located on your waiting list application receipt. If you need assistance, please contact the AHA at 817-275-3351.

If it is your first time to register, you will be required to set up a User Name and Password. If you have previously registered with AssistanceCheck, you will be able to use the same username and password.

Access AssistanceCheck

The standard used to determine the maximum subsidy for a rental unit, known as the payment standard, is based on rent estimates for each ZIP code (called a Small Area Fair Market Rent).

2025 Payment Standard(PDF, 90KB)

1. HUD and the AHA consider it your responsibility to accommodate participants in the Housing Choice Voucher program when a person with a disability needs either a service or companion animal.
   • An owner must allow both a service and/or companion animal even if there is a no pet policy established by the owner;
   • No extra security deposit may be charged to HCV program participants that need a service animal because of their disability
2. The Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act of 2005 (VAWA) prohibits denial of admission to an otherwise qualified applicant on the basis that the applicant is or has been a victim of domestic violence, dating violence, or stalking. Additional information about VAWA is available on the VAWA website.