About the Housing Choice Voucher Program

The Housing Choice Voucher Program is a national rental assistance program, funded by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). The goal of the program is to assist low- and moderate-income families to rent housing in the private market, by paying a portion of the family's rent each month, allowing families to access a broader range of quality housing options.

Families participating in the Housing Choice Voucher Program can rent a single-family home, an apartment or a condominium. Prior to receiving a subsidy every unit must pass a housing inspection. Once the unit passes inspection and rent guidelines, voucher families pay a percentage of their monthly adjusted income toward monthly rent and utilities and CHA pays the difference directly to the Property Owner.

Eligibility

In order to be eligible for the Housing Choice Voucher Program, you must meet the following criteria:

• Currently on the Housing Choice Voucher Waiting List
• Meet income limits specified by HUD
• Pass a criminal background check

Waiting List Lottery Info

The Chicago Housing Authority opened the lottery for the Housing Choice Voucher Program waiting list in 2008.  This lottery was also known as the RentBetter Waiting List Lottery.  The CHA commissioned a city-wide outreach campaign and accepted registration forms for four weeks. All of the names of individuals who completed the required questions and submitted a registration form within this timeline were entered into an electronic lottery where a computer randomly selected the names of 40,000 individuals and randomly assigned them a position on the waiting list.  Those who were given a spot on the waiting list were notified via mail.

If you did not register for the lottery between April 18 and May 15, 2008, your name was not added to the lottery and therefore you are not eligible to be on the waiting list or participate in the HCV Program.  However, you may qualify for other housing options offered by CHA.  To find out about these options visit our Housing page.

If you did register for the lottery, you should have received a letter notifying you whether you made the waiting list or not. The lottery was conducted by an independent contractor, and voucher program staff was not responsible for determining who was added to the list.  For more information, visit the HCV Frequently Asked Questions page.