More than 18,000 Houstonians will have to go online to reclaim their spots on the Houston Housing Authority’s voucher waitlist to remain eligible for the federal housing assistance, the agency said Thursday.
Anyone currently on the waitlist who does not register a new account through the housing authority’s online portal RentCafe and select “Save My Spot” in the next month will be removed from the list.
Those on the waitlist have until June 2 to keep their spot in line to access the federal Housing Choice Voucher program the housing authority administers.
“Our target is that the 18,000-plus people on the list will respond to the ‘Save My Spot’ campaign and remain,” Senior Vice President of Voucher Operations Kenny Coles said Thursday. “We got a mini-campaign that targeted print and on-air media, targeted our partners, government agencies, elected officials, social media, community organizations, our website, lobby, handouts and we even have these conversations to callers or visitors who walk in.”
Taylor Laredo, a community navigator with the nonprofit Texas Housers, said there are a lot of risks involved in updating the waitlist with only a month’s notice, including the authority’s history of miscommunication with its clients.
“There are a number of families we work with on the waitlist who are frustrated about the lack of communication that comes from HHA employees,” Laredo said. “Given these lapses of communications in other departments, I’m concerned.”
Coles said the agency is making every effort to reach existing applicants and added there are contingencies in place for those who are unaware of the campaign and are dropped from the waitlist.
“The one-month time frame is typical for housing authorities,” Coles said. “This is our attempt to try and get people to comply with the requirements that we as a housing authority are held to.”
The housing voucher program is federally funded by the Department of Housing and Urban Development. HHA has more than 18,500 active vouchers currently in use, but the waitlist has been closed since 2016. Updating the roll gives the authority the opportunity to clear space for those in need, Coles said.
Advocates like Laredo worry those on the waitlist who are not aware of the authority’s campaign could get left behind.
“I’m alarmed by the prospect of a lot of people being removed from the waitlist,” he said. “Especially when we’re at this juncture where there’s a lot of federal funding on the line.”
Coles said he knows there are uncertainties surrounding the federal voucher program under the Trump administration. The administration has cut millions of dollars in HUD funding and issued other financial freezes clouding the future of affordable housing programs.
“As far as funding is concerned, we operate at the whim of Congress,” Coles said. “But it’s a little different now because (the president) is talking about getting rid of HUD as an agency and moving the funding to the states.”
The authority last updated its voucher waitlist in December 2023, but only had 2,500 applicants respond. At the time it did not remove anyone from the list. This year, Coles said, the agency is rolling out the “Save My Spot” campaign to ensure it reaches more Houstonians and is able to accurately update the waiting list.
“People get in that rut if you don’t challenge them to comply and do the things that need to be done,” Coles said.
If there are mitigating circumstances that prevent those on the waitlist from accessing or updating their services, Coles said the authority will make reasonable accommodations on a case-by-case basis, especially for the elderly and disabled.
“I don’t know what (the future) looks like, but the bottom line is, while we’re here and responsible we want to do the very best job we can do,” he said. “The sooner people get the message to register, update and apply the better they’ll be.”
If you are one of the 18,276 applicants on the Houston Housing Authority’s voucher waitlist, go to the agency’s website to create a RentCafe account.
From there, follow the instructions that walk applicants through how to update the 2016 Waiting List Application.
Anyone with questions can:
- call the housing authority at: 713-260-0500 or use the “Contact Us” page
- Or visit the housing authority at 2640 Fountain View Drive, Houston, Texas 77057
Those who do not have readily available access to the internet can visit the authority in person where they can use computers, with staff on site to walk applicants through the process.
Republish our articles for free, online or in print.
