Apartments that accept Section 8: how to find a landlord

Start your search for apartments that accept a Section 8 voucher with two lists: your housing office's list of landlords who take vouchers, and the tax credit buildings near you. A Section 8 voucher pays part of your rent, but only at an apartment whose landlord agrees to rent to you. Most tax credit buildings can't turn you away just because you have a voucher, though they still screen applicants.

If you don't have a voucher yet, see which housing offices are taking names on our area-wide waitlists page.

Where do voucher holders find apartments?

Start with these places:

• Your housing office. Ask for its list of landlords who have said they want to rent to voucher holders, and for any local listing services it knows. The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), the federal housing department, suggests this in its tips for the home search. Find your office in HUD's directory of housing offices.
• Tax credit buildings. A tax credit building is a privately owned building that got a federal tax break for keeping its rents low. HUD's tenant page says these buildings must accept vouchers as a way to pay rent. Under the federal tax credit law, a tax credit building's agreement with the state must bar it from turning you away because you have a voucher. The law added that rule in 1993, so ask an older building's office whether it applies.
• Project-based voucher buildings. Some housing offices attach vouchers to apartments in particular buildings. A project-based voucher lowers the rent on one apartment while you live there. If you move out in your first year, you lose the lower rent; after a year, you can ask for a voucher you can take with you. This is separate from the voucher you hold: ask your housing office which buildings it has and how to get on a building's list.
• Our building directory. Our buildings page lists tax credit and other buildings with lower rents, by area. Call each one and ask whether it accepts vouchers and whether its waitlist, the line for the next free apartment, is open.
• General rental websites. Search the big rental listing websites for listings that mention vouchers, and call to confirm.

How much rent can you afford with a voucher?

Your housing office sets a voucher limit for each home size, officially the payment standard. It is the highest rent plus utilities an apartment can have while you pay only your base payment, about 30% of your monthly income after deductions. It is not what the voucher pays, and it isn't the most rent a landlord can charge: you can rent a costlier apartment, but you pay the extra yourself. Federal rules let a housing office set it anywhere from 90% to 110% of HUD's fair market rent without asking HUD first.

When the rent plus utilities is at or under the voucher limit, the housing office pays the landlord everything above your base payment. When it is higher, you pay your base payment plus everything above the voucher limit. When you first rent an apartment with the voucher, what you pay can't be more than 40% of your monthly income after deductions. If you rent an apartment with more bedrooms than your voucher is for, the voucher limit for your voucher's size is used.

Say the voucher limit for a two-bedroom is $1,500, the apartment's rent plus utilities is $1,650, and your monthly income after deductions is $2,000. Your base payment is 30% of $2,000, or $600. The voucher pays $900 ($1,500 minus $600). You pay $750: your $600 plus the $150 above the voucher limit. That is 37.5% of your income, so it is under the 40% rule, and you can take the apartment. Our guide to HUD fair market rents explains where the limit comes from.

What happens after you find an apartment?

1. Fill in the Request for Tenancy Approval. You and the landlord fill in this form together and send it to the housing office to start the review.
2. The housing office inspects the apartment. It must pass the office's health and safety inspection. Federal rules say smaller housing offices must inspect and tell you and the landlord the result within 15 days of your request. Larger offices must do so within a reasonable time.
3. The housing office checks that the rent is reasonable compared with similar apartments nearby that get no government help.
4. You and the landlord sign a lease. HUD's tenancy addendum, a form that adds the voucher program's rules, is attached to it. The landlord and the housing office also sign a contract for the housing office's payments. The housing office can't approve the lease until the apartment has passed the inspection and the rent is found reasonable.

The landlord chooses the tenant, keeps the apartment in good repair, collects your share of the rent and any security deposit, and enforces the lease. HUD's tenant page says some housing offices make voucher holders pay their own security deposit, and some landlords charge application fees, so set money aside for both.

How long do you have to search?

Federal rules give you at least 60 days, and HUD says housing offices give 60 to 120 days. The clock stops from the day you hand in your Request for Tenancy Approval until the housing office tells you in writing whether it approved. If you need more time, ask your housing office for an extension. It decides, but if you need more time because of a disability, it must give you what you reasonably need.

Can a landlord refuse a voucher?

Whether a landlord can refuse a voucher depends on where the apartment is. The federal Fair Housing Act bans turning you away because of your race, color, national origin, religion, sex, family status or disability, but not because of how you pay rent. HUD's tenant page says some communities ban refusing voucher holders. Some examples:

• California. The state's Civil Rights Department says landlords can't refuse a tenant because of how they pay rent, including with a Section 8 voucher. See our California page.
• Massachusetts. State law bans refusing a tenant because they receive rental assistance or a housing subsidy. See our Massachusetts page.
• New Jersey. The state's civil rights division says a landlord can't refuse a Section 8 voucher or post "Section 8 not accepted." Since January 12, 2026, any minimum income rule must count only the part of the rent you pay yourself. See our New Jersey page.
• Texas. Senate Bill 267, from 2015, bars cities and counties from passing rules that stop landlords from refusing a voucher, except rules that protect veterans. See our Texas page.

Federal rules also cover HUD's HOME Investment Partnerships program, which gives states and cities money to build and fix up affordable housing. Owners of rental buildings paid for with it can't turn you away because you have a voucher. Where no law applies, a landlord can say no, so ask before you apply and keep your search wide. If you think a landlord broke the law, contact your local fair housing or human rights agency.

What about credit, eviction and criminal history?

The landlord chooses the tenant. Federal rules let a landlord look at your history of paying rent and utilities, how you took care of past homes and how you treated neighbors. It can also look at drug-related or other criminal activity that threatened others. The housing office gives the landlord your current and past addresses and the names of your landlords, if it knows them.

Have past landlords' and personal references' contact details ready, along with an explanation of anything that may show up on a credit or criminal record check. Under federal rules for survivors, being a survivor of domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault or stalking is never a reason to turn you down if you otherwise qualify. Our guide to Section 8 requirements covers who can get a voucher.

How do you avoid scams?

You should never have to pay to see an apartment, HUD's tips say. Don't give out personal details until you've seen the apartment and are filling in an application. Our guide to Section 8 and housing scams lists more warning signs.

What should you do next?

Call your housing office for its landlord list, then work through the tax credit buildings near you in our building directory. Use our qualify check to see which open listings fit your household's income, and browse open listings where the rent is close to your voucher limit.