National Housing Law Project Housing Law Bulletin

Basic Inventory of Section 8 Projects Now Available

HUD has recently made available information from some of its databases regarding Section 8 projects. Both the California Housing Partnership Corporation and the National Low Income Housing Coalition have successfully merged HUD's data files into a single list of all developments with project-based Section 8 contracts (with the exception of Section 8 Moderate Rehabilitation projects). The fields covered include:

• Project name and address
• FHA project number and program; Section 8 contract number
• Number of total units and Section 8 units
• Date of Section 8 contract expiration

The data currently provides no information on the Senate 8 contract rent level or its relation to the Fair Market Rent for the area. Of course, it has any of the inaccuracies of the HUD database.

These lists currently provide an essential starting point for advocates seeking to understand the impact of the Section 8 contract expiration problem in their community or state, or to begin the process of outreach and organizing affected tenants.

Soon we hope to make this information available in electronic form on Handsnet. Until then, you may request a hard copy of the list for your state by sending a faxed request to Amy Siemens at the National Housing Law Project's Oakland office, at (510) 251-0600, preferably with a return fax number.