Eligibility

The Rental Assistance Program is committed to serving eligible applicants and will not discriminate against any person on the grounds of age, race, color, national origin, religion, sex, familial status, sexual orientation, marital status, or physical or mental disability. The Program provides quality housing for those with limited incomes. Our rents are subsidized with federal money from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) so that those with limited incomes can live in quality housing. Therefore, income limits do apply for those wishing to participate in our programs. A family's income can't exceed 50 percent of Oswego’s median income, which the US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) has determined to be $46,650 for a family of four.

The table shows the income limits used to determine eligibility.

                   
Family Size          Extremely Low        Very Low

1                           $19,600.00                 $32,700.00
2                           $22,400.00                 $37,500.00
3                           $25,200.00                 $42,000.00
4                           $30,000.00                 $46,650.00
5                           $35,140.00                 $50,400.00
6                           $40,280.00                 $54,150.00
7                           $45,420.00.                $57,850.008                           $50,560.00                 $64,600.00

In addition to income, an applicant family must:

-    Qualify as a family as defined by HUD and the Rental Assistance Program.

-    Qualify on the basis of citizenship or the eligible immigrant status of family members.

-    Provide social security number information for household members as required.          

-   Consent to the Rental Assistance Program’s collection and use of family information as provided for in program provided consent forms.  The Rental Assistance Program must determine that the current or past behavior of household members does not include activities that are prohibited by HUD or the Rental Assistance Program. All household members 18 years of age and older must consent to a Criminal Background check prior to acceptance into the program.  

PREFERENCES/WAITLIST

Currently, the demand for housing assistance in Oswego exceeds our program resources.

This means that qualified applicants are placed onto our waiting list. Wait time to be selected to be on the HCV program will depend on a number of factors and can be anywhere from a few months to over two years. The Rental Assistance Program recognizes the federal preferences for applicants who have been involuntarily displaced, those who have lost their home because of flood or fire, or those who need to move to avoid reprisals (like someone in a witness protection program).
The Rental Assistance Program also has established some local preferences for applicants which include preferences for those who are employed or going to school or participating in welfare-to-work or job training programs, and for applicants who are disabled or elderly.

Applicants who receive one or more of these preferences may move ahead of those with no preferences on the waiting list. Preferences are listed below.

Priority         Description
Number          

P1                 Families below receive equal priority:

            - Families with children living in the City of Oswego or hired to work in the City of Oswego where                                          the head of house and.or spouse/cohead are working

          - Families living in the City of Oswego where head of house and spouse/cohead, or sole member is
             62 or older, or is a person with disabilities

            - Families living in the City of Oswego where the head of house or spouse/cohead is a military veteran                                (head of house or spouse/cohead is active military, naval, or air service and who was discharged or                                  released from such service under conditions other than dishonorable).

            - Families living, working, or hired to work in the City of Oswego who are victims or threatened victims                               of domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault or stalking

            - Families that were living in the City of Oswego in the previous 12 months  that are now living in a
              supervised publicly or privately operated homeless shelter within the City of Oswego designated to provide                   temporary living arrangements (including congregate shelters, transitional housing, and hotels and motels                     paid for by charitable organizations or by federal, state, or local government programs for low-income                             individuals); or a family in the City of Oswego that will imminently lose their primary nighttime                                           residence and if all three (3) of the following apply:

             • The family's primary nighttime residence will be lost within 14 days of the date of                                                                 application for homeless assistance; and

             • No subsequent residence has been identified; and

             • There is a lack of the resources or support networks, e.g., family, friends, faith-based or                                                      other social networks needed to obtain other permanent housing.

P2            Families living in the City of Oswego who are elderly families or disabled families or families with                                        children where the head of house and/or spouse/cohead are not working.  

P3            Other families living and working or are hired to work in the City of Oswego or families living in the
             City of Oswego and enrolled at a minimum 6 credits of education (or is enrolled in a vocational training                           program)                                                                                                                                                        

P4            Other families living in the City of Oswego not working or hired to work in the City of Oswego.      

P5            Families not living, working or hired to work in the City of Oswego