Eligibility

Eligibility Criteria - Eligibility Interview

Eligbility Criteria

To qualify for admission into the Housing Authority of Joliet’s Housing Choice Voucher Program, an applicant household must meet the following criteria:

The household must be defined as a family as set forth within the Housing Authority of Joliet’s Administrative Plan(AP):

Qualifying as an Eligible Family

For the Housing Choice Voucher Program, the Housing Authority of Joliet defines a "family" as an individual or a group of individuals who share residency, have income and resources available to meet family needs, and have demonstrated a stable family relationship. This may include married and unmarried partners, related and unrelated individuals and single people.

The household must contain at least one member who is either a citizen or eligible non-citizen (24 CFR Part 200 and Part 5,Subpart E).
Citizen and Non-Citizen Status

Individuals need not be a United States citizen to apply for housing assistance, however they must be a United States citizen or have eligible immigration status to receive housing assistance. Individual household member eligibility will be verified at the time a household is scheduled to lease an available rental unit. Households that do not have acceptable citizenship or immigration status at the time of leasing may lose all or part of the household’s housing assistance.

Annual admissions into the Housing Choice Voucher Program require the Housing Authority to admit 75 percent of households that have an Annual Income that does not exceed the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development's established extremely low-income limit. The remaining 25 percent of admitted households may have an Annual Income that does not exceed the very low-income limit.
Annual Income Limits
The Housing Authority of Joliet’s Conventional Public Housing Program utilizes annually established U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development income limits to determine if an applicant household is eligible to receive assisted housing.

Household Size*	Maximum Household Income Low Income Limit**
1 Person	42,200
2 Person	48,250
3 Person	54,250
4 Person	60,300
5 Person	65,100
6 Person	69,950
7 Person	74,750
8 Person	79,600

* Household Size is the number of people who will legally reside within the home.

** Maximum Household Income for the extremely low income limit represents an amount that is 30% of the Median Family income for the Chicago-Naperville-Joliet, Illinois area. Income limits are adjusted annually by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.

***Maximum Household Income for the low income limit represents an amount that is 50% of the Median Family Income for the Chicago-Naperville-Joliet, Illinois area. Income limits are adjusted annually by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.

The household must provide Social Security Number for all household members, age 6 or older, or will provide written certification that the youth do not yet possess a valid Social Security Number;

Mandatory Social Security Numbers Prior to admission into the Housing Choice Voucher Program, the Housing Authority of Joliet requires households to provide verification of Social Security Numbers for all household members who are age 6 and above if a household member was issued a number by the Social Security Administration. This requirement also applies to any persons who later join the family after being admitted to the assisted housing program. Failure of the household to furnish verification of Social Security Numbers is grounds for the Housing Authority to deny admission or terminate tenancy.

The household’s members must meet or exceed Applicant Selection and Suitability Criteria as set forth within the Housing Authority’s Administrative Plan (AP).

Applicant Selection and Suitability Criteria The Housing Authority of Joliet is responsible for ensuring that new households that participate in the Housing Choice Voucher Program are not currently engaged in criminal activities. For this reason, the Housing Authority of Joliet screens applications as most other property management agencies do. To be considered suitable to receive an offer of housing assistance from the Housing Authority of Joliet, all applicants must demonstrate that through an assessment of current and past behavior the ability:

To pay rent and other charges as required by the dwelling lease in a timely manner;
To care for and avoid damaging the rental unit and site common areas;
To not create health and safety hazards, and to report maintenance needs in a timely manner to the landlord;
To not interfere with the rights and peaceful enjoyment of others and to avoid damaging the property of others;
To not to engage in criminal activity or alcohol abuse that threatens the health, safety or right to peaceful enjoyment of other residents or staff and to not engage in drug-related criminal activity;
To not ever have been convicted of manufacturing or producing methamphetamine, also known as "speed";
To comply with necessary and reasonable rules and program requirements of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and the Housing Authority; and, To comply with local health and safety codes by maintaining the rental unit in a safe, decent and sanitary manner.

Criminal History Screening
The Housing Authority of Joliet screens all applicants for criminal history. If an applicant’s criminal history indicates that they may not be suitable for the program, the application shall be denied. Denial of housing assistance is automatic if an applicant has been involved in certain offenses, such as:

Criminal History Background	Ineligibility Period
Any felony anti-social crime arrest and/or conviction	7 Years
Any felony or misdemeanor drug arrest and/or conviction	7 Years
Current known user of illegal drugs or a known abuser of alcohol	7 Years
Any crimes that indicate habitual criminal behavior	7 Years
Any misdemeanor anti-social crime arrest and/or conviction	5 Years
Any eviction action due to non-payment of rent from a private or assisted landlord	3 Years
Methamphetamine production in public housing or elsewhere	Lifetime Denial
Sex offenses requiring sex offender registration	Lifetime Denial

Please note that ineligibility time periods begin after the date of conviction and do not include any time that an individual may be incarcerated.

Housing Choice Voucher Program
Initial and Annual Recertification Requirements

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development requires the Housing Authority of Joliet to initially and annually examine each assisted household’s income, claimed deductions and family composition. This process, often referred to as either an “initial certification” or an “annual recertification,” is conducted to determine a household’s monthly rent amount. Failure of a household to report and disclose any and all of its income sources is justification for the Housing Authority of Joliet to terminate that household’s tenancy. Items that you will need to bring to an initial or annual recertification appointment include, but are not limited to:

Information Regarding Household Income and Assets

Name, mailing address and telephone number of the employer. Current rate of regular and overtime pay information, including the number of regular rate and overtime rate hours per week that are normally worked. Three (3) current paycheck stubs. Information regarding any changes that are expected in pay or the number of regular and/or overtime hours that will be worked during the next twelve (12) month period. Other types of income you expect to receive from employment, such as tips, commissions, profit-sharing programs, etc. Copies of prior year filed Federal and State tax returns with copies of all attachments mailed to the IRS or State Revenue Collection Agency.
Benefit and Support Income – For every member of your household who receives any of the following types of income, bring in the name, mailing address and telephone number of the source(s) of income and current amount received:

Alimony
Child Support
Disability Income
Public Assistance and/or Welfare Benefits
Pension(s)
Regular Support from Family or Friends
Self-Employment Information
Social Security
Social Security Disability (SSD)
Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF)
Unemployment Compensation
Veteran’s Benefits

Amounts in Savings Accounts – For every member of your household who maintains or who has maintained for them any of the following types of savings accounts, bring in the name, mailing address and telephone number of the source(s) of the accounts:

Certificates of Deposit
Checking Accounts
Christmas Clubs
Individual Retirement Accounts
Keogh Accounts
Savings Accounts

Owned Real Estate – For every member of your household who owns property, bring in information that identifies the current market value of the property. If any member of your household should own and rent out property, bring in the address of the rental property and information regarding how much income is received and what expenses there are to maintain the rental property. You must bring in last year’s filed Federal tax forms and Schedule E.

Stocks, Bonds, Trusts, Other Investments – For every member of your household who maintains investments, bring in information regarding the investment, account numbers, and current statements of investment value.

Life Insurance Policies – For every member of your household who maintains life insurance policies, bring in information regarding the policies, policy account numbers, and the name and address of the insurance company.

Other Income Sources – For every member of your household who has any other type of income source, you must identify the source, the address, and telephone number, and the amount of the income received from each source.

Disposal of Assets – If you have sold or given away any assets in the past two (2) year period, such as disposing of property or any amount of money to another family member or friend, please bring in information about that asset disposal.

Birth Certificates and Social Security Cards – All household members must produce copies of their birth certificates and government issued social security cards.

Children – Bring in all birth certificates, custody agreements, adoption papers or other legal documents that prove children are legal members of your household.

Full-Time Students – If any family member is 18 years of age or older and is still attending school on a full-time basis (at least 12 credit hours), bring in information about where the individual attends school.

Disability Income – If any family member is a person with disabilities, bring in information regarding any income the member receives due to his/her disabilities.

Displacement – (Program Applicants Only) If you indicated on your household’s pre-application form that your household has experienced involuntary displacement due to a natural disaster (flood, tornado, earthquake, etc.), Federal/State/Local government action, housing/home owner action (can not be an eviction action due to lease violations or non-payment of rent), domestic violence, and/or hate crimes, bring in information that supports the displacement claim.

Working Head of Household and/or Spouse – (Program Applicants Only) If you indicated on your household’s pre-application form that the Head of Household and/or Spouse of the household is working, bring in verification of employment from your current employer.

Household Expenses
Bring in information regarding any of the following expenses the household may expect to have during the next twelve-month period:

Medical Expenses Not Covered By Insurance – (Elderly and Disabled Families Only).
Medical Insurance Premiums - (Elderly and Disabled Families Only) bring in documentation of amounts deducted from your pay for medical insurance.
Childcare Expenses – bring in documentation for childcare expenses incurred as a result of you working, looking to work or going to school.
Disability Assistance Expenses – bring in documentation regarding expenses to care for a family member with disabilities, which enables you or another household member to work.
Utility Expenses – bring in documentation (copies) of all utility bills if you are responsible for payment of utilities under your lease agreement. Copies of the bills must be for a recent three month period. Utilities that will be considered within the rent calculation include electric, gas, and water. Telephone and cable television bills are not utilities.

Note: If an applicant/participant is claiming zero income and the utility bills are current, the applicant/participant must bring in documentation demonstrating how and/or who paid the utility bills.

Applicants who fail to submit requested documentation will experience a delay in admission to the Housing Choice Voucher Program. Applicant delays in submitting requested documentation or the outright refusal of an applicant to submit requested documentation shall result in the denial of Housing Choice Voucher Program assistance and removal from the waiting list.

Current Housing Choice Voucher Program participants who delay in submitting requested documentation or who outright refuse to submit the requested documentation shall be terminated from the Housing Choice Voucher Program.
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