MD Housing Search (mdhousingsearch.org) is an online housing locator service that helps people locate available housing that best fits their individual and family needs. The service can be accessed online 24 hours a day and is supported by a toll-free, bilingual call center (877-428-8844) Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. EDT. Individuals can easily search for housing using a wide variety of search criteria with special mapping features and receive apartment listings that provide a multitude of important information about each unit. In addition, the site connects people to other housing resources through website links and provides helpful tools for renters such as an affordability calculator, rental checklist, and renter rights and responsibilities information.
The housing choice voucher program (HCV/Section 8) is the federal government's major program for assisting very low-income families, the elderly, and the disabled to afford decent, safe, and sanitary housing in the private market. Since housing assistance is provided on behalf of the family or individual, participants are able to find their own housing, including single-family homes, townhouses and apartments. Housing choice vouchers are administered locally by public housing agencies (PHAs) such as Maryland Department of Housing and Community Development. We receive federal funds from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to administer the voucher program.
For information on programs in other counties, contact the local housing authority.
Eligibility for a housing voucher is determined by the PHA based on the household’s total annual gross income and family size. In general, the family's income may not exceed 50% of the median income for the county in which the family chooses to live. By law, a PHA must provide 75 percent of its voucher to applicants whose incomes do not exceed 30 percent of the area median income. Median income levels are published by HUD and vary by location.
A family that is issued a housing voucher is responsible for finding a suitable housing unit of the family's choice where the owner agrees to rent under the program. This unit may include the family's present residence. The family and the landlord will submit documentation to determine if the rent is affordable and can be approved. Rental units must meet minimum standards of health and safety, as determined by HUD’s guidelines and the PHA.
A housing subsidy is paid to the landlord directly by the PHA on behalf of the participating family. The family then pays the difference between the actual rent charged by the landlord and the amount subsidized by the program (determined by set area FMR standards).
Since the demand for housing assistance often exceeds the limited resources available to HUD and the local housing agencies, long waiting periods are common. In fact, a PHA will often close its waiting list when it has more families on the list than can be assisted in the near future.
The Waiting List for Housing Choice Vouchers/Section 8 Vouchers administered by Maryland Department of Housing and Community Development (DHCD) is currently CLOSED for the following counties: Caroline, Dorchester, Kent, Somerset, Talbot, Wicomico, and Worcester.
The Waiting List is OPEN for Elkton Maryland ONLY. You MUST live and/or work in the town of Elkton to qualify for this program.
Our waitlist is opened as allowed based on funding availability from HUD. If additional funding allows us to open the waitlist to new names, we will notify the public through our website, newspaper announcements, and ads. You may also call our office, or check online, monthly. If the waitlist opens to new names, they will be selected from waitlistcheck.com via random lottery. You may sign into Waitlistcheck.com to view updates regarding your application.
You may visit mdhousingsearch.org for housing information not associated with MD DHCD.
Current HCV/Section 8 recipient families are eligible for enrollment into our FSS - Family Self Sufficiency Program, providing the links families need to grow stronger and more stable. Ask your case manager for more info or visit the FSS Page.
For information on other and local/rural resources, and programming, please visit our DHCD Community Engagement Center.
The Maryland Department of Housing and Community Development serves as the HUD-designated Contract Administrator for Maryland. The Contract Administration unit is responsible for general oversight, program functions, reporting requirements and quality assurance for all assigned tasks.
Program functions include performing management and occupancy reviews, adjusting contract rents, paying monthly Housing Assistance Payments (HAP) vouchers, processing HAP Contract renewals, terminations and opt-outs and responding to health and safety issues.
This program is administered under the Department's Public Housing Agency Plan, as required by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.
