The tenant-based assistance program has been divided into certificates and vouchers, each with different rental payment formulas. Most tenant-based assistance is administered by local public housing authorities, although a variety of other entities also manage Section 8 programs. Approximately 1.4 million households receive tenant-based assistance. 13 Tenant based assistance increases the ability of low income people to obtain housing in the open market, and in theory provides low income people with greater opportunity and housing choice. The administrator distributes certificates or vouchers to qualified tenants, who then conduct their own housing searches.
Tenants usually receive vouchers when they come to the top of a waiting list.
Tenant-based assistance is portable, meaning that the tenant can use it to move anywhere in the country and is not limited to the jurisdiction of the administrative agency. Certificates, Vouchers, and the New Voucher Program Tenant-based assistance has been provided in two forms, certificates and vouchers. Recent changes have merged the two programs into one voucher program, effective October 1, 1999. On and after the merger date, PHAs can only enter into new HAP contracts under the voucher program, not the certificate program. Most tenants with certificates will be moved over to the voucher program in the next one to two years.