Housing Authority

The Housing Authority of the County of Alameda, commonly called HACA, provides rental housing and rental assistance in much of Alameda County. This article explains which communities the agency serves, how its housing programs differ, what applicants must provide, and how to handle waiting-list questions, rental searches, and voucher transfers. It also covers office access and the steps landlords take when renting to a household with Section 8 assistance.

Which Communities Does HACA Serve?

The Housing Authority of the County of Alameda’s official website is the central source for its applicant, participant, and landlord services. However, the agency’s countywide name does not mean it administers rental assistance in every city within Alameda County. Identifying the correct housing authority before pursuing assistance helps prevent applications and questions from going to the wrong office.

HACA serves nine incorporated cities: Albany, Dublin, Emeryville, Fremont, Hayward, Newark, Pleasanton, San Leandro, and Union City. It also serves all unincorporated areas of Alameda County. These include Ashland, Castro Valley, Cherryland, Eden Township, Livermore Valley, San Lorenzo, and Sunol.

The cities of Alameda, Berkeley, Livermore, and Oakland each have their own housing authorities. HACA does not provide rental assistance to those cities. The distinction between the city of Livermore and unincorporated Livermore Valley is especially useful: the city has a separate housing authority, while the unincorporated area falls within HACA’s service area.

Consult HACA’s jurisdiction information when determining which agency serves a location. A community name associated with a nearby city can be misleading. For example, HACA identifies Ashland and Cherryland as unincorporated Hayward and Eden Township as unincorporated San Leandro.

Rental Assistance Programs and Their Differences

HACA operates programs funded by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, or HUD. These programs provide rental housing or rental assistance for low-income families, older adults, people with disabilities, and others. The type of assistance matters because it affects the housing search and what happens when a household moves.

Section 8 Housing Choice Vouchers

The Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher Program, abbreviated HCVP, provides assistance that follows the family if it moves, subject to program requirements. HACA’s program information identifies more than 7,000 participating families and 3,500 housing owners. This tenant-based assistance differs from assistance attached to a particular development or unit.

Income eligibility alone does not guarantee a voucher. HACA describes voucher assistance as a limited, federally funded resource rather than an entitlement available to everyone who qualifies. Applicants must distinguish meeting eligibility requirements from being selected for a waiting list and ultimately receiving assistance.

Project-Based and Specialized Assistance

The Project-Based Program subsidizes rent and utilities for a unit in a subsidized development. HACA states that assistance ends if the family moves during the first year. Applicants should therefore avoid assuming that every form of Section 8 assistance moves with the household in the same way as a tenant-based voucher.

HACA also administers Moderate Rehabilitation assistance and maintains property-specific waiting lists for these and Project-Based Voucher properties. A waiting-list inquiry should identify the particular program because the Housing Choice Voucher list and individual property lists are separate.

Other programs include Veterans Affairs Supportive Housing, known as VASH, which supports housing stability for veterans, and the Mainstream Voucher Program. HACA identifies 189 Mainstream vouchers and describes the program as targeting households with at least one non-elderly family member with a disability, including households experiencing homelessness or at risk of homelessness. The housing programs page provides the official starting point for reviewing these program categories.

Eligibility and Information Families Must Provide

Every person and family admitted to a HACA housing assistance program must meet its eligibility requirements. This also applies to a person HACA approves to join a household after admission. The family must supply the information HACA needs to confirm eligibility and determine the level of assistance.

HACA’s applicant eligibility requirements identify the following conditions:

The household must qualify as a family under HUD and HACA definitions.

Household income must be at or below HUD-specified income limits.

Family members must meet applicable citizenship or eligible immigration status requirements.

The household must provide Social Security number information for family members as required.

The household must consent to HACA’s collection and use of family information through HACA-provided consent forms.

HACA may disqualify a family for current behavior or past activities prohibited by HUD or the agency. Its Section 8 Administrative Plan contains more detail about these requirements. Citizenship and eligible immigration status provisions also appear in the applicable program policies identified on the eligibility page.

When preparing information for an eligibility review, keep the program requirements separate from waiting-list correspondence requirements. A request confirming waiting-list membership calls for specific identifying information; an eligibility review requires whatever family information HACA requests to evaluate admission and assistance. Sending a waiting-list confirmation request does not complete an eligibility review.

Disability-Related Access Needs

HACA recognizes that a person with a disability may need reasonable accommodations to have equal access to its programs or housing. Its website includes reasonable accommodation information for applicants and participants. A household that needs an accommodation should identify that access need when communicating with the agency so the issue can be addressed through the appropriate program process.

Waiting-List Openings and Application Scams

HACA’s official housing application page states that its waiting list is closed. It also warns about emails and printed flyers claiming that the list is open or will open soon. HACA says it advertises waiting-list openings through its official website and extension 1 of its main telephone number.

Do not pay money to apply for a Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher. HACA’s scam warning expressly tells applicants not to make such payments. A flyer or email claiming to offer an opening should be checked against the agency’s own announcement before an applicant acts on it.

The April and May 2024 Lottery

HACA stopped accepting pre-applications for its 2024 waiting-list opening at 8:00 p.m. Pacific time on May 6, 2024. Its instructions for that application cycle said applicants would receive a postcard explaining whether they had been selected through the lottery and placed on the waiting list.

The stated postcard notification deadline was August 31, 2024. Applicants who had not received a postcard by September 15, 2024, could contact HACA by email, telephone, or postal letter about the lottery result. These dates belong to the 2024 application cycle; they are not a new application period.

For a question about that lottery, HACA asks applicants to include their application confirmation number, full name, current mailing address, and an email address if available. Its designated email address for those inquiries is waitlist@haca.net. Keep the confirmation number with the application records because it identifies the submission discussed in the lottery instructions.

HACA accepts waiting-list update forms only from applicants selected for the waiting list. Submitting an update form does not serve as a new pre-application or establish that an applicant was selected.

Existing Waiting-List Records and Updates

HACA maintains a Housing Choice Voucher waiting list and separate project-based waiting lists for individual properties assisted through the Project-Based Voucher and Moderate Rehabilitation programs. Its current waiting-list applicant page explains how to request written confirmation and update an existing application.

The agency does not provide numerical waiting-list positions because positions change continually as applicant updates are received. A request for confirmation that a person is on a list is different from a request for a ranking. HACA also reports that it usually has fewer than 10 openings in total each month, so waiting years for selection is not unusual.

Written Confirmation of Waiting-List Membership

To request written confirmation that an applicant is on a HACA waiting list, submit the request in writing and include:

The applicant’s name.
The last four digits of the applicant’s Social Security number.
The year the applicant applied.
The program for which the applicant applied.

The current applicant page provides a message option for waiting-list questions, including confirmation requests. Requests may also be sent by postal mail to HACA—Wait List at the business office address provided at the end of this article.

Because of the number of applicants, HACA says it cannot answer questions about individual applications by telephone. This general waiting-list instruction differs from the contact options given for the historical 2024 lottery notification process. Match the communication method and identifying information to the type of inquiry.

Changes to an Existing Application

If contact information, family composition, or other application information changes, complete a HACA Wait List Update Form and return it as directed on the form. The current applicant page also provides a separately labeled Ocean Avenue update form. Choose the form associated with the relevant waiting list rather than treating all property and voucher records as interchangeable.

An update should reflect the application information that has changed. It is not a request for a numerical position, and HACA does not publish a fixed selection date for each applicant.

Rental Searches for Voucher Participants

HACA offers a free “For Rent” directory aimed at Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher participants within its jurisdiction. Its participant rental-search information explains that landlords advertising in the directory are willing to accept families receiving Section 8 assistance.

The directory allows searches by location, number of bedrooms or bathrooms, and rent range. Listings can be viewed on a map or in a list and can be printed. These features help households focus on units that match their housing needs before spending time on individual inquiries.

Printed directory listings are available at HACA’s central office for people who do not have convenient computer access. The participant page also offers a weekly rental listing, generally generated on Mondays. An office visit to obtain printed material should be planned around HACA’s lobby schedule.

Rental Listings Are Not Approvals

A property’s appearance in the directory does not mean HACA has pre-approved it. Advertised rents may exceed HACA’s limits. HACA can approve only rents that are no higher than rents for similar units in the same neighborhood or general area, and the unit must meet HACA’s Housing Quality Standards.

The directory therefore supports a housing search, while rent and unit approval remain separate program steps. A landlord’s willingness to accept a voucher does not establish that the advertised unit and rent satisfy those requirements.

Voucher Transfers Between Housing Authorities

Portability is the process of obtaining a tenant-based voucher from one housing authority and using it to lease a unit within another housing authority’s jurisdiction. HACA’s portability instructions distinguish applicants newly issued vouchers from households already participating in a voucher program.

Moving Out of HACA’s Jurisdiction

A newly selected applicant family may face a residency restriction. If neither the head of household nor the spouse or cohead legally resided in HACA’s jurisdiction when the application was submitted, the family must live in HACA’s jurisdiction with voucher assistance for at least 12 months before requesting portability.

HACA considers exceptions for reasonable accommodations and for qualifying moves to protect a person threatened by domestic violence, dating violence, or stalking. Any exception remains subject to the receiving housing authority’s approval.

For existing HACA participants, a portability move typically requires compliance with program regulations, good standing under the lease, and at least 30 days’ written notice to the landlord. Other moving conditions may apply. HACA recommends 60 days’ written notice when a participant has not yet located a suitable rental in the destination area.

For a qualifying portability request, HACA sends the necessary documents to the housing authority serving the destination. For participating families, HACA also updates eligibility information before sending the documents.

Moving Into HACA’s Jurisdiction

A family with a voucher from another housing authority must request portability through the originating agency. If that agency approves the request, it sends the necessary eligibility documents to HACA. Existing participants also begin with their originating housing authority, which updates their eligibility information before transmitting the documents.

For qualifying applicants issued vouchers by another authority, HACA says it will contact the family to schedule a portability intake appointment within 10 business days after receiving the portability packet. At that appointment, staff determine income eligibility for HACA’s jurisdiction. Once eligibility is established, the family receives documents for its housing search and leasing process.

For participating families transferring from another authority, HACA schedules a portability intake appointment and processes the household into its program. The agency’s page also states that, effective September 1, 2024, it is billing participants and applicants exercising portability to HACA. This is a portability administration policy, separate from the warning against paying to apply for a voucher.

Landlord Forms, Inspections, and Payments

HACA’s landlord participation information describes how owners enter the leasing process. After an owner and voucher household tentatively agree to sign a lease, the owner completes the Request for Tenancy Approval, or RTA, supplied by the family and returns it to HACA.

Only HACA’s form will be honored. The sample RTA identified on the landlord page is an example rather than a substitute for the form provided for the tenancy. After receiving the completed form, HACA contacts the owner to schedule an inspection and obtain signatures on required documents. The page describes the process as usually taking seven to 10 business days.

HACA inspects a unit when it is first leased to a voucher participant and every 24 months thereafter. These inspections address Housing Quality Standards, including health and safety hazards. HACA also requires additions and significant remodeling to have been completed under permit. A unit that does not pass requires reinspection.

The agency works with owners to determine an allowable rent using payment standards and comparable rents. After the initial lease term, a rent increase must remain comparable to similar units in the area and within HACA’s payment standards.

Landlord Partner Access is a separate online system for Housing Assistance Payment, or HAP, statements and payment histories. HACA states that owners can review their full HAP histories at any time through that system. It is intended for landlord payment records, while applicant waiting-list questions follow the written inquiry process described above.

Office Visits and Staff Appointments

HACA’s office contact and visiting information states that the lobby is open Monday through Thursday from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. The lobby is closed every Friday. Meetings with employees are by appointment only, so lobby access should not be treated as a scheduled meeting with a staff member.

On regular business days, callers may telephone or send email before the lobby opens or after it closes. HACA is closed for all services every other Friday and on certain holidays. Review the HACA Calendar through its website before planning a visit or arranging contact around a Friday.

The main telephone system directs callers to departments through recorded prompts. Listen to those instructions to reach the appropriate service. The contact page also provides an email option and directions to the office.

Housing Authority Office

Housing Authority of the County of Alameda — HACA Business Office
22941 Atherton Street
Hayward, CA 94541-6633
Main phone: (510) 538-8876
TDD: (510) 727-8551

Housing Authority FAQs

Can my rent share change if I lose income?

Yes. HACA’s landlord guidance explains that when a Section 8 household’s income unexpectedly drops, the agency can reduce the tenant’s portion of rent and increase its payment to the owner. A layoff or reduction in work hours may therefore affect how the rent is divided. The adjustment requires HACA’s review; losing income does not automatically change the amount you owe. Provide the information requested for that review, and do not assume your rent share has changed before HACA determines the new amount. The agency’s guidance on rental payments explains this flexibility.

Does a voucher guarantee landlord approval?

No. HACA’s guidance states that owners screen applicants and choose their tenants. Having a voucher does not replace the owner’s rental application or guarantee approval for a particular apartment. Before applying, ask about the screening requirements, lease terms, security deposit, and tenant rules. This helps you understand the owner’s expectations before committing to a rental. HACA’s approval of housing assistance and the landlord’s decision to accept a tenant are separate parts of securing a home.

Do voucher tenants still owe deposits and late fees?

Section 8 participation does not automatically eliminate these charges. HACA’s landlord information states that owners may charge the same security deposits and late fees they charge other tenants. Review the lease carefully so you understand the deposit, rent due date, and any late-fee provisions. Do not assume HACA’s monthly rental payment covers those separate expenses.

Which rules apply after I move in?

Participating families have two sets of responsibilities: obligations under their lease with the landlord and obligations under the Housing Choice Voucher Program. Meeting one set does not replace the other. Keep your lease and program paperwork together, and review both when questions arise about your tenancy. HACA identifies these separate responsibilities under “Family Obligations” on its housing programs page.