WHEDA Housing Choice Voucher (HCV) Program

WHEDA is in Shortfall and this may affect your portability. Please consult your Program Agents.

What is Portability?

The process by which a family obtains a voucher from one PHA and uses it to lease a unit in the jurisdiction of another PHA.

Within the limitations of the regulations a participant family or an applicant family that has been issued a voucher has the right to use tenant-based voucher assistance to lease a unit anywhere in the United States of America providing that the unit is located within the jurisdiction of a PHA administering a tenant-based voucher program. [24 CFR 98 2. 353(b)]

How Portability Works

Contact Program Agents for assistance in the porting process or review our "How Portability Works" guide for more information.

Before Porting, Things You Should Know

Subsidy Standards:
The receiving PHA may have different subsidy standards. In other words, the initial PHA may have issued you a three-bedroom voucher, but the receiving PHA may, if appropriate for your family, issue you a two-bedroom voucher. Note, however, that the PHA’s subsidy standards must comply with fair housing and civil rights laws. This includes processing reasonable accommodation requests that are necessary for qualified individuals with disabilities.

Payment Standards:
The payment standards of the receiving PHA may be different for each PHA. Payment standards are what determine the amount of the rent that the PHA will pay on your behalf. If a receiving PHA’s payment standards are lower than the initial PHA, then the portion of the rent you pay may be more than what you were paying at the initial PHA.

Re-screening:
The receiving PHA may re-screen you using their own policies, which may be different than the initial PHA’s policies and could result in them denying your request to move. When contacting the receiving PHA, you may want to ask whether they re-screen families moving into their area under portability and what are their policies for termination or denial of HCV assistance. This will assist you in determining if the receiving PHA’s policies might prevent you from moving to their jurisdiction.

Time Management:
You should manage the move so that you have enough time to arrive at the receiving PHA before the initial PHA voucher expires; otherwise, you may lose your assistance.