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<p>For the first time in over a year, the Luzerne County Housing Authority will accept applications for Section 8 rental assistance Thursday.</p><p>Mirroring the last opening in April 2018, applications will only be accepted for one day, from 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. at the authority&#8217;s Kingston office, located at 250 First Ave.</p><p>Opportunities to apply are rare and limited because the demand for assistance far exceeds available slots funded by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, leading to backlogs, authority officials have said.</p><p>During the one-day 2018 opening, 650 applied and were added to 150 already on a waiting list. The previous two-day opening in 2016 yielded more than 700 applications.</p><p>An authority representative could not immediately be reached for comment Wednesday on the current number of the waiting list.</p><p>In general, program participants receive vouchers for their landlords covering 70% of rent and utilities, while tenants pay the remaining 30%, authority representatives have said. The federal government sets limits on acceptable fair market rent ranges.</p><p>The county authority serves all municipalities except for the four cities &#8212; Wilkes-Barre, Pittston, Hazleton and Nanticoke &#8212; which operate their own housing authorities.</p><p>According to a legal advertisement about Thursday&#8217;s opening:</p><p>Applicants must be a member of a family, elderly, disabled or a single person over 18. Preference will be given to county residents and veterans.</p><p>Program income eligibility limits currently range from $23,450 for one person to $44,250 for a family of eight.</p><p>The other limits in between: two people, $26,800; three, $30,150; four, $33,500; five, $36,200; six, $38,900; and seven, $41,550.</p><p>Social security numbers must be provided for anyone who will be living in a unit.</p><p>Due to limited space at the Kingston office, only heads of households and/or spouses should attend the application session, it said.</p><p>In 2018, the applicants included a 77-year-old part-time worker facing a rent increase for her apartment of 31 years and many parents or caretakers &#8212; some disabled &#8212; describing similar challenges covering rent, utilities, food and medication on income that did not keep pace with rising expenses.</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">The Luzerne County Housing Authority at 250 First Ave. in Kingston, where Section 8 applications will be accepted Thursday. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/web1_TTL030818housing.jpg</photo0><caption0>The Luzerne County Housing Authority at 250 First Ave. in Kingston, where Section 8 applications will be accepted Thursday. </caption0><photoCredit0></photoCredit0></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Jennifer Learn-Andes</p><p>jandes@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach Jennifer Learn-Andes at 570-991-6388 or on Twitter @TLJenLearnAndes.</p></shirttailMeta></div>

Rare one-day Section 8 application acceptance scheduled Thursday