[screaminsunshine]

I think the section 8 is where the government pays for your rent. They were going to give out 62 permits for free rent and this huge mob of blacks showed up just to get an application. It was awful. I think these people are incapable of self sustenance.

[Pearls Before Swine]

I think the section 8 is where the government pays for your rent. They were going to give out 62 permits ...

I didn't pick up the number of available slots, although the article does mention that 13,000 applications were handed out. When there are that few actual slots available, I don't believe the applications have anything to do with who wins. It's got to be personal contacts. I don't believe that the bureaucrats are going to wade through 13,000 applications in some merit-based evaluation process. Maybe it's something like "the thirteenth caller gets the freebie" announcement on the radio, which would be more fair than what I suspect actually happens.

[hoagy62]

Section 8 is income-based. The government pays for part of your rent, based on what you earn (or don’t, as the case may be) and what the rent is. Some people get a full ride, and some (people who actually work, sadly in the vast minority) get only a percentage. What the tenant pays is based on 30% of your income.

Say your rent is $1395 a month. If you make, say, $2700 a month before taxes, you’d pay your landlord $810 and the government pays the other $585.