Federal section 8 voucher in Massachusetts - I need advice?

David

As the title says, I have a federal section 8 voucher in the state of Massachusetts. I am a single mother with 1 child who is 11 years old, so we have a 2 bedroom voucher. I literally waited and stayed single rebuilding my life for the last 9 years and as fate would have it, I met my boyfriend and started dating 2 years ago and we're ready to take the next step. I just started a new job with excellent pay and benefits, when I suddenly found myself pregnant!! Please don't jude, I am already stressed out. We were planning on waiting, but here we are and we're both prepared to do whatever we need to do to make this work.

I reached out to my housing case manager to tell her that my boyfriend and I would like to live together and her response was " you can only add marriage, adoption, or birth certificate to your voucher" Meaning, in order for us to even begin living together, we have to get married FIRST?! This seems so backwards!!! Is this even accurate?! How do you know if you want to marry someone without living with them first?!

Before I get a bunch of mixed messages, with having a FEDERAL voucher the rules are much different so I would like information from people who know about this kind of voucher or who have had a similar experience.

I literally feel forced to marry someone in order to keep my relationship and have a father in my child's life, how is this even right?

I have followed every rule and regulation you can think of, and I want to make sure I am doing the right thing. I just want to be able to live with my boyfriend, enjoy my pregnancy, and get married to him with out it being forced. We both talked about it and will go to the court house to get the legal paperwork in order to satisfy the federal government but come on!!!! That's so crazy to me.

Lastly, my income + his income will make our combined household income pretty high which is okay but I'm just worried about losing the voucher altogether? We will become a family of 4 as of August 2025 when we have this baby so I am hoping it will balance out. Has anyone had this experience where they thought their combined household income could kick them off but didn’t??

Idk, I'm just stressed out and need advice!

Thank you 💗

MaxRon

I’m not sure what you mean by a “federal” voucher. All “Section 8” voucher programs are federally funded and managed by local PHAs. Are you in some kind of special program? You can ask to review the Admin Plan at the HA. They might have specific rules about family composition but it seems unlikely and if so could be a fair housing violation. You could have your friend or sister or cousin move in with you. You don’t need to be married. But your partner (or whoever) does need to meet eligibility of the program like doing the background checks etc. and then you have to get them added to your lease. You won’t know if your income is over the limit until they do an interim adjustment on your file. However, even if you go to zero HAP then you have 6 months on the program. By which time you will likely be on maternity leave and have loss of income to bring you back to receiving subsidy (most likely, depends on your partners income).

Edited: it seems like Massachusetts has some kind of state subsidized housing program. Is this what you mean? I wouldn’t worry about clarifying your voucher is “federal” the programs have two different names. Your voucher if it’s funded through the Section 8 program is through HUD HCV. The state program is called something else.

Emilyrose

MaxRon

I was told that there are different regulations for a federal section 8 voucher. With the voucher that i have, I am able to move anywhere in the United States which is what makes it “federal” I guess… at least that’s what I was told. I was under the impression that there are “state” vouchers which only allows you to move with in the state only. This information could be wrong but that’s the first I’m hearing about that. And with the “federal” voucher there are more regulations to follow which is why it makes sense that you can only add marriage, birth, or adoption - but from the comments I’m reading that this information is incorrect…

Would I have to look up HUD regulations for my section 8 voucher?

TheOG1

Many states don’t have state funded housing programs. Massachusetts really seems to provide a lot of safety nets for their residents. Most posts in this sub are for the traditional Section 8 program. Section 8 is a Federally funded program with regulations etc put forth by HUD. So if you say you have a Section 8 voucher it’s already assumed it’s federal. There are regulations that are put forth by HUD and then each local HA has their own Administrative Plan that is approved by HUD. Plans will differ slightly based on the community they serve. If you have a Housing Choice Voucher (“Section 8”) you can port it to another housing authority within the US that is accepting portabilities.

James

At my housing authority, you can only add an adult if you get married, and you can only add a child by birth/adoption/legal custody.

It varies by housing authority. If she's telling you that you must be married to add him, then those are the rules for that particular housing authority.

It's not a federal voucher. It's just a regular voucher, and yes, you are able to take it with you when you move..

ChamsterXC

I live in MA and I've never heard that you have to be married to add someone to your lease. I know several people that have added live in partner to their lease with section 8 and at LITC properties and they've never married

CorusCartel

You do not have to be married to add a partner. But he does need to go through the process. I would go above her.

Alexander

I spoke with a friend who is on a federal section 8 voucher (same as me) and she confirmed what my worker said - that you have to be married. I’m getting such mixed information idk what to do…

Emma

Technically he could be on the baby's birth certificate too. I doubt that's what they mean.