Your complete resource for understanding the Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher Program — eligibility, applications, finding approved apartments, and tracking waitlists nationwide.
North Dakota participates in the federal Housing Choice Voucher (HCV) program — commonly called Section 8 — which helps low-income households afford privately owned rental housing. The program is federally funded through the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) but administered locally by Public Housing Authorities (PHAs). In North Dakota, those PHAs operate at the city, county, or regional level, meaning the rules, waitlist status, and payment standards you encounter will depend entirely on which PHA serves your area.
HUD provides funding to PHAs across North Dakota, which then manage their own waitlists, set local payment standards, determine eligibility, and oversee the rental assistance process. There is no single statewide Section 8 program — each PHA operates independently within HUD's federal framework.
PHAs in North Dakota include agencies in cities like Bismarck, Fargo, Grand Forks, Minot, and smaller regional authorities. Each sets its own policies within HUD's guidelines, so two households in different parts of the state with identical income and family size can have meaningfully different experiences with the program.
Eligibility for the HCV program in North Dakota is based on several factors:
| Factor | How It Works |
|---|---|
| Income | Household income must fall within HUD-defined limits relative to the Area Median Income (AMI) for that location |
| Income tier | Most vouchers are targeted to households at or below 50% of AMI; HUD requires PHAs to serve the lowest-income applicants first |
| Household composition | Family size affects both income limits and the voucher size issued |
| Citizenship/immigration status | At least one household member must meet HUD's citizenship or eligible immigration status requirements |
| Criminal history | PHAs may deny applicants based on certain criminal backgrounds; policies vary by PHA |
| Prior tenancy history | Previous evictions from HUD-assisted housing may affect eligibility |
Income limits vary by county and household size because they are tied to each area's AMI, which differs across North Dakota's housing markets. A limit that applies in the Fargo metro area will not be the same as one in a rural western North Dakota county.
Because demand for vouchers routinely exceeds available funding, most PHAs maintain waitlists. In North Dakota, individual PHAs open and close their waitlists independently — there is no unified statewide list.
When a waitlist opens, PHAs may use a first-come-first-served system or a lottery to assign applicants a position. Many PHAs also establish local preference categories that move certain applicants ahead in the queue. Common preferences include:
Wait times vary widely. In high-demand PHAs, waits of one to several years have been common. In smaller rural PHAs with less applicant volume, movement can be faster — but voucher availability is also more limited.
When a household reaches the top of a waitlist, they attend a briefing where the PHA explains how to use the voucher. The household then has a set period — the voucher term — to find an eligible unit.
The HCV program uses two main voucher types:
The PHA sets a payment standard — the maximum amount it will subsidize for a given unit size in a given area. The tenant typically pays approximately 30% of their adjusted monthly income toward rent and utilities, and the PHA pays the remainder up to the payment standard. If the actual rent exceeds the payment standard, the tenant pays the difference in addition to their share — subject to HUD's affordability limits at move-in.
A utility allowance is factored into the calculation when tenants pay utilities directly, reducing their rent portion accordingly.
Landlords who accept vouchers enter into a Housing Assistance Payments (HAP) contract with the PHA. Before a lease begins, the unit must pass an HQS or NSPIRE inspection — HUD's housing quality standards review that ensures the unit is safe, decent, and sanitary.
Rent reasonableness is also assessed: the PHA must confirm the proposed rent is comparable to similar unassisted units in the local market. If a unit fails inspection or the rent is deemed unreasonable, the tenant must either find another unit or the landlord must make corrections.
In North Dakota's smaller markets, landlord participation rates and the number of available voucher-eligible units can be a practical limiting factor for voucher holders searching for housing. 🔍
Tenant-based vouchers are portable — households can use them outside the PHA that issued the voucher, including in other North Dakota cities or in other states. This process is called portability.
The initial PHA (the one that issued the voucher) and the receiving PHA (the one in the destination area) coordinate the transfer. The receiving PHA applies its own payment standards and local rules. Portability is only available after the household has met certain tenure requirements with the initial PHA, and not all PHAs handle portability the same way.
Participation in the HCV program is not static. Households must complete an annual recertification — a review of income, household composition, and continued eligibility. If income increases, the tenant's share of rent adjusts accordingly, and the subsidy decreases. If income decreases or the household grows, the subsidy may increase.
Some changes — such as a new household member or a significant income shift — require an interim recertification between annual reviews.
PHAs can deny applicants or terminate assistance for reasons including income exceeding limits, fraud, drug-related or violent criminal activity, or serious lease violations. When a PHA takes a negative action, the household generally has the right to request an informal hearing to contest the decision. The procedures and timelines for those hearings are set by each PHA within HUD's federal requirements.
What applies in one North Dakota PHA's informal hearing process may differ from another's — the local agency's administrative plan governs those details.
The factors that shape any individual outcome — which PHA administers your area, what their current waitlist status is, how local AMI figures set your income limit, what payment standards apply to your unit size, and what preference categories exist — are all locally determined and change over time.
Select your state to view local waitlists, PHAs, and application information.