Agencies Offer Housing Information and Assistance

The most common form of rental assistance available to needy seniors comes through the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. The rental assistance, through Section 8 programs, helps assure what the government calls “decent, safe and sanitary” housing to elderly or handicapped people with low and moderate incomes. The rental assistance applies to units in privately owned buildings.

Eligible tenants pay a maximum of 30% of the household income; the government pays the difference between the 30% and the full rent.

To qualify for assistance, a person must be handicapped or 62 or older. A couple is eligible if one of them fits that description.

For a one-person household, the maximum income for eligibility is $16,900. For households with two people, the maximum level is $19,300.

Agencies in the South Bay providing Section 8 information and other housing assistance include:

City of Hawthorne Public Housing Authority, 4455 W. 126th St., (213) 970-7913

Inglewood Housing Authority, One Manchester Blvd., 7th Floor, (213) 412-5221

Housing Authority of the City of Los Angeles, 515 Columbia St., (213) 483-6440

Housing Authority of the County of Los Angeles, 4800 Brooklyn Ave., (213) 260-2009

Redondo Beach Housing Authority, 415 Diamond St., (213) 372-1171, Ext. 415

Torrance Housing and Community Development, 3031 Torrance Blvd., (213) 618-5840

For areas not listed, contact the county Housing Authority.