Can I apply for low income housing using the internet or do I need to go to an office

Stayce, yes, you can apply online, and for Athens specifically there is good news: the Athens Housing Authority public housing waiting list has been open with no scheduled closing date, and the application can be completed on their website. Go to athenshousing.org and apply there. Verify the waitlist is still open when you go, because these open and close. Here is the piece that sends most people to the wrong office, and it is worth understanding before you spend a day driving. There are two different programs and two different agencies. Public housing means apartments owned and managed by the housing authority itself. In Athens, that is the Athens Housing Authority, and that is the list I mentioned above. Apply online at their site. Housing Choice Vouchers, which most people call Section 8, are different. You get a voucher and rent from a private landlord. The Athens Housing Authority does not run the voucher program for that area. The Georgia Department of Community Affairs does, and their number is 770-806-5050. So if you apply at the housing authority and then wonder why you never heard about a voucher, that is why. Call DCA and ask when their Housing Choice Voucher waiting list opens, because most voucher lists in Georgia open only during announced windows rather than staying open year round. Ask to be told how they announce it, since you have to apply during that window. There is a third path that almost nobody mentions and that is often the fastest. Tax credit properties, sometimes called LIHTC or affordable housing communities, are privately owned apartment complexes that have income-restricted units. You apply directly at the leasing office of the property, not through any housing authority, and there is no lottery or citywide waiting list. Some have short waits or immediate availability. Your rent is set by the property based on the income limits rather than by a voucher. If you need housing sooner rather than eventually, this is where I would spend your first afternoon. You can search these on GeorgiaHousingSearch.org, which is the state's free rental listing service, and on affordablehousingonline.com. Practical advice on applying, because most applications get delayed for the same reasons. Apply to more than one place. Get on the Athens Housing Authority list, get on the DCA voucher list when it opens, and apply directly at three or four tax credit properties. There is no penalty for being on multiple lists and it is the only real way to shorten the wait. Have your documents ready before you start: photo ID and Social Security cards for everyone in the household, birth certificates for children, proof of all income including pay stubs, benefits award letters, child support, and your current address and landlord information. Keep your contact information current with every agency. The most common reason people lose their place on a list is that a letter went to an old address and there was no response. If you move or change your phone number, update it with all of them in writing. Write down the date you applied and any confirmation number, and follow up every few months. If you get stuck, call 211 for Georgia, which connects you to local housing help, and ask for the HUD-approved housing counseling agency serving Clarke County. That counseling is free and they will walk you through the applications. I am a real estate professional in Los Angeles and the South Bay, so Athens is not my market, but nobody had answered you and this one has a clear path. My name is Zoltan Peresztegi, and I hope the move goes smoothly. Zoltan