In a day, more than 35,000 people sign up for Miami-Dade’s new Section 8 waiting list

It’s been 13 years since Miami-Dade County added a name to its waiting list for federal Section 8 rental vouchers. On Thursday, the long wait just to make it onto the waiting list finally ended.

“We had about 200 people lined up outside the library,” said Ignacio Ortiz-Petit, an administrator with Miami-Dade’s Public Housing department. “I told everyone: ‘Listen, it’s not first-come, first-served. We have applications for everybody.”

More than 35,000 people signed up online after registration started at noon, Ortiz-Petit said. That’s not counting the printed forms turned over at regional libraries, including the downtown branch. The day one tally reflects the crush of demand, since Miami-Dade is only taking 5,000 names for its new waiting list.

While there was a rush on the first day, people seeking the low-income vouchers have two weeks to get on what’s essentially a waiting list for the waiting list. The window to apply closes on May 27.

Demand for the federal rent vouchers doesn’t match supply, and it took Miami-Dade more than a decade to whittle down the original 2008 list, which started with 72,000 names.

Now the department is taking a different approach. Rather than allowing anyone on the waiting list as the county did in 2008, Miami-Dade will only allow 5,000 people on the list this time.

After May 27, a computer will create a list by randomly selecting 5,000 names from the people who signed up during the two-week process.

Housing administrators expect the list to last between 12 and 18 months before all applicants have either obtained Section 8 vouchers or been removed — either for changed circumstances, such as moving away from Miami-Dade, or for not meeting federal requirements for the rental aid.

At that point, a new waiting list would be launched.

‘It’s like an act of God’

Promene Jean Baptise, 72, has looked to prayer as she tries for a slot on the waiting list. The retiree rents a place to sleep that has no kitchen access, leaving her able to cook only when she visits friends and family.

Hours after the registration process opened Thursday, she was at the Sant La Neighborhood Center for help filling out the online forms.

“I would have a place to cook,” Jean Baptiste said in Creole through a translator, “and live like a human being.”

About 16,000 Section 8 vouchers are in Miami-Dade right now, according to county estimates, with the bulk of them used by residents to pay 70% of their rent. The remainder will be used to provide vouchers to people who land on the county’s new waiting list.

Though administered by the county, Section 8 vouchers come from the federal government. They provide rent vouchers for private residences, but are restricted by the income levels of renters. A family of four qualifies for Section 8 if household income is $45,200 or less.

The vouchers let renters pursue housing in the private market, unlike true “public housing,” where governments own the buildings and serve as landlords.

“It lets them stay in their neighborhoods, where they have support systems,” said Leonie Hermantin, director of development at Sant La. “If you’re from the north and apply for public housing, what’s available may be in Homestead.”

Hermantin said she’s concerned people who most need Section 8 won’t get help navigating the application process — or will get left behind because they don’t have internet access.

At Sant La, she said 70% of clients don’t have an email address, and more than 40% don’t have internet at home. Miami-Dade encourages online registration, but also has paper applications on its website and at the four regional libraries: downtown, North Dade, Westchester and South Dade. They can be left at the libraries.

Then there’s the challenge of actually securing a slot on the waiting list, much less getting offered an actual Section 8 voucher. Ten people were at San La on Thursday seeking help with registration.

“If you get selected, it’s kind of like an act of God,” Hermantin said.