City of Des Moines Housing Services

Eligibility for the Section 8 assistance program is determined by family composition, arrest history, past participation in federally subsidized programs, rental history, and income guidelines determined by HUD for Des Moines. Additional eligibility requirements follow: One member of the household must be a U.S. citizen or non-citizen with eligible status Must meet income eligibility requirements as established by HUD Must successfully pass screening criteria which includes, but is not limited to: no negative past participation in Federally subsidized programs, acceptable arrest history and does not owe any money to a federally subsidized housing program. Income GuidelinesThe guidelines are updated annually for all entitlement cities by the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) based on prevailing housing markets, area incomes, construction costs and fair market rents. Key levels for federal programs are 0 to 30% - extremely low income family; 31 to 50% - low income family; 51 to 80% moderate income family.