Late last night, MPHA added 2,122 families to its family housing waitlist for three-, four-, and five-bedroom units. This announcement follows the agency opening its family waitlist for five days in October – the first time opening this waitlist in three years.

An estimated 3,300 individuals applied for MPHA’s family housing waitlist during the open period. In the weeks following the waitlist closing, MPHA staff worked to verify the eligibility of every applicant, including attempting to contact applicants with incomplete applications to verify their information and/or seek additional information necessary to complete their submission.

Following an extensive verification process, agency staff determined there were 2,122 eligible applications submitted. Because the number of eligible applications only exceeded the 1,500 spots the agency was intending to make available via a lottery-style selection by a small margin, staff elected to place every eligible applicant on the agency’s family housing waitlist.

These newly added names will be placed below the 2,246 people already on the family housing waiting list (1,326 seeking two-bedroom units, 711 seeking three bedrooms, 104 seeking four bedrooms, and 105 seeking five bedrooms). The 2,122 new waitlist names were separated by the number of bedrooms (1,761 seeking three-bedroom units, 323 seeking four bedrooms, and 38 seeking five bedrooms). Following this addition, MPHA’s total family housing waitlist now sits at 4,368 families.

In 2021, the family waitlist opened for five days, accepting applications for two-, three-, four-, and five-bedroom units. Across all unit types, 2,628 families applied, 2,256 of which were eligible and added to the waitlist. The 2021 waitlist opening also included applications for two-bedroom units, whereas the most recent opening did not. MPHA two-bedroom unit availability is limited and the waitlist for this bedroom type is still sizable and did not warrant adding new names at this time.

Last night, Thursday, November 14, 2024, all eligible family housing waitlist applicants were emailed an update on their official waitlist status. In some cases, applicants’ provided email addresses were unreachable (sending an undeliverable error message back to the agency). In this case, a physical letter has been sent to the mailing address provided during the application. In either case, applicants can check their status by logging on to MPHA’s online portal (portal.mphaonline.org) using the username and password created during the application process. If the status is marked “On List,” the application has been placed on the waiting list. If the status is marked “Removed,” the applicant was ineligible and was not placed on the waiting list.

Families on the waitlist are encouraged to ensure their contact information and mailing address on the MPHA’s online portal (portal.mphaonline.org) is accurate and up-to-date. The agency conducts annual check-ups for those on its waitlist, removing individuals and families who are unresponsive to the agency’s repeated inquiries to ensure accurate information. Individuals and families on the waitlist are strongly encouraged to promptly respond to periodic email/physical mail/phone call inquiries from MPHA.

On occasion, individuals who otherwise remain eligible for MPHA family housing are removed from the waiting list because of an inability for agency staff to contact them. If/when this happens, these residents have one year to contact MPHA to reclaim their spot on the family housing waitlist.

Additionally, as families are called up from the waitlist, MPHA staff verify they still qualify as they may have experienced changes of income or household composition (ex. children move out) since being added to the waitlist. When this happens, individuals may be shifted to smaller waitlists for more applicable MPHA housing programs. Other times, families increase their earned income and are no longer eligible for the income-restricted program, so they are removed from the waitlist and the next family on the waitlist would be called.

These waitlist administration activities are required by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and are detailed in guidelines and recommendations to ensure public housing authorities across the country maintain lists of qualified, active names.

With MPHA adding 2,122 families to its family housing waitlist, the agency is working to get more families housed in its portfolio of nearly 800 deeply affordable family homes. These homes are the agency’s most sought-after housing type and are a proven tool for upward economic mobility.