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Payment Standards are used to calculate how much rent subsidy the LACDA can pay an owner on behalf of a Section 8 tenant. The Payment Standards do not limit or affect the amount of rent an owner may charge or the Section 8 tenant may pay.  A Section 8 tenant can select a unit with rent that is below or above the Payment Standard; however, a tenant is not allowed to pay more than 40% of their income toward rent in the first contract year.  (Note: These Payment Standards do not apply to the LACDA’s Section 8 Moderate Rehabilitation Program).

The Payment Standard is the amount generally needed to rent a moderately-priced dwelling unit in the local housing market.  The LACDA sets this amount between 90% and 110% of the Fair Market Rent that the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) determines each year for Los Angeles County.

Setting Payment Standards at this level keeps them high enough to ensure that quality housing is available, and also keeps them in a range that allows us to assist as many families on the waiting list as possible.