RCAP Solutions provides a comprehensive array of programs which assist tenants in paying for their rent.  These subsidies provide rental support for tenants in privately owned units. The tenants must be income eligible and the units must pass program-specific housing quality standards inspection.

Click here for a list of available apartments.

Our rental assistance programs include:

• Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher Program (HCVP): RCAP Solutions provides Section 8 mobile vouchers to over 3,000 low-income families throughout central Massachusetts through a contract with the Massachusetts Department of Housing and Community Development (DHCD) that uses funds provided by the U.S. Department of Housing & Urban Development (HUD). Rental units must meet minimum standards of health and safety, and the rent must be reasonable in comparison to rents for similar, non-assisted units in the same neighborhood or community. Rental assistance is paid directly to the landlord; the amount is determined based on the family’s income. The family pays the difference between the actual rent charged by the landlord and the Section 8 rental assistance.

• Massachusetts Rental Voucher Program (MRVP): The Massachusetts Department of Housing and Community Development provides funds for the Massachusetts Rental Voucher Program. MRVP offers both tenant-based and unit-based rental assistance. The tenant-based voucher, known as mobile, is assigned to the participant and is valid for any housing unit that meets program standards.

• Rental Assistance for Housing Rehabilitation:  The Section 8 Moderate Rehabilitation Program is a HUD-funded rental assistance program that provides project-based assistance to eligible tenants living in units under contract with the program.  The program was established to provide affordable housing resources and improve the housing stock by requiring that the property owner complete a specified level of building rehabilitation before entering into a Moderate Rehabilitation Housing Assistance Payments Contract for the rehabilitated units. As an incentive, owners could receive rents up to 20% higher than the HUD Fair Market Rents based on a formula that considered the debt service, amenities, management and maintenance costs, etc.

• Project-based Section 8 Rental Assistance: Some Section 8 Housing Choice Vouchers are used to provide long-term, “project-based” affordable housing. The rental assistance is tied to a specific unit for the term of a Housing Assistance Payments contract. This assistance can be used for newly constructed, rehabilitated, or existing units and is often used with other affordable housing development programs to help ensure that the housing produced is available to very low-income households. Some is used for projects designed to serve those with special needs.

• Veterans Affairs Supported Housing (VASH): The HUD-Veterans Affairs Supportive Housing (HUD-VASH) program combines Housing Choice Voucher (HCV) rental assistance for homeless Veterans with case management and clinical services provided by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA).  VA provides these services for participating Veterans at VA medical centers (VAMCs) and community-based outreach clinics.

• Family Self Sufficiency (FSS): A HUD program that encourages communities to develop local strategies to help voucher families obtain employment that will lead to economic independence and self-sufficiency. Public housing agencies (PHAs) work with welfare agencies, schools, businesses, and other local partners to develop a comprehensive program that gives participating FSS family members the skills and experience to enable them to obtain employment that pays a living wage. A separate program, the public housing FSS program, is available for public housing residents.

• SNO Mass Housing Mobility Program: This program supports Housing Choice Voucher families with school-aged children making moves to communities with high quality schools, parks and open space and healthy, safe environments. SNO Mass helps families take full advantage of the “choice” embedded in the Housing Choice Voucher Program.This voluntary program provides a wide-range of supports to help participating families to access and attain residential stability in higher opportunity neighborhoods; locations with high-performing schools, low poverty rates, and environments that have demonstrated positive health and well-being outcomes for children and adults.

• MassHire Career Path Success Program: The Career Path Success Program is a service that provides employment support to RCAP Solutions’ Housing Choice Voucher participants and their households (18 years of age and older). This program is being offered through a partnership between RCAP Solutions, MassHire, and the Department of Housing and Community Development (DHCD) to help households find paths to stable employment and careers.

Please email RentalAssistance@rcapsolutions.org or call our office at 800-488-1969 for rental assistance inquiries Monday to Friday 8:30 AM – 4:30 PM (closed 12:00 PM – 1:00 PM for lunch). Staff members are available by appointment only and for paperwork drop off.