Housing / Utilities

See below for rental assistance related to the Covid pandemic (King County/Seattle only).

Table of contents and overview

Low-income housing is usually categorized as either "transitional" or "permanent". Transitional housing usually has a time limit (anywhere from a month or two for motel voucher programs up to two years in some programs). It is generally intended for people transitioning out of homelessness, abusive situations, etc.

Permanent low-income housing is pretty much like any other rental, except that it is low-cost, is targetted to low-income populations, and is usually subsidized either by the government or by a charitable agency.

The Tenants Union
206-723-0500
TDD:206-723-0523
3902 S Ferdinand, Seattle 98118

Information on landlord/tenant laws and advocacy for tenants.
Verified 09/10

Solid Ground Landlord/Tenant Counseling
206-694-6767
1501 N. 45th Street, Seattle 98103

Eviction counseling (advice for those who receive eviction notices), info on tenants' rights and responsibilities. Some rental assistance for one-time crisis. M, W, Th 10:30am-4:30pm.
Verified 09/10

Solid Ground Mortgage Counseling
206-694-6766
1501 N. 45th Street, Seattle 98103

Foreclosure prevention, homebuyer education, advice on reverse equity mortgages (which give seniors money for their home while they still live there).
Verified 09/10

The Urban League Of Metropolitan Seattle
206-461-3792
105 14th Ave., Seattle 98122

Mortgage counseling & low-income housing lists for minorities. Also deal with landlord/tenant problems.
Verified 12/09

King County Housing Authority
206-574-1100 for application and office location

King County Housing Authority, Section 8 Office
206-214-1300
15355 65th Ave. S., Suite 200; Seattle, WA 98188

Covers King County outside of the city limits of Seattle and Renton.

Subsidies for rental housing for elderly, disabled, and families. Waiting lists (at best) for all programs. In recent years, Section 8 has been taking very few new applications, and those in narrow time windows, due to the length of their waiting list.
Verified 09/10

Seattle Housing Authority
206-239-1500
190 Queen Anne Avenue North; Seattle, WA 98109-1028

Rental housing for low-income families, disabled/ elderly/ handicapped individuals. Includes Section 8 housing. 8:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m., Mon-Fri. There are waiting lists; no emergency housing.
Verified 02/13

Capitol Hill Housing Improvement Program
206-329-7303
1406 Tenth Ave., Seattle 98122

Rental and cooperatively-managed housing for low-moderate income individuals and families.
Verified 09/10

Housing Resources Group
206-622-2893
1651 Bellevue Ave., Seattle 98122

Manages affordable housing: Downtown, Belltown, Capitol Hill, First Hill, South Seattle. Income must be two-and-a-half times fixed rent.
Verified 09/10

Downtowner Apartments
206-682-2601
4th Ave. S & Jackson St., Seattle

This HUD-subsidized, 240-unit commercially operated building of studio & 1BR apartments tries to maintain "affordable" rents. 9 storey, elevator.
Verified 09/10

Operation Nightwatch senior housing
206-323-4359 office
email: downtowner@msn.com

Although mainly known for their nighttime drop-in center, Operation Nightwatch also operates a building of low-income housing for seniors. Must be 62+ or "have the health needs of a 62 year old." Rooms are single occupancy, with 4 bathrooms and two kitchens shared among 24 units. Rent is $250/month. Call 206-323-4359 for more information.
Verified 05/2012

Sojourner Place
206-545-4200
5071 8th Ave. NE, Seattle 98105

Transitional housing for adult, single, homeless, and low income women. Mon-Fri 9 a.m. - 5 p.m.
Verified 10/10

University District Youth Center
206-526-2992
4516 15th Avenue NE, 98105

Transitional and permanent housing arrangements and case management. Mon–Thu 9-5 p.m., and by appointment. Ages 13-23. Drop in services Mon. - Thu., 1:15 p.m.- 3:45 p.m.
Verified 09/2010

Wellspring Family Services
206-826-3050
615 Second Ave., Suite 150, Seattle 98104

Transitional housing program (motel vouchers) for families. Eviction prevention for public housing residents.
Verified 09/2010

Hopelink Transitional Housing
425-556-9289

Transitional housing for families (one or two adults with children) and limited singles in Redmond & Bellevue. Sliding scale. Up to two years. Must be employed or in school. No alcohol or drugs permitted.
Verified 09/2010

YWCA of Seattle, King County, and Snohomish County Downtown Seattle Permanent Housing
Women's residence: 206-461-4888, option 3
Other programs: 206-436-8621
1118 Fifth Ave., Seattle 98101

Women's Residence: 126 Units of single room occupancy (SRO) permanent housing for formerly homeless single women located at 5th and Seneca. Call 206.461.4888 and select option 3 for Housing.

Lexington Concord: 59 studios and one bedroom units located at 2nd and Battery. Call 206.436.8621.

Opportunity Place: 145 Seattle Housing Authority (SHA) project based subsidized studios and one bedrooms units located at 3rd and Virginia. Applications are only accepted during set dates/times of the year. As of August 15, 2014, the waiting list is over a year, and they plan to stop taking applications after August 31, 2014 until they are largely caught up.
Verified 10/2011

YWCA of South King County
425-255-1201
1010 S 2nd St., Renton, WA 98055

Emergency shelter line for families with children Rental assistance. Call 425-255-1201 for screening. Might need to leave a return phone number for call back.
Verified 09/2010

Central Area Motivation Program/ Federal Energy Assistance Program
206-812-4940
722 18th Ave., Seattle 98122

Energy assistance for residents of Seattle, generally November through May only.
Verified 11/2009

ELIA Program
206-684-3688

Seattle City Light program for customers facing disconnection and have exhausted federal Energy Assistance Program benefits.
Verified 09/2010

Utility Discount Program and Emergency Payment Assistance
206-684-0268
618 Second Ave., Room 250, Seattle 98104

50% discounts from City Light or other Seattle utilities. Typically not available if you live in subsidized housing.
Verified 09/2010

Minor Home Repair
206-448-5751

Cities of Seattle, Shoreline, and Bellevue only. Although this program is operated by Senior Services of Seattle/King County it provides low-cost home repair for low-income homeowners regardless of age. Also, disabled renters may be eligible for disability access modification with the consent of the landlord. $10 per hour plus cost of parts.
Verified 09/10

Rebuilding Together Seattle
206-682-1231 phone
206-682-8962 fax
811 Harrison St Seattle 98109

Volunteer group providing free home repairs to low-income families, elderly, and disabled homeowners from Tukwila to Everett. Limited resources mean a focus on safety- and security-related repairs such as building ramps, replacing rotting decks, updating flooring, installing hand rails and grab bars, and removing clutter and trash. Can sometimes help with painting and yard work when enough volunteer labor is available.
Verified 07/10

Seattle Office of Housing - "HomeWise" Weatherization Program
206-684-0244

Free home weatherization for low-income homeowners and renters. Also low interest loans for emergency repairs.
Verified 09/10

Seattle/King County only: as part of its Covid-19 response, King County (including Seattle) has set up an Eviction Prevention and Rental Assistance Program to help people experiencing financial hardship due to COVID-19 who are at risk of housing instability or homelessness. More people need this than there is money for, so they are using a lottery method to determine just who gets help. Some eligible people and families have been actively contacted by the county, but most have not. Click here for information on eligibility and to apply.
Verified 05/21

Wellspring Family Services Housing Services
206-902-4271
1900 Rainier Ave. S, Seattle, WA 98144

Eviction prevention: Provides limited financial assistance for low-income (50% or less of HUD income guidelines) families and individuals living in Seattle, as well as advocacy, eviction prevention, and housing stability services.
Verified 9/09

Housing Justice Project (HJP)
206-267-7090 (information line only, cannot take messages)
Room W314 in the King County Courthouse at 3rd and James
and
Conference Room 1281, Kent Regional Justice Center, 401 4th Avenue North, Kent

Free legal help to eligible low-income tenants who would otherwise appear without legal representation at their eviction hearings. Individuals who have a Show Cause Hearing on the same day as their visit to the HJP receive priority. Services include information and educational materials about the eviction process; referrals; legal advice; negotiations; and representation at eviction hearings. King County Courthouse location serves North King County and Seattle residents. Kent locations serves South King County residents. Both locations open Mon.-Fri. 8:00-10:30 a.m. No appointment required.

If you are responding to a court action that has been filed against you, review the pleadings to determine whether the action was filed in the Kent Courthouse or the Seattle Courthouse.

If you are unsure where the court action has been filed against and you live in King County north of Interstate 90 or within the city limits of Seattle, Mercer Island, Bellevue, Issaquah, North Bend, and Vashon and Maury Islands you should go to the courthouse in Seattle.

If you live South of Interstate 90 and do not live in any of the cities listed above, you should go to the Kent Courthouse.
Verified 09/10

• For minor assistance with rent and utilities, see also Emergency Funds and Referrals.
• For emergency shelter, see Shelters.

• As of July 2009, the Shelter Listings site has an excellent national listing of shelter resources, including emergency shelter, transitional housing, and permanent affordable housing resources: www.shelterlistings.org.
• For non-crisis rental searches, myapartmentmap.com appears to be a rather decent "accumulator site" bringing together online ads for rentals and allowing you to search by location, price, number of bedrooms, etc. The content is from advertisements, so should be taken with the usual grain of salt, but the site looks reasonably useful.

Feel free to copy all or part of this document for any non-commercial purpose. Notification and credit would be appreciated.

The master of this page is http://seattlecrisis.org/housing.html.