Public housing was established to provide decent, safe and sanitary rental housing for eligible low and moderate income families, the elderly, and persons with disabilities. Public housing comes in all sizes and types, from scattered duplex and quad apartments to high-rise apartments for elderly families. These units are owned and operated by the Ocean City Housing Authority (OCHA). Rent in these units is set for each family based on their anticipated annual adjusted income. There are approximately 121 families living in OCHA's Public Housing.

Public housing is limited to low-income families and individuals. OCHA determines your eligibility based on: 1) annual gross income; 2) whether you qualify as elderly, a person with a disability, or as a family; and 3) U.S. citizenship or eligible immigration status.

If you are eligible, the OCHA will check your background through a series of standard screening tests designed to protect the safety of our current residents and property. At minimum, we screen 1) criminal history in the past five years; 2) credit as it relates to your rental history, including evictions; and 3) references from past landlords. Based on this screening, OCHA will deny admission to any applicant whose habits and practices may be expected to have a detrimental effect on other residents or on the public housing environment.

The following income limits are in effect for the OCHA area. These limits are based on the number of family members who will be residing with you in public housing. To qualify for the public housing program, your gross annual income cannot be higher than the amounts listed below.

The Public Housing Applications is located at the Ocean City Housing Authority's Administration building at 204 4th Street, Ocean City NJ 08226.

If you are interested in applying for public housing, you must fill out an application. With this, we will require a copy of a government (city, state, or federal) issued picture ID and social security card for every person on your application who is 18 years of age or older. To contact this department, you may call the Public Housing Department during normal business hours. O ce hours are 8a.m. - 3p.m. EST, M-F, Phone: 609-399-1062. We can be reached by mail or in person at the following address:

Ocean City Housing Authority
Attn: Public Housing Occupancy Clerk 204 4th Street,
Ocean City NJ 08226

The applications process follows the steps below (Note: this is only intended as a summary of the process and may not be all-inclusive):

1. Pre-application - the family fills out a pre-application online in order to be placed on the waiting list.
2. Waiting List - the family is placed on the waiting list according to application date, bedroom size, local preferences, and accessibility needs.
3. Selection - the rate of selection is based on vacancy rate. During times of high vacancies, families will be selected from the waiting list faster than during times of low vacancy rates. Families at the top of the waiting list will be selected in blocks to fill current vacancy needs. Once a family has been selected, they will be notified by mail. They will also be advised in their selection letter of the next steps they need to take in order to continue the application process. If a family fails to respond to the selection, their file will be dropped from our waiting list.
4. Standard Screening - This process involves an in-depth examination of the family's history in order to determine their suitability for housing within OCHA. OCHA will conduct local and national police.
   Check on household members to the extent allowed by New Jersey State law for record within the past five (5) years. Additional screening on credit as it relates to rental history (including evictions). Based on this screening, OCHA will deny admission to any applicant whose habits and practices may be expected to have a detrimental e ect on other residents or on the public housing environment. These standard screening procedures are intended to protect the safety of our current residents and property.
5. Interview & Placement - Once an applicant passes the preliminary screening, they will receive an o er letter to the community that is available. Once the unit o er is accepted, the file will be process by the Occupancy Clerk. At this point the Occupancy clerk will schedule a time and date for interview for every family who passes standard screening. At interview, the sta member will then determine what documents will be needed such as; income verification, landlord references, marriage license, proof of citizenship, etc. If there are any documents required by the agency that an applicant does not bring with them at the time of interview, they will be given a reasonable amount of time to return with these documents. The Property Manager will give the applicant a check list of items needed with a deadline date to return their paperwork. The Occupancy Clerk will process the application for move-in and review all other necessary documents.

All changes to application information must be made online. If you have changed your mailing address, family members, income etc., you must go online and update your application only. If we require additional documentation of this change, we will advise you of what is required.

All official notification will be made by mail. Once your name is reached on the waiting list, OCHA will mail a selection letter to you. This will advise you of the next step in the application process. Please do not contact our o ce by phone or in person to check the status of your application. If, at any time, it is determined that you are ineligible, OCHA will mail a denial letter to you, telling you why you have been denied and advising you of how you may request an informal hearing.

The length of the waiting list varies depending on the number of vacancies we have each month and how many people are applying for housing. The waiting list also varies depending on which bedroom size you qualify for. On average, you can expect to wait the following amount of time from the date you put in your application (the below length of time is subject to change at any given time):

The Ocean City Housing Authority cannot provide emergency housing. If you are in the Ocean City area and are in need of emergency housing, you may want to contact other local agencies who are not a liated with OCHA. For a list of some of those agencies please visit the link below for additional information:

Bedroom size is determined by the number, generation, and sex of the members of your family. If your family composition changes after you move-in, you may request to be transferred to an apartment with the appropriate number of bedrooms for your current family size.

Your rent, which is referred to as the Total Tenant Payment (TTP) in this program, would be based on your family's anticipated gross annual income less deductions, if any. OCHA will exclude from annual income the following allowances: $480 for each dependent; $400 for elderly, or a person with a disability; and some medical deductions for families headed by an elderly person or a person with disabilities. Based on your application, OCHA will determine if any other deductions should be subtracted from your annual income. Annual income is the anticipated total income from all sources received from the family head and spouse, and each additional member of the family 18 years of age or older.

The formula used in determining the TTP is the highest of the following, rounded to the nearest dollar:

(1) 30 percent of the monthly adjusted income. (Monthly Adjusted Income is annual income less deductions, and divided by 12 months).