Mass Dhcd

This office oversees the state rental assistance program, known as the Massachusetts Rental Voucher Program (MRVP), which replaces the old Chapter 707 Program (effective 11/1/92), as well as the federal rental assistance program, Section 8, which remains unchanged. Under MRVP, the office allots money to housing authorities and non-profit agencies to subsidize rents for private apartments. Rental subsidies are assigned to the tenant based on income, household size, and the size and location of the unit. Clients are given a monthly voucher representing a certain amount of money which they present to the landlord; the tenant pays the remainder. The goal of the MRVP is to empower individual tenants by allowing them to use the marketplace to their advantage while affording them rental assistance to supplement their limited assets. The state's role is reduced by providing tenants with the opportunity to negotiate their own leases with landlords with minimal state intervention.