Our History

Public Housing in this country was established by the U.S. Housing Act of 1937. The purpose of the Act was to provide homes for those of low and moderate income and to provide jobs for the unemployed. The Housing Authority of the City of Reno ("Reno Housing Authority" or "RHA"), was founded six years later, in October 1943, as a municipal corporation under Nevada Revised Statute 315. Since its founding, RHA has also been appointed as the Public Housing Authority for the City of Sparks and Washoe County.

Current Operations

RHA currently owns and manages 764 units of Public Housing (475 for families) in seven different locations in the City of Reno and Sparks under the Public Housing programs and, through the use of the Neighborhood Stabilization Programs and other funding, owns over 100 rental properties specifically targeted for low income households. RHA also provides housing subsidies to more than 2,500 low income families in Reno, Sparks, and Washoe County through Rental Assistance programs.

RHA's draft Annual Plan

RHA is required to submit an Annual Plan to HUD; the 2012 draft plan document can be found here.

RHA featured in HUD training video

HUD contracted with Enterprise Community Partners to create a training video on Scattered-Site, Single Family Rental Management. Due to RHA's effectiveness in handling NSP1 and NSP2, the video features RHA's approach to managing scattered-site, single family rentals. The link to the training video is here.

Section 8 Rental Assistance waiting list open

The Section 8 Rental Assistance waiting list opened November 14, 2011. Information on the program can be found here. To apply, please fill out the Application Packet for Admissions (PDF file - prints on legal paper).

Report to the Community

The Reno Housing Authority regularly distributes a Report to the Community. This publication is an overview of the Housing Authority's activities and accomplishments. The publication can be downloaded here. It is a large PDF file.

RHA is a HUD "High Performer"

The United States Department of Housing and Urban Development "HUD" has developed rating systems to measure the performance of housing authorities across the country.

Under the Public Housing Assessment System (PHAS) RHA has consistently excelled as a "high performer". Out of a possible 100 points, RHA received a score of 98 for the year ended June 30, 2010.

HUD's Real Estate Assessment Center (REAC) performs physical inspections of rental housing that is owned, insured or subsidized by HUD. RHA's most recent REAC inspections in August of 2011 received extremely high scores. These scores are out of a possible 100 points.

© 2011 Housing Authority of the City of Reno