Become a Resident FAQs

If you are seeking housing, please review the questions and answers below. Then visit our Current Properties page to gather information and contact the property directly.  The property manager can answer questions regarding apartment availability, rent, income requirements or restrictions, and how to obtain an application for housing.

 

What is affordable housing?

HUD (US Department of Housing and Urban Development) defines affordable housing as housing in which the occupant is paying no more than 30 percent of gross income for housing costs, including utilities. If rent accounts for much more than 30%, it is considered a “cost burdened” household. Therefore, affordable housing is housing that has limits on rent that can be charged to lower-income individuals and families, thus allowing for money left over to pay for other necessities like food, transportation, and health care.

 

Why do we need affordable housing?

The National Low Income Housing Coalition states that, “we need affordable housing because it is the key to reducing intergenerational poverty and increasing economic mobility. Research shows that increasing access to affordable housing is the most cost-effective strategy for reducing childhood poverty and increasing economic mobility in the United States.; underserved populations lack housing opportunities. Increasing access to affordable housing also bolsters economic growth. Research shows that the shortage of affordable housing costs the American economy about $2 trillion a year in lower wages and productivity. Without affordable housing, families have constrained opportunities to increase earnings, causing slower GDP growth.”

 

Who lives in affordable housing?

All sorts of people live in affordable housing. This includes seniors, veterans, families, individuals, those that have experienced homelessness, refugees, immigrants, all demographics, and a variety of income brackets. Even moderate-income renters are struggling to pay the rent in many high-cost cities, towns, and counties. A large and growing share of the population cannot afford its housing costs. A Thought Leadership piece by Sebastian Corradino, Archway’s CEO, talks about there being a deficit of some 7 million affordable housing rental units in the United States. In many states, including Colorado, there are 30 units or fewer of income-based housing units available for every 100 very low-income families who need such housing. The pace of new supply has clearly failed to keep up with demand–and this is for housing at all points on the affordability spectrum.

 

How is affordable housing financed?

The rents that low and moderate-income households can pay are often too low to cover the full costs of owning and managing a rental property. There are a variety of ways to finance affordable housing.  This includes a combination of debt, federal, state, historic or low income-housing tax credits, and grants and other subsidies. Archway seeks to finance our properties in many combinations of those and often it can be quite complicated.

 

How do people apply for housing? Who qualifies?

There are different ways of getting into affordable housing. To get into an Archway property, individuals can contact the property manager at the property they are interested in. They will need to see if there are available units and/or waiting lists. These lists change frequently. If there is availability and/or an open waitlist, an application will be provided by the Property Manager. There is an application fee of $32 and after a background check and credit check (student loans and medical debt don’t count) they will be informed of a decision.

For getting onto a property owned or managed by a Public Housing Authority (PHA), the prospective residents can apply to get vouchers to live on their properties. According to HUD, eligibility is based on the total annual gross income and family size and is limited to US citizens and specified categories of non-citizens who have eligible immigration status. In general, the family’s income may not exceed 50% of the median income for the county or metropolitan area in which the family chooses to live. By law, a PHA must provide 75 percent of its voucher to applicants whose incomes do not exceed 30 percent of the area median income. Median income levels are published by HUD and vary by location. The PHA serving your community can provide you with the income limits for your area and family size.

During the application process, the PHA will collect information on family income, assets, and family composition. The PHA will verify this information with other local agencies, your employer and bank, and will use the information to determine program eligibility and the amount of the housing assistance payment.

If the PHA determines that your family is eligible, the PHA will put your name on a waiting list, unless it is able to assist you immediately. Once your name is reached on the waiting list, the PHA will contact you and issue you a housing voucher.

 

Who can help people search and apply for affordable housing?

There is a lot of interconnectedness between different organizations serving lower income communities, such as Catholic Charities, Family Tree (in Arvada), Samaritan House, St. Francis Center in Denver, Archway and many others.  We communicate regularly to seek placement for prospective residents. We all feel a deep responsibility to help these underserved communities. Often a good place to start if you are seeking affordable housing is Colorado Housing Search. You can search Colorado housing to fit your needs and budget, from market-rate to affordable rentals, accessible units, disaster housing, accommodations for seniors and veterans, and more! This website is free to use.

 

What are supportive services and how do they benefit residents of Archway Communities?

This is the essence of what Archway does! Our founders Robb Lapp and David Nestor firmly believed that just providing housing was not enough, they needed much more to not only help residents thrive economically but socially. Archway has developed a full array of services for our resident families and individuals to ensure their well-being, health and development, and self-sufficiency.

Our Supportive Services team responds to the needs of the onsite community and works with the residents to identify building needs and connecting residents to appropriate programming, resources, and activities. This takes the form of onsite programming, such as life skills groups, therapeutic support groups, advocacy opportunities, community integration, youth enrichment programming, and wellness activities. It also means no-cost food programs for our residents, removing another barrier to their health and well-being.

 

I need housing today. What do I do?

Archway does not provide emergency housing services, however we can connect you with a variety of resources to support you throughout your housing application process.