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City of Tucson: Beware of housing scams ahead of waitlist

Use only official .gov links for public housing waitlist

The city of Tucson has announced plans to re-open its Section 8 housing waitlist early in 2023, on Jan. 3. City officials are warning the public: Do not fill out applications before the waitlist opens.

By: Anne Simmons

Posted

TUCSON, Ariz. (KGUN) — The City of Tucson will re-open its public housing waitlist in January for the first time since 2017. Until that time, officials from the Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD) are warning: Do not fill out application materials you may find around social media.

According to HCD, multiple links for active housing applications and vouchers have been circulated online. They say no applications are live yet, so if you spot one, do not click it.

"Be skeptical! If it is probably too good to be true, it probably is," HCD shared via social media. The department also presented an example of what the scam posts look like:

Some additional tips HDC recommends following:

Use only the official link from the city's website to get FAQ and contact information
- waitlist.tucsonaz.gov
  - This site will display in your browser as housing-waitlist-cotgis.hub.arcgis.com/
Do not provide your social security number, any form of payment, or your legal status
- The pre-application, once open, does NOT ask for this information
Do not fill out an application you find online prior to Jan. 3, 2023.
Report spam links to the city by emailing TucsonWaitingList@Tucsonaz.gov, or leave a message at (520) 791-5840

SCAM ALERT 🚨 The @cityoftucson has been made aware of spam accounts sending out incorrect links for our public housing waitlist. 🧵

Only use links on https://t.co/l3stDikTFv. pic.twitter.com/zK5NN1yr4y
— Dept. of Housing & Community Development (@TucsonHCD) December 13, 2022

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Anne Simmons is the digital executive producer for KGUN 9. Anne got her start in television while still a student at the University of Arizona. Before joining KGUN, she managed multiple public access television stations in the Bay Area and has worked as a video producer in the non-profit sector. Share your story ideas and important issues with Anne by emailing anne.simmons@kgun9.com or by connecting on Instagram, Twitter or LinkedIn.