Waythrough is an independent resource, not THA. We summarize public information to help you get oriented. For applications and the most current waiting-list status, always use the official links below.

The Housing Authority of the City of Tulsa, which brands itself Tulsa Housing Authority, is the public housing agency for Tulsa and is listed by HUD as PHA OK073. Before anything else, one warning about THA's own website. A page there titled "River West and Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher Waitlist Closure Information" announces closing those lists "on September 18 at 4 p.m." and prints no year anywhere in the body. That notice is from 2024. Read today it looks like a deadline days away, and it is not: the page's own modification metadata dates it to September 2024, THA's news archive contains no waitlist item at all, and the page says "Wednesday, September 18," which was a Wednesday in 2024 and is a Friday in 2026. THA closed those lists on September 18, 2024. What is true today is further down this page, and it comes from the status system THA itself tells applicants to use.

Quick Facts

Serves: the City of Tulsa, Oklahoma
Phone: (918) 582-0021
Official site: www.tulsahousing.org/
Apply: THA application page
Status last checked: September 9, 2026

Waiting-List Status

Waiting lists open and close frequently, so treat the status below as a starting point and confirm on the official site before you rely on it.

  • Housing Choice Voucher (Section 8) and all THA lists: No open lists shown — THA publishes no open or closed statement on either its Apply page or its Section 8 program page. What it does publish is where to check, on its Application Instructions page: "Please do not call THA to check your status. You may check the status of your application at www.waitlistcheck.com." Because THA designates that system itself, we treat it as THA's operator portal rather than an aggregator. As of September 9, 2026, both THA listings there read "There are no open waiting lists at this time." We are deliberately not writing the word closed in THA's voice, because THA does not say it. Call (918) 582-0021 or Rental Assistance at (918) 581-5780 to confirm before relying on this.
  • River West and Section 8, the 2024 closure: Closed on September 18, 2024 — This entry exists to date a notice that is still live on THA's site without a year on it. THA announced it "will be closing the following waitlists on September 18 at 4 p.m.: River West ... Section 8 Housing Choice Vouchers," that "All other waitlists for THA properties will remain open," and that the closure "will not impact existing applications." The notice put over 9,200 applicants on the River West list and over 9,800 on the Section 8 list, with a wait of roughly two years for both. That was September 18, 2024, not 2026. THA's Section 8 Administrative Plan explains the mechanism behind such closures: THA may stop taking applications "when there are enough applicants to fill anticipated openings for the next 24 months."

Programs THA Runs

  • Housing Choice Voucher (Section 8)
  • Project-Based Vouchers and project-based rental assistance
  • Affordable and mixed-finance housing at THA communities
  • Housing Choice Voucher portability for families moving in or out of Tulsa

How to Apply

Apply directly through the authority's official application page: www.tulsahousing.org/applyforhousing/. If you have already applied, call (918) 582-0021 to verify your position and keep your contact information current — if the authority cannot reach you when your name comes up, you can be dropped from the list.

New to the process? Our step-by-step guide to applying for Section 8 walks through the whole thing, and how to find your PHA helps you locate the right authority.

Other Authorities Serving This Area

  • THA's own documents disagree about whether Tulsa still has public housing, so here is both sides. THA's 2026 Annual PHA Plan, filed on HUD form 50075-SM and proposed September 2, 2025, states "THA will have no public housing as of January 1, 2026," and its unit table reads 0 public housing units against 7,341 Housing Choice Vouchers. But THA's About page still describes "traditional public housing," its Apply page still offers a public housing application track, and HUD still labels OK073 as Combined. The dated, numeric, HUD-filed plan is the better document and its date has passed, but three other sources still say otherwise. We are reporting the conflict rather than picking a side. If public housing specifically is what you need, ask THA directly what exists today.
  • Every applicant must attend a domestic violence class. THA holds it at 415 E. Independence St. "every Monday at 1:00pm, except for holidays and closings due to inclement weather," and applicants must be "present and signed in by 1:00pm." It is unusual and almost nobody else publishes it, so plan for it.
  • The Oklahoma Housing Finance Agency (OHFA), HUD code OK901, (405) 842-2471, "provides monthly rental assistance to low-income families across the State of Oklahoma," and its own page says "OHFA's Housing Choice Voucher waiting list is now closed to new applicants." OHFA publishes no county coverage map, so we are not going to tell you it covers Sand Springs, Sapulpa, Broken Arrow or Owasso. HUD's Oklahoma report shows no separate authority for those places or for Tulsa County, so ask OHFA where you fall.
  • THA's own scam warning, worth repeating: "THA does not request or require anyone to pay to complete or process an application for low-income housing." Nobody legitimate will charge you a fee to apply.

More Local Resources

For the full picture of affordable housing in this area — emergency shelter, rental assistance, tenant rights, and legal aid — see our Tulsa housing resources page and our OK state resources.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why does THA's website say the waitlist closes on September 18?

Because that page is from 2024 and prints no year, which is exactly why it misleads. There is no September 18 deadline this year. THA's waitlist closure notice says it "will be closing" the River West and Section 8 lists "on September 18 at 4 p.m." and refers to "Wednesday, September 18." Three independent checks put that in 2024: the page's own modification metadata reads September 12, 2024; THA's news archive runs to April 16, 2026 and contains no waitlist item at all, and a genuine imminent closure would be announced there; and September 18 was a Wednesday in 2024, whereas in 2026 it falls on a Friday. So THA closed those two lists on September 18, 2024. There is no deadline this month. Do not rush an application against a date that has already passed.

So what is actually open in Tulsa right now?

As of September 9, 2026, nothing that THA's own status system shows. THA does not publish an open or closed statement on its website. Instead its Application Instructions page says: "Please do not call THA to check your status. You may check the status of your application at www.waitlistcheck.com." Both THA listings on that system, one for the Housing Authority of the City of Tulsa and one for Tulsa Housing Authority public housing, read "There are no open waiting lists at this time." That is a snapshot of the system THA points people to, not a statement in THA's own words, and lists can open without much warning. Check waitlistcheck yourself and call Rental Assistance at (918) 581-5780.

Does Tulsa still have public housing?

THA's own documents contradict each other, and we would rather show you that than pretend. Its 2026 Annual PHA Plan, proposed September 2, 2025 on HUD's form, says "THA will have no public housing as of January 1, 2026," and its unit table for the fiscal year beginning January 2026 reads 0 public housing units and 7,341 Housing Choice Vouchers. Meanwhile THA's About page still advertises "traditional public housing," its Apply page still offers a public housing track, and HUD's contact report still lists OK073 as Combined. The HUD-filed plan is the more reliable document and its effective date has passed, but three live sources say otherwise, so we are not declaring a winner. Call (918) 582-0021 and ask what exists today before you apply for a program that may no longer be there.

What number should I call?

(918) 582-0021. THA publishes it on its own Fact Sheet, updated March 2025 and linked from the About page, and on both the home page and contact page of its applicant portal. HUD's directory has the phone and fax reversed for OK073 and lists (918) 582-0645, which appears on no current THA page. And (918) 581-5600, the number we ourselves used to publish, appears on no official THA or HUD source we could find, so we have replaced it. For vouchers specifically, Rental Assistance is (918) 581-5780. Other useful lines: application assistance 918-581-5944, inspections (918) 581-5791, portability (918) 581-5742. The address is 415 E. Independence St., Tulsa, OK 74106. THA does not publish office hours anywhere we could find.

How does THA order its waiting list?

By preference tier first, then by date and time within a tier, and explicitly not by lottery. THA's published Section 8 Administrative Plan says "All applicants in the pool will be maintained in order of preference. Applications equal in preference will be maintained by date and time sequence." The higher tier covers involuntary displacement by authority action or declared natural disaster, and households whose head or spouse is 62 or older. Three preferences rank equally below that: domestic violence, including anyone in a shelter as a result of it or facing actual or threatened physical violence; disability, meaning one or more family members who are disabled; and military, meaning a current service member, a veteran, or the surviving spouse of a veteran. Public housing, per the ACOP linked from THA's About page, is chronological: "The applications will be date stamped, and processed in chronological order."

What do I need to have ready to apply?

From THA's Application Instructions: full name, address, Social Security numbers and cards, dates of birth and birth certificates, household income, citizenship status, and pen and paper. THA specifically requires a valid Social Security number and a date of birth entered as mm/dd/yyyy. For vouchers, THA adds that each applicant must complete a Release of Information for Housing Consideration form, that criminal convictions within the past two years may cause denial, that a family member must be a U.S. citizen or eligible immigrant, and that the family must have settled any outstanding debt owed to THA. If you cannot apply online, THA says to "call the property and a staff person will complete your application over the phone."

What do THA's application statuses mean?

THA publishes its own vocabulary on the Apply page, and it is more specific than most. Active means "you have an active application for this program and are waiting selection from the waiting list." Hold means "your application has been selected from the waiting list and you should receive an appointment letter or is in the eligibility determination process," so Hold is good news rather than a problem. Inactive means the application "has been certified ineligible for assistance due to either a balance owed to Tulsa Housing Authority and/or an Undesirable status for a previous residency with Tulsa Housing Authority or appointment letters were mailed and two separate appointments were missed." That last clause is worth reading twice: missing two appointments is enough to end an application.

How long do I have to find a place once I get a voucher?

THA's Housing Choice Voucher page states that "Applicants will have up to 120 days from the voucher issuance date to find a unit and complete the rental process." Start looking the day you get it rather than the week the clock runs out, because the search, the landlord's paperwork and the inspection all have to fit inside that window. THA notifies applicants of selection by first-class mail, and its administrative plan says that notice states "the approximate date that assistance may be offered," so keep your mailing address current with THA the entire time you are waiting.

Sources