Welcome To LTRAP
LTRAP is the largest provider of private-sector affordable housing in Ocean County. All of the housing units subsidized by LTRAP are privately owned and operated. LTRAP represents a three-way partnership: it is sponsored by the Township of Lakewood, funded by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), and operated by the Lakewood Tenants Organization (LTO), a New Jersey not-for-profit corporation.
LTO was formed in 1972 for the purpose of organizing, representing and advocating for Lakewood’s diverse renter population. At the time, Lakewood tenants were facing serious housing problems due to a critical housing shortage.
In 1977, confronted by a deepening affordable housing crisis, LTO petitioned the governing body of Lakewood to establish locally the federal Section 8 Housing Assistance Program. The Section 8 Program provides rent subsidies in the form of monthly housing assistance payments (HAPs) to private landlords on behalf of eligible families.
LTO took the necessary steps to set-up LTRAP, and to obtain federal funding from HUD. Starting in 1977 with 80 slots, LTRAP has since grown to assist more than 1200 households, a low-income population comprised mostly of the elderly, handicapped, and children.
