HUD policies threaten poor, elderly, disabled, and low-income people with eviction

HUD policies threaten poor, elderly, disabled, and low-income people with eviction

By Lynda Carson — August 17, 2016

Policies that could be used to assist the African-American community in having preferences for obtaining subsidized housing are being shredded in the name of Fair Housing laws used to oppose concentrations of poverty, under the Obama administration.

One recent case in San Francisco reported by the SF Chronicle helps to shed light on what is happening after HUD rejected a housing plan to help minorities to stay in the neighborhoods they have resided in for years. The HUD rejection of the housing plan will have an immediate impact in regards to who will be selected to move into a project at Turk and Webster St, known as the Willie B. Kennedy senior housing development.

In this case according to the Chronicle, a plan was conceived to set aside 40 percent of housing for locals in the district at a new 98-unit subsidized housing development planned to open this fall, by giving the locals better odds in a lottery. The plan that was rejected by HUD places housing advocates at odds with fair housing laws.

In a letter to HUD from Lee Olson of the mayor’s Office of Housing and Community Development, he said, “The program’s goal is to provide existing residents the choice to stay within their communities when market rents rise rapidly.”

However, according to the report, “The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) has rejected San Francisco’s neighborhood housing preference plan (better odds in the lottery), which will have an immediate impact on the city’s attempt to use policy to stem the exodus of African Americans and members of other minority groups from neighborhoods that are rapidly gentrifying.”

A spokeswoman for the mayor, Deirdre Hussey said, “We urge HUD to reconsider their objections to San Francisco's neighborhood preference program and allow us to prioritize keeping people in the neighborhoods where they have built a life and have strong community connections.”

Section 8 Tenants Face Higher Rents Or Displacement

A different case that is allegedly meant to combat segregation and to break up concentrations of poverty by HUD and the Obama administration, actually threatens Section 8 renters (Housing Choice Voucher holders) with higher rents for the elderly, poor and disabled. Additionally, the new HUD proposal threatens tens of thousands of Section 8 renters with eviction from their existing housing, and has many Section 8 tenants worried about their future in New York, and elsewhere.

According to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities there are around 2.2 million low-income households receiving assistance to pay their rents from federal rental assistance through the Housing Choice Voucher Program.

A report by the Daily News in New York, reveals how a number of critics are very concerned about a new HUD policy moving forward that is meant to break up concentrations of poverty in New York City, and 30 other metropolitan areas across the nation.

If enacted into law, the new HUD proposal meant to change the way it hands out Section 8 vouchers to poor people, actually threatens the poor, elderly and disabled Section 8 renters (Housing Choice Voucher holders) all across the nation with eviction, and higher rents.

The policy shift would force Section 8 tenants to pay more in rent for their subsidized rental housing units if they reside in neighborhoods with concentrations of poverty, or poor people.

According to the report, “HUD wants to make the maximum rent level eligible for subsidy to be zip-code specific. That would lower the amount paid out in high-poverty areas, where average rent is lower, and hike the subsidies in more affluent areas.”

“For instance, the rule change in zip code 10451 in the South Bronx would lower the average rent cutoff from $1,727 to $1,287. Tenants would have to either make up the $440-a-month difference, or move. At the same time, in the higher-income downtown Brooklyn zip code 11201, the average rent cutoff eligible for subsidy would rise from $1,815 to $2,365.”

Imagine that. A new policy is being instituted in which poor Section 8 voucher holders will be attacked by the federal government and forced to pay higher rents, because they reside in neighborhoods where other poor people reside. This sounds like something Franz Kafka would have written about if he were still alive.

This new policy is of much concern to most poor Section 8 renters in California and elsewhere because SB 1053 failed to be enacted into law in California, and it is totally legal for landlords to discriminate against Section 8 voucher holders (Housing Choice Voucher holders) in most states, at their residential rental housing units. In fact, there are only 8 states across the nation including the District of Columbia (DC) that have laws making it illegal for landlords to discriminate against Section 8 voucher holders using vouchers as a source of income.

The new HUD policy targeting Section 8 renters appears crazy because under the new HUD proposal to break up concentrations of poverty in neighborhoods of low-income residents, the poor Section 8 tenants would have the forced option of staying where they currently reside and paying a much higher rent portion out of their pocket that they cannot possibly afford. Or, they could try to move from their existing housing and receive a larger subsidy to cover their rent if they can manage to find a landlord willing to accept a Section 8 voucher in a wealthier neighborhood where fewer poor people reside, because they do not want Section 8 voucher holders in these neighborhoods.

Among the many other problems such a policy would create, it is nearly impossible to find a Section 8 housing unit in nicer, whiter, wealthier communities, that do not want Section 8 tenants in their communities. Additionally, most poor Section 8 voucher holders lack the resources for security deposits, and moving expenses to move into wealthier neighborhoods.

Then of course, in the near future as Congress continues to cut the budgets for HUD’s subsidized housing programs, the Section 8 tenants who managed to move to the wealthier neighborhoods will face the problem of being forced to pay a higher portion of rent at the Section 8 unit, after the budget cuts occur.

In essence, if enacted into law the new HUD proposal would actually penalize poor Section 8 voucher holders for residing in low-income communities, because most Section 8 voucher holders actually reside presently in low-income communities. Poor people should not be penalized for living in a poor neighborhood or neighborhoods of concentrated poverty. The result of such a policy would be the same as imposing a new federal tax on the poor, just because they are poor.

In opposition to the new HUD proposal to penalize Section 8 voucher holders in low-income communities, the opposition in New York includes the Legal Aid Society, the Community Services Society, the New York Housing Conference, including the entire New York City congressional delegation, led by Rep. Nydia Velazquez and Sen. Chuck Schumer.

The Wall Street Journal also reported on the HUD proposal that tenant groups and their advocates are opposing because it will result in a massive amount of evictions across the nation, including higher rents for Section 8 tenants residing in low-income communities.

Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher Problems

During 2015 in Oakland, it was reported that around 609 residents received a section 8 housing choice voucher, but that only around 115 people had managed to to find housing in Oakland with their vouchers.

In February 2016, it was also reported that HUD raised the fair market rents for one and two bedroom housing units in Alameda County to help section 8 renters finding it very difficult to find housing with their section 8 housing choice vouchers.

There are around 300,000 renters in California who receive Section 8 voucher rental assistance. As of March 2016, in Berkeley there are around 1,935 section 8 units. Richmond has around 1,851 section 8 units. San Francisco has around 9,238 section 8 units. Alameda has around 1,845 section 8 units, and Alameda County has around 6,312 section 8 units. Marin County has around 2,153 section 8 units, and Contra Costa County has around 6,887 section 8 housing units.

Lynda Carson may be reached at tenantsrule [at] yahoo.com

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