Posted on 01/10/2015 1:06:08 PM PST by 2ndDivisionVet
(VIDEO-AT-LINK)
Rochester, NY (WROC) - LaTanya Daughtry needs a new place to live.
The single mother of two boys is on disability and gets a Section 8 housing voucher. But many online classifieds ads say "No Section 8."
"It just makes me feel people look at me differently because I'm on Section 8," Daughtry said. "A lot of ads say no Section 8 right off the bat."
Section 8 is a federal housing program run through the Rochester Housing Authority. Recipients pay a portion of the rent and Section 8 pays the rest.
Section 8 vouchers are in short supply. In the Rochester region, 9,125 families get the housing vouchers. There are about 10,000 families who have been on the waiting list for five years. A Harvard University study found that 30 percent of Rochester area renters are "severely burdened," meaning they pay more than half their income on rent.
"I really can't afford housing on my own with a disability, so Section 8 helps out tremendously," said Daughtry.
The goal of Section 8 was to give poor people the freedom to move where they want. But it hasn't worked out that way. Sixty-one percent of the region's Section 8 recipients live in high-poverty areas.
"It's not illegal in Rochester and most of the state to deny someone because the landlord doesn't wish to contract and accept the Section 8 voucher," said Lou Prieto, an attorney with Legal Assistance of Western New York.
Rochester's higher-end Park Ave. neighborhood has the lowest concentration of Section 8 housing vouchers in the city, with only a few dozen recipients living in housing units there.
"It has nothing to do with we don't like poor people. It just means (Park Ave.) housing is more expensive," said Gini Denninger, a real estate agent.
Section 8 bases how much it will pay landlords on comparable rents in the area. The Park Ave. area commands $912 for a two-bedroom, higher than the $830 standard Section 8 rate. If a tenant wants to live in a pricier apartment, Section 8 will evaluate the comparable rents. As long as tenants don't pay more than 40 percent of ther income in rent, Section 8 will sign off on the arrangement.
Many landlords complain about the red tape involved with Section 8. There are pre-move-in inspections that can two weeks to schedule, leaving a property vacant. Section 8 also requires landlords use a contract it provides.
Some landlords think Section 8 tenants, who need public assistance to pay for housing, are more of a risk.
"This is a business. And I have an obligation to the City of Rochester and the neighborhood I own property in to put the best person in that neighborhood," said Mary D'Alessandro, who owns 11 properties and heads the New York State Property Owners Coalition.
The new interim director of the Rochester Housing Authority wants landlords to be required to accept Section 8. At a recent board meeting, Adam McFadden proposed a fair housing law. That would forbid landlords from discriminating against Section 8 tenants, in the same way landlords are not allowed to discriminate against people with disabilities or people with children.
McFadden would not appear on camera for this story, citing the controversy over his appointment and a need to stay out of the spotlight.
A fair housing law would face opposition.
"If I am discriminating for Section 8 - on income discrimination - then these people should be able to go get a mortgage. Why do I have to rent to them, but a bank doesn't have to give them a mortgage?" said D'Alessandro.
"If Section 8 were that easy for housing providers, they would all be doing it," said Denninger.
Prieto said in order for a fair housing law to work, it would have to be countywide.
"Even if Rochester were to pass such an ordinance, the tenants would still encounter problems, I think in the suburbs," said Prieto.
Fair housing laws exist in Buffalo and New York City. There is no fair housing law proposal in front of Rochester City Council or the Monroe County Legislature. But McFadden has indicated he will work with lawmakers to bring one forward.
Meanwhile, Daughtry found a place to live in the 19th Ward. Her new Landlord, Marty Rennert, likes the Section 8 program. He finds the required leases and rules help - not hurt - his business.
"As a landlord it's a risk-mitigator in every sense," said Rennert. "It puts a positive pressure on both the tenant and the landlord and ensures a good relationship."
Rennert suspects many landlords confuse Section 8 with rental assistance provided by social services. Rennert said there are fewer protections in social service rental assistance. However, Rennert is wary of a fair housing law. He said some landlords would put in place requirements such as making tenants pay first and last month's rents plus a security deposit. In other words, the landlords would make sure Section 8 recipients would not be able to rent their properties.
Daughtry likes the idea of a fair housing law.
"It would give people like me a chance and an opportunity to do better to go better places, and to establish a better environment for my children," she said.
I’m for 1099ing all payments so that it can register how much they are receiving from the private sector.
Not to tax it of course, but for it just to register.
Crack pipe explosion?
If she gets SSD that’s $2000 a month. She could rent a nice apartment in any suburb in the country.
Unless she’s lying about being disabled.
They’ll steal the sink, the appliances, the bath fixtures (at least the ones they haven’t broken) Copper pipes, copper wiring, the AC unit, the heater unit - anything they can pull out and sell. And they’ll pull down all the sheetrock trying to find it.
Re: “Those are the landlords that care about their neighborhoods and other tenants more than the short-term government payments. Section 8 is a boon to unscrupulous landlords, but a curse to neighbors and neighborhoods.”
Absolutely correct!! I have lived in two different neighborhoods that had some section 8 renters - all absolute disasters. The properties had to be totally renovated after the criminals who lived there got through destroying the place, yards gone, trash always present, grocery store carts piled up, burglaries, cars coming and going at all hours, drug sales, then on top of that, you never could tell who all lived there.
They needs the children to get on welfare to start with.
They can.
A landlord can refuse to rent a place to someone who is a deadbeat or has had problems taking good care of a previous rental.
You just can’t deny rental to someone simply because they’re poor.
She’s probably not even on disability. She’ probably on SSI, which is basically welfare paid from Federal tax dollars. It’s “needs based” and you qualify because you never worked.
And I am one of them.
The government requirements for qualifying for renting out a home on Section 8 are horrendous. Far, far more than the quality of the people they put in it.
As well you should.
I know if they have kids they can get SSI for sure. SSI is administered by SSA, but doesn’t come from SS funding. That comes straight from the FED IIRC.
Couldn’t come up with $50.for her share of the rent or didn’t want to, because she thought she should live there for free?
I have seen so many house trashed from Sec 8.My neighborhood was once decent and now it has become a cesspool with many apts now taking Sec 8.
Don’t expect tenants to follow the rules if management isn’t serious about them.
Unfortunately, name of the game, right there. 200 units, owned by a corporate entity, damage to property is a write off. According to the laws in California, in order to rent out a large number of units, a certain amount must be certified as low income.
Not only are we subsidizing the Section 8 vouchers (as taxpayers), the poor blasters who are renting from the same entity, up on the ridge, near the lake, and across from the tony town center, are paying for it, in increased rent
That happens less because of low income renters than landlords don’t set high standards for the tenants.
Rules should be simple: keep the place clean, no drug dealing, no prostitution, no loud music and TV and no harassing other tenants, visitors or service personnel.
It shouldn’t be hard for people to follow them if they want to stay in an apartment.
S8 is for large apartment complexes that have many units to fill. I’m small time, I own 4 rentals. And I refuse to have the government involved where it doesn’t belong.
You’d be better off going through the neighborhood at night with your neighbors and torching all the unoccupied potential Section 8 houses you could find. Nothing but crime and trouble.
Anyone who doesn’t have income or assets will probably be approved for SSI.
The government stopped public housing quite a while ago, and you would be surprised at the number of single family dwellings they infest neighborhoods with. It is their way of dispersing diversity throughout this country. It isn’t just apartments by any means.
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