Posted on 07/05/2005 10:47:31 AM PDT by marylandrepub1
LEGISLATION PENDING in Congress that would convert a popular federal rent-assistance program into a fixed grant program has public housing authorities around the country worried - and with good reason. Under the legislation, public housing agencies would be limited by caps in the number of poor people they could help, and unable to move thousands off waiting lists for subsidized housing into affordable apartments. Given the nationwide shortage of affordable housing and other recent funding cuts to federal public housing programs, changes to the rent-assistance program known as Section 8 are sure to worsen the problem and force people to spend more on rent or live in substandard housing.
The bill in Congress comes on the heels of three years of funding-formula changes in the Section 8 program that have exacerbated the housing crisis in communities around the country. According to the Council on Large Public Housing Authorities, an advocacy organization, housing agencies have been forced to make retroactive budget cuts, lower rent payments, cut the number of rent vouchers they distribute and freeze voucher waiting lists. Landlords who participated in the program are bailing out and no longer accepting the vouchers as payment. Investors have withdrawn from affordable-housing developments supported by the program.
The voucher program has worked well for more than 30 years and has received high marks from the White House Office of Management and Budget. It has helped millions of low-income families live in affordable housing that meets federal living standards, and helped the federal government ease the national housing crisis by allowing housing authorities to use the private housing market.
The program is far from broken; lawmakers don't need to fix it.
(Excerpt) Read more at baltimoresun.com ...
"""I have never understood why poor people insist on sitting around the cities waiting for a handout when they could move to the county and have a better life for themselves..."
Maybe they feel safer being closer to a hospital. And maybe they don't consider the little extra help they recieve a "handout".
Also in Michigan: A former Section 8 neighbor of mine, knowing that her eviction was imminent, left her kids.
FIA returned the kids to her custody within 6 weeks. She now lives on Lansing's south side. She was recently on the 11:00 news, being interviewed about some parent resource center she has been taking parenting classes at. I pray to God she is turning her life around because her two boys were the sweetest kids I've ever known.
But I'm not holding my breath.
A question. I lived in Montgomery County off and on over a number of years. I just left in 2001. Considering the cost of housing, and how wages, even good DC/Fed govt wages are only so high, what is 'affordable housing' to you? From the prices I've seen, I wonder if you couldn't make $50-80,000 and still qualify for affordable housing in Montgomery County?
Are you referring to the smell of meth? I've heard that people who produce meth keep lots of feral cats around because the smell of cat urine is just like the smell of meth. Don't know if that's the case but it wouldn't surprise me.
Another downside to being a landlord is if your rental property becomes a coyote holding tank for illegals smuggled into the country. Seen that happen in this city many times.
Yep, the previous landlord is the important one. Their current landlord might have a vested interest in seeing them move, but if they no longer live there then the landlord can give it to you straight.
I believe the correct phrase is "moot point". ;-)
No, I'm talking about HUD housing. I live in Island Park, NY, home of former Senator Al D'Amato.
Al D'Amato took govt money for the village to build these HUD homes. About 30 or so were built in Island Park when he was the Senator. Right before Chuck Schumer.
These buyers owned the home. The requirement was you had to have a certain income, under a certain amount.
You put your name on a list. I think you had to live in Island Park to get one.
So who got them? Sons and daughters of village officials and their friends. Some of them sold them a couple of years later for 3x what they paid for them. One of them was Al D'Amato's nephew I think. I believe they also got low interest mortgage.
My sister's kids were of the age where they could have bought one, but she didn't have any connections.
yeah, I know. it was my lame attempt at humor. trying to pile on the earlier "next store" line and its progeny.
Thank you for saying it for me. LOL
Yeah, this whole next store business has to stop!!!
Sounds like a fine family, those in-laws.
Long term assistance ONLY for disabled and elderly.
I even disagree with that. That is what the church is for. People will only rise to the level you expect them to rise.
And what level do you expect the elderly can rise to? A second career at age 80? Especially as many elderly are physically no longer capable of working? Ok, let's not give them any help and let them figure out how to rise (I'm talking about the poor elderly here, not the rich).
ping
If people don't really own the place in which they live, they will never take good care of it.
Unforeseen Kelo side effect?
Section 8 housing is a socialistic levelling mechanism that doesn't work. It should be done away with. No one should be forced to accept a Section 8 applicant into their apartment complex. Exceptions can be made (give them a voucher to go anywhere) for the disabled and elderly. Otherwise, no Section 8 housing. Like the rest of us, they can fend for themselves, band together with relatives to split living costs, if necessary, or get aid through churches or other civic social services. But this enforced rental program has got to go.
A relative of mine once owned several rental apartments.
After a few years he sold them all.
And swore never to own rental property again.
I always remembered his advice and his stories, and I will never own rental property either.
We get along real well. Great people.
That is SICK!
In Philly and surrounding areas, there have been homes built by the city (probably using HUD funds) over the past 20 years or more, but people with "connections" would've never wanted to live in them. They were nice homes but in high crime neighborhoods; plus, the people had to live in them a minimum period of time, and they couldn't sell for more than the gov't said.
But this latest HUD housing voucher system sounds more like what you described in Island Park, at least the way it's being implemented in PA. And Pres. Bush is behind it. (Sigh).
I agree with you about Section 8, get rid of it. It is a complete disaster. But we can't completely forget about those who CAN'T fend for themselves. I am disabled and I cannot afford to pay rent or own my own home. I may never be able to own my own home, and that is as it is. But where I live, I can't afford to rent an apartment either. I live with relatives who drive me crazy and can be less than supportive when it comes to my disability. I'd love to live on my own, but I just cannot afford to do it here. It would be great if there were some voucher only for those who couldn't work but since there isn't, as much as I dislike the section 8 program, I am extremely wary of attempts to get rid of it. Doesn't matter much here, the section 8 list has been closed for years, I couldn't get on it anyway. All low-rent housing is full. My relatives aren't financially responsible and are in danger of losing their home to foreclosure. Then I'll have nowhere to go.
"Then I'll have nowhere to go."
That is very sad. That's why in both of my posts on this subject, I have said the exceptions should be for the disabled and elderly without resources. I hope if you find yourself in a real pickle, that you check out the churches in your area, or Catholic Charities, or Lutheran Family Services. They would be able to help you get to the resources you need. Plus your local township level gov't usually handles these kind of things, or your county gov't. Then there are State services also. I would start researching things now, before any axe falls, so that you are best prepared should things go badly. I wish you the best in getting the help you need. Let your fingers do the walking; check out a lot of this via the yellow pages and the phone. Even case the State and Township sources via the internet, for your state. Good luck.
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