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Surviving Bush-- HUD Targets Low-Income Renters
The $388 Billion Spending Bill Has language In It That Offers A Bonus to Housing Agencies That Coerce Tenants Out Of The Nations Housing Assistance Programs, Plus $8 Million In Funding That Was Intended To Operate Public Housing Is Now Being Shifted To The Justice Department To Target Public Housing Renters As Criminals!
Surviving Bush
HUD targets low-income renters
By Lynda Carson November 23, 2005
Just try to imagine a government that is starving the nations low-income housing programs from much needed funding, while at the same time offering extra money to housing agencies that manage to coerce people into fleeing from those same under funded housing programs.
The latest Housing and Urban Development Agency (HUD) budget for fiscal year 2005, does just exactly that and tens of thousands of renters are now being targeted to compell them to flee the same government housing programs that are claiming to be there to offer them assistance.
On November 20, Congress voted on a spending bill for fiscal year 2005 that ushers in some new rules and regulations that do not bode well for Section 8 renters or low-income tenants in public housing programs.
Many housing programs are to receive less funding in fiscal year 2005, than what they received in fiscal year 2004.
In this years budget, funding for HUD in fiscal year 2005 is $37.3 billion, and is more than what the Bush administration wanted, but is less than what the budget was during fiscal year 2004.
It also appears that enough funding has been made available to maintain the existing Section 8 vouchers that are already in use, but the spending bill lacks the funds needed to fully fund all of the vouchers that have been authorized across the nation.
On the down side, the language in the new spending bill is very restrictive and is as bad or may be worse than what the language was that has been used by HUD since last April, which allowed the federal agency to legally deprive the nations housing agencies of hundreds of millions of dollars needed to run the nations housing voucher programs despite the fact that Congress fully funded all of the housing vouchers that were in use during fiscal year 2004.
Thousands of Section 8 tenants have been put at risk of losing their housing vouchers as a result of the funding shortfalls that have been taking place since last April due to the shenanigans of HUD Secretary Alphonso Jackson.
In addition, the latest spending bill has removed the recently inserted language by Senators Christopher "Kit" Bond of Missouri and Richard Shelby of Alabama, which would have prohibited the nations Housing Agencies from participating in get out the vote drives in future election cycles.
Most poor people do not vote Republican, and this did not escape the attention of the Senators that tried to suppress the poor vote of the nations public housing residents.
During the week of November 15, Section 8 renters and housing activists across the nation were busy contacting their representatives to lobby them against the proposed changes being demanded by the Bush administration that would have gutted the nations housing voucher programs.
In Congress, the House and Senate appropriations committees, considered and then turned down some major changes proposed by the Bush administration for the nations housing voucher programs (Section 8), that would have turned the Section 8 program into a capped block grant program. If passed, the new housing program would have created numerous disincentives to Housing Agencies that offered housing assistance to SSI recipients and other very low-income renters across the nation.
Most Section 8 renters across the nation were clueless about the latest battle being waged on their behalf after a new recent round of attempts by the Bush administration to gut the housing voucher programs came into effect only days before the fiscal year spending bill was to be voted upon.
The latest spending bill had so many bad provisions in it across the board, Congress and the White House held it in abeyance until after the recent rigged elections took place which ushered in the Bush administration for a second term in office.
The Bush administration may not have been able to gut the Section 8 program by $1.6 billion yet, nor convert it into the notorious Flexible Voucher Program as planned, but the administration has done some serious damage to the housing voucher programs which now leaves low-income renters at risk of harassment and targets them as would-be criminals that may be tossed out onto the streets for petty offenses.
The new changes in HUD's federal housing policy even allows Housing Agencies to receive a bonus for coercing low-income renters out of the housing programs that they need to survive on. HUD is making $10 million in funding available for this devious scheme to entice Housing Agencies to chase low-income renters out of the nations housing voucher programs.
In a recent discussion with Oakland's local pro-tenant attorney, John Murcko, Murcko said, "I believe that tenants need to read documents very closely before signing them, especially when Housing Agency Representatives approach them for Section 8 contract renewals. While residing in a location of their choice, it would be best for tenants in the nations rental assistance programs to decline from signing anything that locks them into a deadline for them to give up their vouchers or any other statements that would force the tenants to give up their housing assistance if they are not prepared to do so. Tenants should seek the advice of an attorney if someone tries to pressure them into signing any such statements."
It's already bad enough for Section 8 renters when the landlords try to trick the tenants into giving up their housing vouchers. When Housing Agencies are being strangled of the funding needed to run their housing programs, and then are offered a bonus by HUD to coerce the tenants out of the programs, the tenants need to be extra careful about what they are about to sign.
Due to the recent changes in the Fair Market Rents (FMR's) that went into effect on October 1, 2004 which decreased the value of tenants Section 8 vouchers, housing activists are urging Section 8 tenants to stay put and not to move until it is absolutely necessary.
The decrease in the value of Section 8 tenants housing vouchers may not go into effect for a year or two, but if they try to move the decrease in the value of their housing vouchers may go into effect immediately. Some tenants already are having troubles lately when trying to relocate, and the payments to the landlords by Housing Agencies are sometimes held up for several months for those trying to move to a new location.
The $388 billion spending bill is also shown to be shifting $8 million dollars from Public Housing operating funds to the Justice Department to target the low-income renters in the public housing programs as criminals.
John Ashcroft has already requested $22.1 billion for the Department of Justice for their fiscal year 2005 operating budget, and shifting $8 million out of the operating expenses needed to maintain the nations starved public housing units, is just another example of how the fascist state works lately under the guidance of Bush administration.
HUD also has recently set up a Task Force thats traveling city to city in an all out effort to nail tenants in housing programs for fraud. The Task Force of eight to fifteen agents, raids the homes of public housing and Section 8 tenants early in the morning around 6:am, to arrest them if they are caught concealing any hidden income from the local Housing Agencies or if they have any roomates that are not listed in their contracts. HUD also has a new computer system that Housing Agencies will have access to starting in January 2005, to go after more people for fraud.
Lynda Carson may be reached at tenantsrule [at] yahoo.com or 510/763-1085
HUD targets low-income renters
By Lynda Carson November 23, 2005
Just try to imagine a government that is starving the nations low-income housing programs from much needed funding, while at the same time offering extra money to housing agencies that manage to coerce people into fleeing from those same under funded housing programs.
The latest Housing and Urban Development Agency (HUD) budget for fiscal year 2005, does just exactly that and tens of thousands of renters are now being targeted to compell them to flee the same government housing programs that are claiming to be there to offer them assistance.
On November 20, Congress voted on a spending bill for fiscal year 2005 that ushers in some new rules and regulations that do not bode well for Section 8 renters or low-income tenants in public housing programs.
Many housing programs are to receive less funding in fiscal year 2005, than what they received in fiscal year 2004.
In this years budget, funding for HUD in fiscal year 2005 is $37.3 billion, and is more than what the Bush administration wanted, but is less than what the budget was during fiscal year 2004.
It also appears that enough funding has been made available to maintain the existing Section 8 vouchers that are already in use, but the spending bill lacks the funds needed to fully fund all of the vouchers that have been authorized across the nation.
On the down side, the language in the new spending bill is very restrictive and is as bad or may be worse than what the language was that has been used by HUD since last April, which allowed the federal agency to legally deprive the nations housing agencies of hundreds of millions of dollars needed to run the nations housing voucher programs despite the fact that Congress fully funded all of the housing vouchers that were in use during fiscal year 2004.
Thousands of Section 8 tenants have been put at risk of losing their housing vouchers as a result of the funding shortfalls that have been taking place since last April due to the shenanigans of HUD Secretary Alphonso Jackson.
In addition, the latest spending bill has removed the recently inserted language by Senators Christopher "Kit" Bond of Missouri and Richard Shelby of Alabama, which would have prohibited the nations Housing Agencies from participating in get out the vote drives in future election cycles.
Most poor people do not vote Republican, and this did not escape the attention of the Senators that tried to suppress the poor vote of the nations public housing residents.
During the week of November 15, Section 8 renters and housing activists across the nation were busy contacting their representatives to lobby them against the proposed changes being demanded by the Bush administration that would have gutted the nations housing voucher programs.
In Congress, the House and Senate appropriations committees, considered and then turned down some major changes proposed by the Bush administration for the nations housing voucher programs (Section 8), that would have turned the Section 8 program into a capped block grant program. If passed, the new housing program would have created numerous disincentives to Housing Agencies that offered housing assistance to SSI recipients and other very low-income renters across the nation.
Most Section 8 renters across the nation were clueless about the latest battle being waged on their behalf after a new recent round of attempts by the Bush administration to gut the housing voucher programs came into effect only days before the fiscal year spending bill was to be voted upon.
The latest spending bill had so many bad provisions in it across the board, Congress and the White House held it in abeyance until after the recent rigged elections took place which ushered in the Bush administration for a second term in office.
The Bush administration may not have been able to gut the Section 8 program by $1.6 billion yet, nor convert it into the notorious Flexible Voucher Program as planned, but the administration has done some serious damage to the housing voucher programs which now leaves low-income renters at risk of harassment and targets them as would-be criminals that may be tossed out onto the streets for petty offenses.
The new changes in HUD's federal housing policy even allows Housing Agencies to receive a bonus for coercing low-income renters out of the housing programs that they need to survive on. HUD is making $10 million in funding available for this devious scheme to entice Housing Agencies to chase low-income renters out of the nations housing voucher programs.
In a recent discussion with Oakland's local pro-tenant attorney, John Murcko, Murcko said, "I believe that tenants need to read documents very closely before signing them, especially when Housing Agency Representatives approach them for Section 8 contract renewals. While residing in a location of their choice, it would be best for tenants in the nations rental assistance programs to decline from signing anything that locks them into a deadline for them to give up their vouchers or any other statements that would force the tenants to give up their housing assistance if they are not prepared to do so. Tenants should seek the advice of an attorney if someone tries to pressure them into signing any such statements."
It's already bad enough for Section 8 renters when the landlords try to trick the tenants into giving up their housing vouchers. When Housing Agencies are being strangled of the funding needed to run their housing programs, and then are offered a bonus by HUD to coerce the tenants out of the programs, the tenants need to be extra careful about what they are about to sign.
Due to the recent changes in the Fair Market Rents (FMR's) that went into effect on October 1, 2004 which decreased the value of tenants Section 8 vouchers, housing activists are urging Section 8 tenants to stay put and not to move until it is absolutely necessary.
The decrease in the value of Section 8 tenants housing vouchers may not go into effect for a year or two, but if they try to move the decrease in the value of their housing vouchers may go into effect immediately. Some tenants already are having troubles lately when trying to relocate, and the payments to the landlords by Housing Agencies are sometimes held up for several months for those trying to move to a new location.
The $388 billion spending bill is also shown to be shifting $8 million dollars from Public Housing operating funds to the Justice Department to target the low-income renters in the public housing programs as criminals.
John Ashcroft has already requested $22.1 billion for the Department of Justice for their fiscal year 2005 operating budget, and shifting $8 million out of the operating expenses needed to maintain the nations starved public housing units, is just another example of how the fascist state works lately under the guidance of Bush administration.
HUD also has recently set up a Task Force thats traveling city to city in an all out effort to nail tenants in housing programs for fraud. The Task Force of eight to fifteen agents, raids the homes of public housing and Section 8 tenants early in the morning around 6:am, to arrest them if they are caught concealing any hidden income from the local Housing Agencies or if they have any roomates that are not listed in their contracts. HUD also has a new computer system that Housing Agencies will have access to starting in January 2005, to go after more people for fraud.
Lynda Carson may be reached at tenantsrule [at] yahoo.com or 510/763-1085
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