Housing Crisis In America

[Sugarbleus]

http://www.nlihc.org/research/index.htm

http://www.socialistworker.org/2004-2/509/509_04_HousingCrisis.shtml

In the richest country in the world...
The hidden housing crisis By:ELIZABETH SCHULTE August 20, 2004
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If George W. Bush gets his way, the crisis of affordable housing will get even worse. The Bush administration has announced that it is cutting back on Section 8 housing vouchers. With a Section 8 voucher, eligible residents pay 30 percent of their income in rent, and the federal government’s Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Department pays the rest.

Bush's 2005 budget proposal is $1.6 billion below the amount needed to maintain the current level of assistance. According to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, some 250,000 households could lose vouchers. In addition, Bush wants to distribute voucher funding in block grants with fewer federal restrictions, meaning that individual states could increase the amount that residents pay--and tens of thousands more people could end up on the street.

As Ralls puts it, "Bush’s plan is to end homelessness in 10 years. I want to know exactly how he’s going to achieve that with budget cuts to HUD housing. If anything, he’s creating more homelessness. The budget cuts that are now coming down are going to make more people homeless--more families, more seniors, everyone. Change is going to have to come from the people themselves who live the problems."

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http://www.wsws.org/articles/2000/apr2000/hous-a05.shtml

Growing crisis of affordable housing for the poor in the US
WSWS : News & Analysis : North America

Growing crisis of affordable housing for the poor in the US
By Kate Randall
5 April 2000
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While housing production in 1998 in the US stood at its highest level in more than a decade, fueled by the boom on Wall Street, poor Americans are finding it increasingly difficult to secure affordable housing. A report issued March 27 by the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), "Rental Housing Assistance—the Worsening Crisis", found that 5.4 million low-income families are paying more than half of their income for housing, or live in "severely distressed" accommodations.

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Increased income for the upper middle class and the rich has led to a decrease of affordable housing for the poor in urban areas. According to HUD Secretary Andrew Cuomo, low-income housing in the cities "is getting old, it is coming out of service, it is being knocked down." Higher-income tenants have bid up the prices of apartments formerly rented out to the poor, leading to the gentrification of urban areas that have traditionally been home to working class families. The more affluent tenants are able to pay higher rents than their poorer counterparts, many of whom rely on subsidies from a government voucher program known as Section 8 to supplement their income.

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In October 1998 Clinton signed into law the Quality Housing and Work Responsibility Act of 1998 (QHWRA), which has had a severe impact on the ability of the poor and elderly to obtain housing assistance. This legislation removed requirements that housing authorities grant first choice of public housing to those in urgent need. The result has been that low-income families receive only about a half of available housing assistance.

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Working families who purchase their homes are also facing foreclosures at a record rate. A study released last fall by the National Training and Information Center, a consumer organization in Chicago, revealed that foreclosures in the Chicago area nearly doubled between 1993 and 1998, from 2,074 to 3,964. While unemployment has fallen among area households, more and more families are losing their homes.........more


The data is astounding. Some of this data is a bit dated, some of it is new. There is so much info on this subject out there that the public doesn't see. What I submit is just the tip of the iceberg.

We know that Bushco wants/is cutting even more funds to even MORE social/domestic programs. These cuts (and policies) are not hurting just the very low income households anymore. Watch out middle class!

Tornado hit your home? Got a FEMA loan/grant? Now you have to pay taxes on that as "income" do ya? The only people living in a vacuum are the ultra rich. The rest of us, comfortable or low income are in the same boat just at different ends of the ship.

[Tux]

1. Yup

"Compassionate conservatism" works great. Bring out Evangelicals, get re-elected, screw everyone but the CEOs, leave with tons of money from bribes, er, lobbyists.

[Ladyhawk]

2. Are certain states going to be affected more than others?

I rely on Section 8 housing. If I didn't have subsidized housing, I would definitely be on the street.

[Sugarbleus]

6. I'm not entirely certain on that. I watched as the "axe" came

down on folks in the East first. That was about 9-12 months ago. Soon, I began to hear callers-in to my talk radio station start to freak out over what was happening to them in terms of their subsidy allotments.

The people that called were in another COUNTY. So, I think Counties DO have some say in how they work the program. Overall though, if Bush get's his way, I think each of us on subsidies will see some changes at the very least. My rent, for example, went from $175 to $512 per month! Guess what? LOL I wrote for a fair hearing. I looked up my counties Eligibility/Occupancy rules/regs, dug out some pertinent info and sent it BACK to them in my fair hearing letter.

In the first place they had "intimidated" us into believing such and such policies had been cut. It was a lie. Next they started sending REAMS of documentation for yearly renewal to the point of total confussion. It is easy to get mixed up with the tricky questions. Then they try to "fail" your unit. (We are in the voucher program BTW. We live in a private dwelling, not in pubic housing). The first contract they sent out had the WRONG income stats on us for determining our portion of rent. I had to correct that. Then they just sent me ANOTHER, adjusted document, but it had neglected what I had requested.....soooo, I sent them ANOTHER letter complaining about their income figures for this household. LOL

We shall see. Wish us luck.

I've also heard it said someplace that this admin. would like to do away with the integration housing we enjoyed throughout the 80's and 90's in which persons with a Traveling Voucher were permitted and encouraged to rent to willing owners in NICE neighborhoods. This nazi group would rather all of we "poor" were "settled" back into "Ghetto" settings away from the "Beautiful" people. Humph!

[Spinzonner]

3. Yes, but think of the name recognition

he'll get by being immortalized with 'Bushvilles'

[no_hypocrisy]

4. One probable outcome: the return of secret tenements with tenants

crowding into limited leased residential apartments and houses.

It's already started. Hidden in small cities in northern New Jersey like Clifton, Paterson, and Passaic, immigrants numbered 10 or more "share" a two-bedroom apartment and use a system of "shifts" in order to have access to bedding and the bathroom. Landlords don't care unless the town finds out and puts the heat on them. (The tip-off to the town: lots of cars in an otherwise small area of the street on which to park and lots of large garbage bags put out on the sidewalk)

[Sugarbleus]

5. Not just the extreme poor are affected now... it's

hitting in subtle ways middle american too. My youngest daughter is working full time at a "big box" store. She just started night school taking some law courses part time. She cannot afford to rent anything and eat and buy books too, so she is living in her middle class father's family room in another town. Her truck was a gift but is a POS that can only be relied upon to go across town and no where else.

She has other fiscal responsibilities that leave her almost penniless. THANK GOODNESS her father has agreed to help out. She is 33 years old.
.......................................................

My oldest daughter (38 yr.old) was just released from prison (drug related charges). She is clean and sober for 31 months now. She is motivated and energetic but is getting next to ZERO help for reentry--zero money, no car, few clothes, just got a couple food stamps, no housing help, no healthcare.

She enrolled in college ONLY because she says she's living with me. She is living with me (mostly), but we have to say she's just visiting when we explain it to other agencies; we are receiving housing assistance, she isn't suppose to be here--rent just jumped from $175 to $512!--thank you Bush the Vulgar! She sleeps in a recliner for lack of room here. Soooooo, I know the drill.

These examples(among many) are why I say we have a housing CRISIS. It's not just about the extremely vulnerable anymore.

In my OP in the first link you can look up your state and then go county by county to see what the rental or ownership stats are for your area...by income status.

[xmas74]

7. I used to live in a town

where there was constant recruitment for immigrants to work in the local slaughterhouse (at that time it was run by Tyson's). This is a very common occurance-to see sometimes 15 crammed into a 2 bedroom place. Everyone worked in different shifts so sleeping times were adjusted.
I worked with a woman who lived in these conditions. I offered her a ride home one night(middle of winter and she would have had to walk six miles). We witnessed a minor car accident about 2 houses down from hers. I ran inside w/ her to call 9-1-1 (since her English was rather poor). The entire inside of the house had piles of clothes(no where else to store them) and bedding pallets. It was the only rent they could afford, since most were sending money back to their villages or saving for their own homes in order to bring family to live with them here.

<It's already started. Hidden in small cities in northern New Jersey like Clifton, Paterson, and Passaic, immigrants numbered 10 or more "share" a two-bedroom apartment and use a system of "shifts" in order to have access to bedding and the bathroom. Landlords don't care unless the town finds out and puts the heat on them. (The tip-off to the town: lots of cars in an otherwise small area of the street on which to park and lots of large garbage bags put out on the sidewalk)>