Leroy N. Soetoro
2016-06-08 07:20:51 UTC
http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-homeless-vouchers-snap-story.html
Nine years after she lost her apartment in North Hollywood and began
couch-surfing and living in her van, Laura Luevano received a federal rent
voucher to return her to the world of the housed.
Two months later after calling 23 apartments for rent with no luck the
65-year-old disabled woman is sleeping on a cramped couch on a back patio
in Sylmar, one of at least 2,200 homeless people in Los Angeles County
with a voucher but no place to use it.
With more than 35,000 people sleeping on sidewalks and in alleys,
underpasses and riverbeds, the city and county are leaning on rent
subsidies for private landlords to bring quick relief to homeless people
while elected officials struggle to fund a $1.87 billion construction
program.
But in the last two years, rents have soared far above baseline federal
voucher caps $1,150 for a one-bedroom apartment and $1,500 for two-
bedroom units. And with the county's rental vacancy rate at a scant 2.7%,
voucher holders are tripping over one another in fruitless apartment hunts
lasting months.
"A lot of people think once you have a voucher, that's it, you have some
golden ticket," said Michelle Solis, Luevano's case worker at Housing
Works, a Hollywood-based homeless housing services provider. "But it's
not. You have to compete with everyone else."
The city and county are trying to lure more landlords into taking vouchers
with financial incentives to sweeten the deal.
We only have a limited number of tools: We can build new housing, we can
rehab housing. The rest of it is we have to use existing private housing,
said County Supervisor Sheila Kuehl.
The city has set aside $5 million, and the county $3 million, to cover
security deposits and first and last month's rent, set up damage funds and
pay initial water and power bills for formerly homeless voucher holders.
Some local governments also pay for $1,000 holding fees to tide over
landlords while inspections and approvals are underway; a new program in
Santa Monica offers a $5,000 signing bonus to landlords who rent to
voucher holders.
But some landlords fear formerly homeless tenants will cause trouble or
fall behind on rent. Subsidies are issued through a variety of programs to
homeless and low-income people, but generally, tenants contribute 30% of
their income, leaving the government to cover the rest.
Veterans' families with vouchers in hand are taking four months to find
housing; for single adult veterans, the wait is eight months.
"There are about 800 homeless veteran vouchers wandering the streets of
Los Angeles looking for apartments," said Philip Mangano, the former
federal homelessness czar under President George W. Bush.
In addition to the financial lures, officials launched campaigns to
educate landlords about the benefits of vouchers guaranteed rent, close
supervision by case managers and mediation of tenant problems. And they're
appealing to their sense of civic responsibility and, in the case of
veterans, patriotism.
"Many landlords, even in this competitive market, when they find out their
rent is going to be more consistent than in the regular market, they sign
on," said Alisa Orduna, Mayor Eric Garcetti's homelessness deputy. "We
have to hook them in."
At a recent meeting of landlords in Van Nuys, the pitch met with mixed
results.
Alan Bernstein, who runs a residential property management company that
manages or owns 500 units, said he wants to help alleviate homelessness
but has held back because of the lengthy documentation and inspection
process.
"Youre keeping units off the market longer than you would have to when
youre renting directly to the tenant, Bernstein said.
With the homeless, there are also concerns about making sure that
theyre not doing anything that would cause concern for their neighbors,
he said.
Melissa Aardema, who rents out several townhouses in the Lancaster area to
voucher holders, said the guaranteed rents overrode her fears of trouble
with tenants.
I know that Im getting my check deposited every month, and for that Im
thankful, and Im thankful that I can teach our kids and our other family
members the importance of giving back to the community, Aardema said.
But in gentrifying downtown Long Beach, landlords are pulling out of the
voucher program altogether, forcing tenants out, said Alison King of the
city's housing authority.
Pasadena, meanwhile, has quit receiving voucher referrals because there is
nowhere to take them, said Anne Lansing, project planner for the city.
The federal government is also stepping in to ease the voucher housing
shortage.
The U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs covers move-in costs for veterans,
and the Department of Housing and Urban Development plans to set rent caps
by ZIP Code instead of metropolitan area, bringing allowable lease
payments more in line "with reality," spokesman Ed Cabrera said.
Santa Monica's rent caps already were raised to about $1,900 for a one-
bedroom apartment. But the money set aside for vouchers didn't grow,
meaning fewer people may get help, said Santa Monica housing administrator
Jim Kemper.
Kemper also noted that people with vouchers are competing against other
poor people for the same scarce low-rent units.
Mollie Lowery of Housing Works said local governments need to do more,
including opening year-round, 24-hour shelters and working on
homelessness prevention.
Lowery said her agency recently had to get a lawyer to stop a landlord who
said he was leaving the voucher program from evicting two elderly sisters
from a rent-controlled building in Los Angeles.
"Why didn't the housing authority know that, or why didn't they tell
them?" she asked.
The city of L.A.s housing authority helps tenants prevent illegal
evictions, including with referrals to legal aid groups, said Carlos
VanNatter, director of the authoritys voucher program.
Solis said she wonders if officials understand how difficult it can be to
unravel the tangled lives of clients like Luevano so they can get housing.
Luevano developed diabetes and arthritis, and a stubborn leg wound had her
in and out of the hospital six to seven times last year, Solis said. She
pays $200 of her $300 disability check Solis is trying to help her raise
the amount to sleep on the Sylmar patio, amid the owner's dogs and
stored belongings.
She can sleep inside when it's cold, and use the kitchen and bathroom, but
is expected to leave in the daytime, when she jots down information on
room-for-rent signs and visits parks, McDonalds and the library. She
recently had to leave her van in North Hollywood because it was
overheating.
"I feel as though time is flying by and Im not getting anywhere, Luevano
said, her eyes filling with tears.
Luevano has an appointment Wednesday to see an apartment in the Crenshaw
district.
Two other voucher holders are vying for the same unit, Solis said.
--
His Omnipotence Barack Hussein Obama, declared himself "Pooptator" of all
mentally ill homosexuals and crossdressers, while declaring where they
will defecate.
Obama increased total debt from $10 trillion to $19 trillion in the seven
years he has been in office, and sold out heterosexuals for Hollywood
queer liberal democrat donors.
Barack Obama, reelected by the dumbest voters in the history of the United
States of America. The only American president to deliberately import a
lethal infectious disease from Africa, Ebola.
Loretta Fuddy, killed after she "verified" Obama's phony birth
certificate.
Obama ignored the brutal killing of an American diplomat in Benghazi, then
relieved American military officers who attempted to prevent said murder
in order to cover up his own ineptitude.
Obama continues his muslim goal of disarming America while ObamaCare
increases insurance premiums 300% and leaves millions without health care.
--- news://freenews.netfront.net/ - complaints: ***@netfront.net ---
Nine years after she lost her apartment in North Hollywood and began
couch-surfing and living in her van, Laura Luevano received a federal rent
voucher to return her to the world of the housed.
Two months later after calling 23 apartments for rent with no luck the
65-year-old disabled woman is sleeping on a cramped couch on a back patio
in Sylmar, one of at least 2,200 homeless people in Los Angeles County
with a voucher but no place to use it.
With more than 35,000 people sleeping on sidewalks and in alleys,
underpasses and riverbeds, the city and county are leaning on rent
subsidies for private landlords to bring quick relief to homeless people
while elected officials struggle to fund a $1.87 billion construction
program.
But in the last two years, rents have soared far above baseline federal
voucher caps $1,150 for a one-bedroom apartment and $1,500 for two-
bedroom units. And with the county's rental vacancy rate at a scant 2.7%,
voucher holders are tripping over one another in fruitless apartment hunts
lasting months.
"A lot of people think once you have a voucher, that's it, you have some
golden ticket," said Michelle Solis, Luevano's case worker at Housing
Works, a Hollywood-based homeless housing services provider. "But it's
not. You have to compete with everyone else."
The city and county are trying to lure more landlords into taking vouchers
with financial incentives to sweeten the deal.
We only have a limited number of tools: We can build new housing, we can
rehab housing. The rest of it is we have to use existing private housing,
said County Supervisor Sheila Kuehl.
The city has set aside $5 million, and the county $3 million, to cover
security deposits and first and last month's rent, set up damage funds and
pay initial water and power bills for formerly homeless voucher holders.
Some local governments also pay for $1,000 holding fees to tide over
landlords while inspections and approvals are underway; a new program in
Santa Monica offers a $5,000 signing bonus to landlords who rent to
voucher holders.
But some landlords fear formerly homeless tenants will cause trouble or
fall behind on rent. Subsidies are issued through a variety of programs to
homeless and low-income people, but generally, tenants contribute 30% of
their income, leaving the government to cover the rest.
Veterans' families with vouchers in hand are taking four months to find
housing; for single adult veterans, the wait is eight months.
"There are about 800 homeless veteran vouchers wandering the streets of
Los Angeles looking for apartments," said Philip Mangano, the former
federal homelessness czar under President George W. Bush.
In addition to the financial lures, officials launched campaigns to
educate landlords about the benefits of vouchers guaranteed rent, close
supervision by case managers and mediation of tenant problems. And they're
appealing to their sense of civic responsibility and, in the case of
veterans, patriotism.
"Many landlords, even in this competitive market, when they find out their
rent is going to be more consistent than in the regular market, they sign
on," said Alisa Orduna, Mayor Eric Garcetti's homelessness deputy. "We
have to hook them in."
At a recent meeting of landlords in Van Nuys, the pitch met with mixed
results.
Alan Bernstein, who runs a residential property management company that
manages or owns 500 units, said he wants to help alleviate homelessness
but has held back because of the lengthy documentation and inspection
process.
"Youre keeping units off the market longer than you would have to when
youre renting directly to the tenant, Bernstein said.
With the homeless, there are also concerns about making sure that
theyre not doing anything that would cause concern for their neighbors,
he said.
Melissa Aardema, who rents out several townhouses in the Lancaster area to
voucher holders, said the guaranteed rents overrode her fears of trouble
with tenants.
I know that Im getting my check deposited every month, and for that Im
thankful, and Im thankful that I can teach our kids and our other family
members the importance of giving back to the community, Aardema said.
But in gentrifying downtown Long Beach, landlords are pulling out of the
voucher program altogether, forcing tenants out, said Alison King of the
city's housing authority.
Pasadena, meanwhile, has quit receiving voucher referrals because there is
nowhere to take them, said Anne Lansing, project planner for the city.
The federal government is also stepping in to ease the voucher housing
shortage.
The U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs covers move-in costs for veterans,
and the Department of Housing and Urban Development plans to set rent caps
by ZIP Code instead of metropolitan area, bringing allowable lease
payments more in line "with reality," spokesman Ed Cabrera said.
Santa Monica's rent caps already were raised to about $1,900 for a one-
bedroom apartment. But the money set aside for vouchers didn't grow,
meaning fewer people may get help, said Santa Monica housing administrator
Jim Kemper.
Kemper also noted that people with vouchers are competing against other
poor people for the same scarce low-rent units.
Mollie Lowery of Housing Works said local governments need to do more,
including opening year-round, 24-hour shelters and working on
homelessness prevention.
Lowery said her agency recently had to get a lawyer to stop a landlord who
said he was leaving the voucher program from evicting two elderly sisters
from a rent-controlled building in Los Angeles.
"Why didn't the housing authority know that, or why didn't they tell
them?" she asked.
The city of L.A.s housing authority helps tenants prevent illegal
evictions, including with referrals to legal aid groups, said Carlos
VanNatter, director of the authoritys voucher program.
Solis said she wonders if officials understand how difficult it can be to
unravel the tangled lives of clients like Luevano so they can get housing.
Luevano developed diabetes and arthritis, and a stubborn leg wound had her
in and out of the hospital six to seven times last year, Solis said. She
pays $200 of her $300 disability check Solis is trying to help her raise
the amount to sleep on the Sylmar patio, amid the owner's dogs and
stored belongings.
She can sleep inside when it's cold, and use the kitchen and bathroom, but
is expected to leave in the daytime, when she jots down information on
room-for-rent signs and visits parks, McDonalds and the library. She
recently had to leave her van in North Hollywood because it was
overheating.
"I feel as though time is flying by and Im not getting anywhere, Luevano
said, her eyes filling with tears.
Luevano has an appointment Wednesday to see an apartment in the Crenshaw
district.
Two other voucher holders are vying for the same unit, Solis said.
--
His Omnipotence Barack Hussein Obama, declared himself "Pooptator" of all
mentally ill homosexuals and crossdressers, while declaring where they
will defecate.
Obama increased total debt from $10 trillion to $19 trillion in the seven
years he has been in office, and sold out heterosexuals for Hollywood
queer liberal democrat donors.
Barack Obama, reelected by the dumbest voters in the history of the United
States of America. The only American president to deliberately import a
lethal infectious disease from Africa, Ebola.
Loretta Fuddy, killed after she "verified" Obama's phony birth
certificate.
Obama ignored the brutal killing of an American diplomat in Benghazi, then
relieved American military officers who attempted to prevent said murder
in order to cover up his own ineptitude.
Obama continues his muslim goal of disarming America while ObamaCare
increases insurance premiums 300% and leaves millions without health care.
--- news://freenews.netfront.net/ - complaints: ***@netfront.net ---