[Peace] Fwd: Arguments Against Section 8

[Brian Dolinar]

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Christopher Evans <caevans2 at hotmail.com>
Date: Oct 16, 2007 10:55 AM
Subject: Arguments Against Section 8

 Many wonder what are the issues regarding eliminating Section 8 vouchers
from the definition of source of income from the Champaign City Human Rights
Ordinance. Below is a brief outline for arguments for and against.

*Definition of Section 8*: a federal program that pays landlords rent money
minus 30% of the tennant's income. (i.e. say a person makes $600 a month on
SSI, the apartment they rent is $500 a  month, so the tennant would pay $200
to the landlord, and the federal government pays the landlord the remaining
$300.)
In Champaign County, about 1,200 Section 8 Vouchers have been issued to
residents who qualify.

*Arguments for refusing a tennant based on their Section 8 Voucher:*

*1)* by federal law, the Section 8 program is a voluntary program and not
mandatory.

*Rebuttal to agrument 1*: the City's Human Rights Ordinance addresses
DISCRIMINATION based soley on using a Section 8 voucher. The landlord still
retains the right to rent to whoever they wish and does NOT change any other
practice or policy the landlord has. The Ordinance says the landlord
simply can't refuse to rent to somebody solely because the tennant is using
a Section 8 voucher.

*2)* Section 8 increases the cost of doing business for the landlord.

*Rebuttal to argument 2:* The federal guidelines and the City's Property
Maintenance Code standards for health and safety are essentially the same,
according to City Manager Steve Carter's March 17, 2006 report to Council.
There is no requirement on the landlord to upgrade their property according
to the federal HUD "Housing Quality Standards". Were a property deemed
unsuitable according to HUD standards, it only means the Section 8 voucher
could not be used toward that property. There is no mandate that a landlord
upgrade their property. The tennant would either have to find another place
or the landlord could choose, voluntarily, to comply with the standards if
they wanted to participate in the Section 8 program.

*3)* Landlords have to wait for Housing Authority Inspectors to approve
their property on behalf of a Section 8 client before they can rent the
unit, and thus they lose the opportunity to rent to someone else.

*Rebuttal to argument 3*:  Not true, the landlord can rent to any potential
tennant who can pay right away. If a Section 8 voucher holder was unable to
rent a property because the landlord rented to someone else in the interim
time between waiting for the Housing Authority inspector to inspect the
property, that is not considered an act of discrimination according to the
Ordinance.

*4)* Processing Section 8 vouchers is a burden for landlords.

*Rebuttal to argument 4:* I don't know what it is about Section 8 contracts
with HUD that are so difficult to process. There are no specific
complaints outlined in the City's website about the burden of processing a
HUD contract.

*5)* The City has no right to mandate a landlord accept Section 8 voucher
holders.

*Rebuttal to Argument 5*: Again, the Human Rights Ordinance does not mandate
they must rent to a Section 8 voucher holder. It only addresses refusing to
rent to someone solely because the potential tennant's income is a Section 8
voucher.  The entire program remains completely voluntary for the landlord.

*Facts about Section 8: *

   - 1,200 households in Champaign County are on the Section 8 program.
   - 65% of Section 8 participants are African American.
   - The majority of the participants are children, senior citizens, and
   the disabled.



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-- 
Brian Dolinar, Ph.D.
303 W. Locust St.
Urbana, IL 61801
briandolinar at gmail.com
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