RE: FISH RUNS. Typically playing it safe --- Matt Davis. "City Commissioner Nick Fish and the Housing Authority of Portland have both been working very hard at revamping the (section 8) program." Deborah Imse, MMHA
"I'm old school. I let my work speak for itself … And I have found that if I try …. collaboration … I can get more done." --- Nick Fish
Section 8 needs changes to make it work for everyone

By: Deborah Imse, Execituive Director MMHA



A recent article in the Oregonian on the Section 8 program in the City of Portland (Section 8 Works

on Carrots before Sticks, October 1) states up front that landlords

who do not accept Section 8

are discriminating against poor people.

That’s not only

wrong, it misses the point.

Section 8 is a complex, cumbersome

program that often makes it hard for

landlords to participate.

First, Section 8 is not just a source of

income. There is extensive

paperwork, including two contracts

involving landlords, tenants and the

Housing Authority with different

requirements set by HUD. Landlords

must agree to a minimum one-year

lease and additional inspections.

Reimbursement for tenant-caused

damages doesn’t always cover the

value of the loss and increased

accounting. All these factors can

make the Section 8 program unviable

and administratively prohibitive for

landlords.

Second, Section 8 has a limit on the

amount of rent and utilities it will

subsidize to a fair market rate.

Rentals in and near downtown are

more expensive than those farther

out, so many near-in apartments don’t

qualify for the program. Another

problem with Section 8 is how the “fair

market rate” is calculated. While the

MMHA rent survey is a component of

the fair market rate, Section 8

currently averages the rates across

many areas. In some cases, landlords

have asked for rate adjustments that

reflect real rates they are getting for

the other units in the same building,

only to be told that’s not the fair

market.

Last, the Section 8 program does not

conduct credit and full background

checks on prospective renters. It falls

to landlords to turn down renters with

bad rental history problems and other

disqualifying criteria. These

turndowns are included in the rate of

vouchers not being accepted, making

the rate of program participation look

worse than it is.

Despite these limitations, not a single

Section 8 voucher goes unused in

Portland. For example, a potential

renter may have a bad rental history

that keeps him or her from being an

acceptable tenant. After a maximum

of 120 days, those vouchers are

transferred to another renter on the

waiting list.

The way to make Section 8 work for

tenants and landlords is to address

the true barriers to participation.

City Commissioner Nick Fish and the

Housing Authority of Portland have

both been working very hard at

revamping the program, as well as

educating landlords who may still be

operating under old stereotypes.

Commissioner Fish has formed a task

force of landlords, tenant and

affordable housing representatives to

reduce or eliminate the biggest

barriers. Creating an accessible

damages fund, tying the market rate

to the local market, screening

potential renters before they become

Section 8 participants, and providing

education and support on how to be a

good tenant all will go a long way to

winning over reluctant landlords.

Portland has numerous non-profit and

private landlords who are working

diligently to provide housing solutions

for those in our community less

fortunate.

Painting landlords with a broad brush

of discrimination is not only untrue, it

distracts from solving the real

problems with Section 8.

Ah, Mr. Fish:Weren’t the petit bourgeois elite of the Jewish ghettos “collaborationists” who proclaimed themselves and actions to be motivated by protecting their friends and family against the Nazi occupiers in Poland? How’d that work out for their interests?

(Historical linguistic etymological fact: coinage of the word and the concept of “collaboration” originated amongst the deluded … ambitious ... rationalizers of the occupied Jewish ghettos.)
Word to hipsters and kidz and politicians running for re election: NEVER use this word to describe anything. It doesn’t mean what you hope it does.