NORFOLK, VA - Princess Porter waited seven years to get a Section 8 voucher that would help her get out of subsidized housing. But when Porter finally received the federal rental assistance in April, another obstacle loomed just as large: actually finding a place to live. In Portsmouth, more than 150 people have Section 8 vouchers in hand and are searching for rental housing. Norfolk has a similar backlog. And thousands more are on waiting lists just for the opportunity to search.
Porter's visits to apartment complexes and housing often led to the same scene: dozens of people applying for a few units, or landlords rejecting Section 8 vouchers outright. Only last week, after searching for a month and a half, did she find a three-bedroom house in Portsmouth's Truxtun neighborhood. "The housing is so scarce here," said Porter, who wanted to stay in Portsmouth because of its proximity to her job and Norfolk State University, where she's one year away from getting her degree. "I didn't want to give up the voucher because I had waited so long to get it. But at times, it got really frustrating."
While Virginia Beach, Chesapeake and Suffolk officials say they aren't experiencing Section 8 rental problems, Norfolk and Portsmouth are in an affordable-rental crunch. So as the busy summer rental season heats up, housing authorities in the region's urban core are seeking more landlords for their federally subsidized rental programs - and in some cases are weighing major incentives - to relieve some of the shortage. "We really need to try to get as many landlords and as many units so we can serve more clients," said Donnell Brown, the Norfolk Redevelopment and Housing Authority's assistant executive director of housing operations.
Under the Section 8 program, low-income renters find apartments or houses on the private market and pay 30 percent of their income toward housing. Federal money picks up the remainder of the costs. Housing officials inspect the units once a year and make sure that rents fall within affordability standards set by the federal government. Beyond that, the rentals are similar to any other apartment or house. Both Norfolk and Portsmouth are authorized to give out far more vouchers than they actually do, in Norfolk's case, there's funding for at least several hundred more families, but there isn't enough housing to go around. Vouchers are handed out a few dozen at a time, and potential renters can spend years on waiting lists before getting the opportunity for assistance.
Compounding the problem is the region's tight rental market, housing officials say. A study released this year by Old Dominion University's Center for Real Estate and Economic Development found that in late 2007, Hampton Roads had a rental occupancy rate of nearly 95 percent, one of the highest in the Southeast. Some states prohibit landlords from refusing the federal vouchers, but in Virginia, landlords can refuse to rent to people in the Section 8 program.
That happens often, Porter said. "I wish Section 8 had a better rapport with the owners," she said, adding that she had also found a lot of owners trying to rent to own or sell properties. "We need to make the owners more comfortable with us. "It's a stereotype. I guess they fear we're going to come in and destroy their property." A half-dozen landlords who don't take Section 8 did not return calls or refused to speak on the record about why they don't accept the vouchers.
Mary Saylor, who with her husband runs the National Tenant Network, a company that screens tenants, said waiting for paperwork and inspections often deters landlords. "It's a time delay," said Saylor, who sits on the Norfolk housing authority's Landlord Advisory Board. "And you're at the mercy of a Sect
Source: PilotOnline.com