Housing Authority Makes Wide-Ranging and Positive Program Changes with $3 Million in Additional Funding
PORTLAND, Ore. – July 18, 2007 – The Housing Authority of Portland's (HAP) Board of Commissioners voted at their July 17 meeting to approve several changes to the agency's Section 8 program as a result of increased federal funding. The changes will lessen the rent burden for the 8,000 households currently participating in HAP's program, provide more generous bedroom standards, and allow landlords to increase rents to market levels.
When Congress passed the federal 2007 budget in February, it called for an increase in funding for several domestic programs, including Section 8 rent assistance. The legislation also changed the way in which the amount of Section 8 subsidy a housing authority receives for its community is calculated. The subsidy now will be based on what a housing authority has spent for its authorized vouchers in the previous calendar year. Previously, it was based on a three-month period in 2004, which resulted in several years of funding shortfalls. The shortfalls caused HAP to reduce program costs with a variety of changes, including raising the minimum a household pays for rent from 30 to 35 percent of their income.
In late June, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) informed HAP that it would receive nearly $3 million more for Section 8 housing assistance payments in 2007. With this additional budget, the agency will:
- Return program participants to paying a minimum of 30 percent of their income toward rent, effective September 1, 2007.
- Refund program participants the additional 5 percent they paid between January and August 2007.
- Change HAP's subsidy (bedroom) standards to provide a head(s) of household one bedroom, and then one bedroom for each two persons thereafter, regardless of age or sex. The previous standard provided for one bedroom for every two persons, with no difference between head(s) of household and other household members.
- Lift the 5 percent cap on landlord rent increases and base rent reasonableness testing, which HAP uses to validate the amount a landlord can charge, solely on market conditions.
- Remove the limitations on a participant's ability to use their voucher in other areas of the state and country after they have completed an initial 12-month lease in Multnomah County. Previously, HAP would not allow participants to "port" their vouchers to areas where the cost of the voucher exceeded HAP's costs.
In addition, the Board granted HAP staff the authority to increase the agency's payment standards as budget permits. Payment standards are the maximum amount a housing authority can pay up to for a rental unit. Housing authorities are allowed to establish payment standards between 90 and 110 percent of HUD-determined Fair Market Rents for a local area. Typically, higher payment standards provide participants with a broader range of choices in the rental market and can be a tool to help deconcentrate poverty.
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