Section 8 housing issue clarified
The executive director of the Fayette County Housing Authority explained Thursday that although the FCHA pays a portion of the rent for qualified individuals living in Section 8 housing units, the owner of the rental unit is the property manager, not the FCHA. Thomas Harkless said the role of the FCHA is merely to “qualify families” to participate in the program. “We are not property managers. The landlord is still responsible for the lease,” Harkless said.
Lora DiDominic, director of admissions and assisted housing, said although there are 1,103 available vouchers in the Section 8 program, they all can’t be utilized because of funding constraints. She said a total of 955 vouchers were being utilized as of April 26, but 99 percent of the funding is being spent. She said 525 people are currently on the waiting list, which is purged once a year.
DiDominic said about 100 people are taken off the list annually.
DiDominic, who was asked to detail the Section 8 program by Chairwoman Angela M. Zimmerlink to clear up misconceptions, said there is not a landlord waiting list.
“We can’t give landlords a list of tenants, but we can give tenants an available unit list,” DiDominic said. She said once an eligible person obtains a voucher, they have 120 days to find a place to live.
DiDominic said one misconception is that Section 8 units are listed as approved by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.
“There is no such thing as a HUD-approved list,” DiDominic said.
While there is not a HUD-approved list, the FCHA will conduct a “courtesy inspection” if a potential Section 8 landlord requests one.
Once a voucher holder is interested in living in a unit, an official FCHA inspection is then done.
DiDominic said the two-year waiting period is because of budgetary limitations.
“We are helping people now who applied in April 2005,” she said.
Harkless said although the FCHA is using 99 percent of the available money, they are providing housing for 148 fewer families than years ago because increases in HUD funding are not keeping up with rental increases.
During the executive director’s report, Harkless said he recently received word that HUD has approved the disposition of the former Dunlap Creek Village. He said 21.75 acres of land would be sold for a market value price of $74,000 or higher, after bids are received.
Harkless also reported that the authority received a score of 88 on the Public Housing Assessment System scorecard for the year ending June 30, 2006.
“We did very good again,” Harkless said.