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Aug 18 Tenant News- 250 Left Out Of 1,200 Alameda Evictions
As Of August 18, Out Of 1,200 Facing Eviction, There Is Only Around 250 People Left At What Was Once Known As Alameda's Most Diverse Property Called The Harbor Island Apartments!
For the latest in tenant/housing news, join, Roll Back The Rents!
Just send an e-mail to:
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August 18, 2004--More tenant/housing news locally and from around the nation...
Protesters Clash At Alameda City Hall!
On Tue Aug 17 at around 6:30pm, at least 20 Alameda renters from Harbor Island showed up in front of Alameda City Hall in protest of the 1,200 evictions taking place there. Oddly enough, around 20 other protesters from the Lynden La Rouche political group showed up at the same location and both groups shouted each other down as they tried to out do one another for space on the steps of City Hall.
The La Rouche group were well rehearsed and stayed in a tight formation as they sang left wing protest songs and old negro spirituals to drown out the tenants of Harbor Island that were facing eviction...
Local renters from Harbor Island that are among the 1,200 facing eviction felt that it was racist of the White Folks in the Lynden La Rouche group to just drop in on their event to promote their own agenda while trying to come off as being there to save the day. Stay tuned for more...
Meanwhile, Mass evictions are happening in Yolo County due to 199 families losing their Section 8 subsidies, and more mass evictions may soon take place in Montana and Springfield Illinois.
And in Florida, a land scam fleeces over 500 elderly people including 4 of them that were over 100 years old!
In Marin County, HUD and the Marin Housing Authority continue to feud over the use of Section 8 vouchers meant for renters instead of using project based vouchers meant to fund the building projects developed by affordable housing non-profit organizations.
Lastly, Texas officials are under fire for ignoring the plight of children over lead poisoning exposure in public housing units of San Antonio.
Roll Back The Rents...
***********
199 families cut from HUD
The Davis Enterprise - Aug 18 2:47 PM
Yolo County Housing Authority has decided to cut 199 families from the Section 8 housing subsidy program as a last resort to absorb funding reductions by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.
Click below for full story...
http://www.davisenterprise.com/articles/2004/08/18/news/132new2.txt
***********
Housing voucher program slashed
The State Journal-Register - Aug 18 7:17 AM
The Springfield (Illinois) Housing Authority has learned that as many as 380 local families could be evicted from the federal Section 8 housing program by the end of the year, possibly forcing them to find new places to live.
The U.S. Department of Housingand Urban Development has made major cuts to Section 8 - which helps subsidize rental payments for low-income families. Landlords who provide housing through the program also would be adversely affected.
The situation has alarmed the SHA board, whose members met Tuesday to discuss what to do.
In the past, the SHA has requested Section 8 money from HUD based on the housing authority’s projected cost per housing unit.Under new rules imposed by HUD,the SHA must get by on a preset $378.09 per housing unit - regardless of size or cost.
Click below for full story...
http://www.sj-r.com/Sections/News/Stories/32922.asp
***********
Ruling compensates buyers in land scam
St. Petersburg Times - Aug 17 1:29 AM
A judge in Virginia orders real estate agents to pay into a fund for victims who overpaid for Sugarmill Woods property.
SUGARMILL WOODS - A federal judge ruled earlier this month that real estate agents working for a Virginia developer participated in a land sales scam that involved inflated property sales in Sugarmill Woods.
The outcome of the case involved fines against three real estate agents; settlements with six people who owned and operated the company, Buyers Source; and settlements with the two financial lenders that financed Buyers Source.
The scam, according to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, fleeced about $30-million from more than 1,300 people in 29 states and the District of Columbia. More than 500 of the victims were elderly, and four of them were more than 100 years old.
Click below for full story...
http://www.sptimes.com/2004/08/17/Citrus/Ruling_compensates_bu.shtml
***********
Sec. 8 changes opposed
Long Beach Press-Telegram - Aug 18 12:40 AM
Housing program residents rally to protest rent raises, cuts in time to search for new apartments. LONG BEACH — Hundreds of Long Beach residents getting Section 8 assistance gathered at a rally Tuesday night to air their feelings about proposed changes to the program.
Click below for the full story...
http://www.presstelegram.com/Stories/0,1413,204~21474~2341562,00.html
***********
Martz, senators oppose Section 8 cuts
Montanaforum.com - Aug 17 12:38 PM
HELENA - With housing subsidies for 400 poor Montanans hanging in the balance, Gov. Judy Martz and the state's two U.S. senators are trying to convince federal officials not to cut almost $1 million from the program, pushing hundreds into homelessness.
Click below for full story...
http://www.montanaforum.com/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=654
***********
Woman, 41, to repay HUD in federal case
Columbia Daily Tribune - Aug 17 12:42 PM
A Columbia woman must repay the federal government $22,761 for falsifying her income to qualify for housing aid that she was not entitled to receive, U.S. Attorney Todd Graves said in a news release.
Click below for full story...
http://www.showmenews.com/2004/Aug/20040817News003.asp
***********
Subsidy cuts divide housing officials in Elgin, D.C.
The Beacon News - Aug 18 12:45 AM
Subsidy cuts divide housing officials in Elgin, D.C. ELGIN — The Elgin Housing Authority and housing officials in the nation's capital are divided over who is to blame for the local agency's recent decision to drop three dozen households from a federal rent-subsidy program.
Click below for full story...
http://www.suburbanchicagonews.com/couriernews/top/e18housing.htm
***********
Volunteer mandate for public housing residents remains unenforced
The Stamford Advocate - 2 hours, 36 minutes ago
A law forcing unemployed public housing tenants to volunteer or face eviction has been marginally successful at promoting self-sufficiency, say housing officials who face opposition from tenants who refuse to comply.
Click below for full story...
http://www.stamfordadvocate.com/news/local/scn-sa-volunteer2aug18,0,1967471.story?coll=stam-news-local-headlines
************
Funding Cuts Prompt Housing Authority to Cut 11 Jobs, Request Retirements
David Ress
Richmond Times Dispatch (Virginia)
August 14, 2004
Richmond's housing authority is getting less money than it expected from Washington and from City Council, leading it to cut 11 jobs and encourage 16 employees to retire.
Richmond Redevelopment and Housing Authority executive director Sheila Hill-Christian said she expects the agency to receive about a $2.3 million decline next year in its $64 million budget.
RRHA serves about 7,000 families through its public housing units and subsidized rent programs, and plays a major role in the city's revitalization and economic development efforts.
"Over the last months, RRHA has been challenged with preparing for and responding to funding changes that will impact this agency's ability to provide its many programs and services for families and the city of Richmond," Hill-Christian said.
This year, RRHA is losing $800,000 cut in public housing subsidies from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.
Next year, the agency expects a $1.7 million cut in funds from the city for community development activities.
Meanwhile, elimination of HUD funding for some programs will hit a $1 million drug-elimination grant and a $693,000 grant for resident self-sufficiency programs.
Because of the financial squeeze, RRHA is cutting six positions that had been paid for through the residents' self-sufficiency grant and five positions that had been paid for through the city's Community Development Block Grant. In addition, 16 people are retiring.
RRHA employs about 340 people.
None of the job losses is related to a federal investigation that led FBI agents and federal housing officials to seize RRHA documents this spring, agency spokeswoman Valena Dixon said.
"As any business entity would realize, when resources and revenues are reduced, costs must be reduced," Hill-Christian said. "The continuing annual loss of federal funds for our housing programs, services and redevelopment initiatives now leaves us with no choice but to reduce costs and streamline our operations."/
About Us | Advanced Search | Contact Us | Legal/Trademark | Partners | Privacy Policy | Provide Feedback
**********
County, HUD spar over use of vouchers
Richard Halstead, IJ reporter
Marin Independent Journal (Marin, CA)
August 18, 2004
The Marin County Housing Authority has been unable to reach agreement with the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development over the way it awards more than 200 Section 8 housing vouchers.
In June, HUD notified the housing authority that it had "failed to meet the statutory and regulatory requirements" in administering a portion of its housing voucher program. In particular, HUD faulted the housing authority for the way it awarded some of the vouchers to nonprofits for use by their clients.
In Marin, 2,109 low-income families use Section 8 vouchers to cover 70 percent of their rent, statistics show. Families are eligible for vouchers if they earn up to 80 percent of the area median income. In Marin, that means a family of four can earn up to $90,500 a year and still qualify. But the average income of Marin voucher holders is much lower: $12,500.
Yesterday, county supervisors approved some administrative changes requested by HUD, but the federal agency still has not signed off on a waiver required for a 34-unit, affordable housing project to begin construction in Point Reyes. This is just one of several affordable housing projects that have been given Section 8 vouchers to help them attract financing.
Maurice Wolohan, the housing authority's acting deputy director, said the HUD waiver process typically takes 30 to 60 days.
"We are not starting construction on the affordable units until we have that document in hand," said Lamar Turner, who is managing the project for the Ecumenical Association for Housing.
But Turner says time is short.
"We need to get started to keep from having to build in the winter and all the costs associated with that," he said.
Two other projects - the second phase of a 41-unit transitional housing project at Hamilton Field in Novato and 50 affordable housing units behind the historic Fireside Inn at 115 Shoreline Highway outside Mill Valley - also are counting on the vouchers.
Wolohan said he expects both the Point Reyes project and the Hamilton project to eventually receive waivers.
But he said the Fireside, which is not as close to construction as the other two, will be required to reapply.
At the beginning of this month, HUD required the housing authority to take away 220 Section 8 vouchers that it had given to 13 Marin nonprofits. HUD ordered that the vouchers be reassigned to the people currently using them.
"I can see a scenario where this might blow up," Jay Zlotnick, director of San Rafael-based Buckelew Programs, told supervisors yesterday. Buckelew provides services and housing to the mentally ill.
If the people who have been awarded the vouchers leave the facilities operated by the nonprofits and other people who need the nonprofits' services come along, the housing grants will be gone, Zlotnick said.
"People are going to end up in hospitals and institutions at a greater cost to the county," Zlotnick said.
Contact Richard Halstead via e-mail at rhalstead [at] marinij.com
About Us | Advanced Search | Contact Us | Legal/Trademark | Partners | Privacy Policy | Provide Feedback
***********
OUR TURN ; SAHA delay on lead baffling, inexcusable ; Bureaucrats' procrastination showed little concern for the well-being of children.
San Antonio Express-News (Texas)
August 13, 2004
The San Antonio Housing Authority has some explaining to do about its delay in testing for lead at the Alazan-Apache Courts.
After finding unacceptable levels of lead in a bathtub in an apartment at the public housing project, why has it taken five months to check other units?
SAHA officials were alerted in February that the lead level in the bathtub in one unit was five times higher than the HUD limit for floors.
A concerned tenant, whose 4-year-old son had lead levels in his blood more than twice the acceptable level, prompted the testing. Kerrie Chapa told Express-News reporter Ron Wilson she was moved out of her apartment after the bathtub was tested, but SAHA officials kept her in the dark about their findings.
Not only did SAHA officials refuse to share the lead testing information with Chapa, they did nothing to assess the lead risk to the other 1,000 children living in the housing project until Chapa's story became public. Before then, parents in those units were not even told there might be a problem.
That's wrong. Lead poisoning is a serious medical matter. It can have long-lasting adverse affects on children, especially those between 1 and 6, because of their rapid development. Lead poisoning can impede intelligence, impair hearing, reduce stature and cause other developmental problems.
SAHA's action Thursday to test all children at the complex is five months too late.
Chapa's son, Andrew, now has normal lead levels in his blood, but he suffers from hyperactivity, has a short attention span and will need years of speech therapy.
In a written response to Wilson's inquiries about the lead problem, the housing authority said there are policies for abating hazards once they are found.
However, there appear to be no procedures in place to investigate if nearby units have the problems. Common sense would dictate otherwise. If all the units were built by the same contractor, it would be reasonable to assume they all have the same type of bathtubs and, therefore, merit inspection.
The fact that the housing authority did not immediately launch an investigation into the problem is unconscionable. There are some serious management issues here that need to be addressed by the housing authority board.
All units at the Alazan-Apache Courts need to be inspected for environmental hazards as soon as possible. The well-being of hundreds of children are at stake.
About Us | Advanced Search | Contact Us | Legal/Trademark | Partners | Privacy Policy | Provide Feedback
Just send an e-mail to:
rollbacktherents-subscribe [at] yahoogroups.com
August 18, 2004--More tenant/housing news locally and from around the nation...
Protesters Clash At Alameda City Hall!
On Tue Aug 17 at around 6:30pm, at least 20 Alameda renters from Harbor Island showed up in front of Alameda City Hall in protest of the 1,200 evictions taking place there. Oddly enough, around 20 other protesters from the Lynden La Rouche political group showed up at the same location and both groups shouted each other down as they tried to out do one another for space on the steps of City Hall.
The La Rouche group were well rehearsed and stayed in a tight formation as they sang left wing protest songs and old negro spirituals to drown out the tenants of Harbor Island that were facing eviction...
Local renters from Harbor Island that are among the 1,200 facing eviction felt that it was racist of the White Folks in the Lynden La Rouche group to just drop in on their event to promote their own agenda while trying to come off as being there to save the day. Stay tuned for more...
Meanwhile, Mass evictions are happening in Yolo County due to 199 families losing their Section 8 subsidies, and more mass evictions may soon take place in Montana and Springfield Illinois.
And in Florida, a land scam fleeces over 500 elderly people including 4 of them that were over 100 years old!
In Marin County, HUD and the Marin Housing Authority continue to feud over the use of Section 8 vouchers meant for renters instead of using project based vouchers meant to fund the building projects developed by affordable housing non-profit organizations.
Lastly, Texas officials are under fire for ignoring the plight of children over lead poisoning exposure in public housing units of San Antonio.
Roll Back The Rents...
***********
199 families cut from HUD
The Davis Enterprise - Aug 18 2:47 PM
Yolo County Housing Authority has decided to cut 199 families from the Section 8 housing subsidy program as a last resort to absorb funding reductions by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.
Click below for full story...
http://www.davisenterprise.com/articles/2004/08/18/news/132new2.txt
***********
Housing voucher program slashed
The State Journal-Register - Aug 18 7:17 AM
The Springfield (Illinois) Housing Authority has learned that as many as 380 local families could be evicted from the federal Section 8 housing program by the end of the year, possibly forcing them to find new places to live.
The U.S. Department of Housingand Urban Development has made major cuts to Section 8 - which helps subsidize rental payments for low-income families. Landlords who provide housing through the program also would be adversely affected.
The situation has alarmed the SHA board, whose members met Tuesday to discuss what to do.
In the past, the SHA has requested Section 8 money from HUD based on the housing authority’s projected cost per housing unit.Under new rules imposed by HUD,the SHA must get by on a preset $378.09 per housing unit - regardless of size or cost.
Click below for full story...
http://www.sj-r.com/Sections/News/Stories/32922.asp
***********
Ruling compensates buyers in land scam
St. Petersburg Times - Aug 17 1:29 AM
A judge in Virginia orders real estate agents to pay into a fund for victims who overpaid for Sugarmill Woods property.
SUGARMILL WOODS - A federal judge ruled earlier this month that real estate agents working for a Virginia developer participated in a land sales scam that involved inflated property sales in Sugarmill Woods.
The outcome of the case involved fines against three real estate agents; settlements with six people who owned and operated the company, Buyers Source; and settlements with the two financial lenders that financed Buyers Source.
The scam, according to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, fleeced about $30-million from more than 1,300 people in 29 states and the District of Columbia. More than 500 of the victims were elderly, and four of them were more than 100 years old.
Click below for full story...
http://www.sptimes.com/2004/08/17/Citrus/Ruling_compensates_bu.shtml
***********
Sec. 8 changes opposed
Long Beach Press-Telegram - Aug 18 12:40 AM
Housing program residents rally to protest rent raises, cuts in time to search for new apartments. LONG BEACH — Hundreds of Long Beach residents getting Section 8 assistance gathered at a rally Tuesday night to air their feelings about proposed changes to the program.
Click below for the full story...
http://www.presstelegram.com/Stories/0,1413,204~21474~2341562,00.html
***********
Martz, senators oppose Section 8 cuts
Montanaforum.com - Aug 17 12:38 PM
HELENA - With housing subsidies for 400 poor Montanans hanging in the balance, Gov. Judy Martz and the state's two U.S. senators are trying to convince federal officials not to cut almost $1 million from the program, pushing hundreds into homelessness.
Click below for full story...
http://www.montanaforum.com/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=654
***********
Woman, 41, to repay HUD in federal case
Columbia Daily Tribune - Aug 17 12:42 PM
A Columbia woman must repay the federal government $22,761 for falsifying her income to qualify for housing aid that she was not entitled to receive, U.S. Attorney Todd Graves said in a news release.
Click below for full story...
http://www.showmenews.com/2004/Aug/20040817News003.asp
***********
Subsidy cuts divide housing officials in Elgin, D.C.
The Beacon News - Aug 18 12:45 AM
Subsidy cuts divide housing officials in Elgin, D.C. ELGIN — The Elgin Housing Authority and housing officials in the nation's capital are divided over who is to blame for the local agency's recent decision to drop three dozen households from a federal rent-subsidy program.
Click below for full story...
http://www.suburbanchicagonews.com/couriernews/top/e18housing.htm
***********
Volunteer mandate for public housing residents remains unenforced
The Stamford Advocate - 2 hours, 36 minutes ago
A law forcing unemployed public housing tenants to volunteer or face eviction has been marginally successful at promoting self-sufficiency, say housing officials who face opposition from tenants who refuse to comply.
Click below for full story...
http://www.stamfordadvocate.com/news/local/scn-sa-volunteer2aug18,0,1967471.story?coll=stam-news-local-headlines
************
Funding Cuts Prompt Housing Authority to Cut 11 Jobs, Request Retirements
David Ress
Richmond Times Dispatch (Virginia)
August 14, 2004
Richmond's housing authority is getting less money than it expected from Washington and from City Council, leading it to cut 11 jobs and encourage 16 employees to retire.
Richmond Redevelopment and Housing Authority executive director Sheila Hill-Christian said she expects the agency to receive about a $2.3 million decline next year in its $64 million budget.
RRHA serves about 7,000 families through its public housing units and subsidized rent programs, and plays a major role in the city's revitalization and economic development efforts.
"Over the last months, RRHA has been challenged with preparing for and responding to funding changes that will impact this agency's ability to provide its many programs and services for families and the city of Richmond," Hill-Christian said.
This year, RRHA is losing $800,000 cut in public housing subsidies from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.
Next year, the agency expects a $1.7 million cut in funds from the city for community development activities.
Meanwhile, elimination of HUD funding for some programs will hit a $1 million drug-elimination grant and a $693,000 grant for resident self-sufficiency programs.
Because of the financial squeeze, RRHA is cutting six positions that had been paid for through the residents' self-sufficiency grant and five positions that had been paid for through the city's Community Development Block Grant. In addition, 16 people are retiring.
RRHA employs about 340 people.
None of the job losses is related to a federal investigation that led FBI agents and federal housing officials to seize RRHA documents this spring, agency spokeswoman Valena Dixon said.
"As any business entity would realize, when resources and revenues are reduced, costs must be reduced," Hill-Christian said. "The continuing annual loss of federal funds for our housing programs, services and redevelopment initiatives now leaves us with no choice but to reduce costs and streamline our operations."/
About Us | Advanced Search | Contact Us | Legal/Trademark | Partners | Privacy Policy | Provide Feedback
**********
County, HUD spar over use of vouchers
Richard Halstead, IJ reporter
Marin Independent Journal (Marin, CA)
August 18, 2004
The Marin County Housing Authority has been unable to reach agreement with the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development over the way it awards more than 200 Section 8 housing vouchers.
In June, HUD notified the housing authority that it had "failed to meet the statutory and regulatory requirements" in administering a portion of its housing voucher program. In particular, HUD faulted the housing authority for the way it awarded some of the vouchers to nonprofits for use by their clients.
In Marin, 2,109 low-income families use Section 8 vouchers to cover 70 percent of their rent, statistics show. Families are eligible for vouchers if they earn up to 80 percent of the area median income. In Marin, that means a family of four can earn up to $90,500 a year and still qualify. But the average income of Marin voucher holders is much lower: $12,500.
Yesterday, county supervisors approved some administrative changes requested by HUD, but the federal agency still has not signed off on a waiver required for a 34-unit, affordable housing project to begin construction in Point Reyes. This is just one of several affordable housing projects that have been given Section 8 vouchers to help them attract financing.
Maurice Wolohan, the housing authority's acting deputy director, said the HUD waiver process typically takes 30 to 60 days.
"We are not starting construction on the affordable units until we have that document in hand," said Lamar Turner, who is managing the project for the Ecumenical Association for Housing.
But Turner says time is short.
"We need to get started to keep from having to build in the winter and all the costs associated with that," he said.
Two other projects - the second phase of a 41-unit transitional housing project at Hamilton Field in Novato and 50 affordable housing units behind the historic Fireside Inn at 115 Shoreline Highway outside Mill Valley - also are counting on the vouchers.
Wolohan said he expects both the Point Reyes project and the Hamilton project to eventually receive waivers.
But he said the Fireside, which is not as close to construction as the other two, will be required to reapply.
At the beginning of this month, HUD required the housing authority to take away 220 Section 8 vouchers that it had given to 13 Marin nonprofits. HUD ordered that the vouchers be reassigned to the people currently using them.
"I can see a scenario where this might blow up," Jay Zlotnick, director of San Rafael-based Buckelew Programs, told supervisors yesterday. Buckelew provides services and housing to the mentally ill.
If the people who have been awarded the vouchers leave the facilities operated by the nonprofits and other people who need the nonprofits' services come along, the housing grants will be gone, Zlotnick said.
"People are going to end up in hospitals and institutions at a greater cost to the county," Zlotnick said.
Contact Richard Halstead via e-mail at rhalstead [at] marinij.com
About Us | Advanced Search | Contact Us | Legal/Trademark | Partners | Privacy Policy | Provide Feedback
***********
OUR TURN ; SAHA delay on lead baffling, inexcusable ; Bureaucrats' procrastination showed little concern for the well-being of children.
San Antonio Express-News (Texas)
August 13, 2004
The San Antonio Housing Authority has some explaining to do about its delay in testing for lead at the Alazan-Apache Courts.
After finding unacceptable levels of lead in a bathtub in an apartment at the public housing project, why has it taken five months to check other units?
SAHA officials were alerted in February that the lead level in the bathtub in one unit was five times higher than the HUD limit for floors.
A concerned tenant, whose 4-year-old son had lead levels in his blood more than twice the acceptable level, prompted the testing. Kerrie Chapa told Express-News reporter Ron Wilson she was moved out of her apartment after the bathtub was tested, but SAHA officials kept her in the dark about their findings.
Not only did SAHA officials refuse to share the lead testing information with Chapa, they did nothing to assess the lead risk to the other 1,000 children living in the housing project until Chapa's story became public. Before then, parents in those units were not even told there might be a problem.
That's wrong. Lead poisoning is a serious medical matter. It can have long-lasting adverse affects on children, especially those between 1 and 6, because of their rapid development. Lead poisoning can impede intelligence, impair hearing, reduce stature and cause other developmental problems.
SAHA's action Thursday to test all children at the complex is five months too late.
Chapa's son, Andrew, now has normal lead levels in his blood, but he suffers from hyperactivity, has a short attention span and will need years of speech therapy.
In a written response to Wilson's inquiries about the lead problem, the housing authority said there are policies for abating hazards once they are found.
However, there appear to be no procedures in place to investigate if nearby units have the problems. Common sense would dictate otherwise. If all the units were built by the same contractor, it would be reasonable to assume they all have the same type of bathtubs and, therefore, merit inspection.
The fact that the housing authority did not immediately launch an investigation into the problem is unconscionable. There are some serious management issues here that need to be addressed by the housing authority board.
All units at the Alazan-Apache Courts need to be inspected for environmental hazards as soon as possible. The well-being of hundreds of children are at stake.
About Us | Advanced Search | Contact Us | Legal/Trademark | Partners | Privacy Policy | Provide Feedback
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