Just 1 in 4 Rent Subsidy Hopefuls Gets to Apply

Swamped by 82,000 requests for help, Los Angeles officials announced on Friday that 20,000 low-income people, whose names were selected in a lottery, will be allowed to apply for funds under a federal rent-assistance program.

The other 62,000 who registered for the federal Section 8 program last December and January will be allowed to file applications in the future, officials said. Those at the bottom of the list will have to wait 3 1/2 years for applications, they said.

Of the 20,000 who will receive applications in the mail, only about 3,500 can expect to get rental assistance this year, said Steve Renahan, the city’s Section 8 director.

The city Housing Authority created a furor last December when, for four days, it opened enrollment for the program for the first time in three years. More than 300,000 callers jammed phone lines to the agency, but most never got through. In January, officials reopened the rolls and ended up with a list of 82,000 prospective applicants.

Section 8 is a federal subsidy program that helps poor families, the elderly and the disabled. Applicants who qualify are required to pay only 30% of their income in rent, with the rest paid by subsidy. That represents a huge savings to the poor, who in Los Angeles generally pay more than 50% of their income in rent.

In the past, people who wished to apply were repeatedly rebuffed because of the long waiting list and given no indication of when their turn might come. Under a new system announced Friday by Mayor Tom Bradley and housing officials, those who do not receive applications this time will be sent postcards informing them of approximately when they can expect to receive the forms.

For the 20,000 who will receive applications, their places on the waiting list will be determined by the date and time they return the forms to the city.

In addition, preference will be given to those who pay 50% or more of their monthly income for rent, live in substandard housing or have been displaced from their homes.