Wait Shortens for Public Housing Units
It was criminal the way some people in Los Angeles County used to have to wait to get into public housing.
Their names would go onto a list and then they would sit for six or seven years waiting for a vacancy.
But now--thanks in part to criminals--that kind of delay is starting to disappear.
Operators of county low-income housing units say new procedures that let them weed out potential renters with criminal backgrounds and evict residents who commit crimes are helping to cut the wait for housing to months instead of years.
Some apartments, including units in normally sought-after areas such as Santa Monica, are even going begging for occupants.
“Believe it or not, we’ve had difficulties filling them,” said Maria Badrakhan, director of public housing for the county Community Development Commission.
“We have a whole new philosophy about public housing. It’s not business as usual any more.”
It’s still a big business, however.
Badrakhan’s agency operates 3,600 rental units across the county that are designed to be an alternative to the aging hotels and slum-like apartments that many poor families call home. Rent is calculated at 30% of a family’s income and averages $168 per month.
In Los Angeles, another 8,125 units are run by municipal Housing Authority officials who have begun implementing the same background checks but haven’t noticed a change yet.
In the past, the only background check done on tenants by either agency was a financial one. Officials reviewed applicants’ credit history to make certain they could--and would--pay their rent on time.
The criminal crackdown started slowly with county housing administrators evicting tenants whose lawbreaking activities were considered to be a threat to neighbors.
County officials began noticing a change in the waiting period about six months ago, after more stringent regulations were put into effect.
The county turned up the heat last summer by requiring criminal background checks of all rental applicants.
Authorization to do that came from guidelines issued in early 1996 by President Clinton. Nicknamed the “one strike and you’re out” policy, it promises additional funding and less federal oversight for local housing programs that aggressively try to weed out criminals.
Since Aug. 22, county officials have red-flagged 47 out of 1,073 rental applications for criminal reasons. So far, nine applications have been rejected and the other 38 have been placed on hold pending fingerprint checks.
In Los Angeles, city housing officials began their own criminal screening six weeks ago and now are waiting to gauge its impact.
“You need six months or a year to determine its effect,” said George McQuade, spokesman for the Housing Authority.
Waiting lists have traditionally been shorter at most of the 21 city housing projects than at county projects--although city officials say past years’ statistics are not available. Currently, waits for city-run housing range from three months for two-bedroom units to three years for senior citizen housing.
McQuade said the new background checks appear to be generating a 1% rejection rate, which could translate to about 120 applicant denials a year. Those who are turned down can appeal to the Housing Authority.
The county also has a hearing process for rejected applicants.
“If there are any convictions for felonies, they will be denied,” Badrakhan said. “They can appeal, but so far, we’ve not gotten any appeals.”
Badrakhan said factors other than the background checks could be helping to pare down her agency’s waiting list. She said some applicants might have moved during their lengthy wait for housing and not left forwarding addresses.
The relatively short wait has prompted some applicants--particularly senior citizens--to reject the first county housing unit that is offered to them. Realizing that their number will come up again in a matter of months, they are reapplying in hopes that their next choice is closer to their doctors or where family members live, Badrakhan said.
Some applicants drop out of the running for housing when they are asked to sign the waiver that gives officials permission to conduct criminal background checks on all family members, she said.
And as the word has gotten out that housing officials are reviewing rap sheets, many with criminal convictions are simply not bothering to apply, Badrakhan said.
The shrinking waiting list is being cheered by those who pass muster with the screeners.
Patricia Foy found a vacancy in a county-run Long Beach complex in just 11 months. She moved in last week.
“I feel blessed,” said Foy, 59, who is severely disabled and was living in a trailer with a full-time caregiver until its owner sold the place.
“I couldn’t go out into the street in a hospital bed,” she said.
Gladys Ponce, vice president of the residents’ council at a 300-unit county housing complex in Lomita, said she has not encountered anyone who is offended by the new criminal background checks.
“People want to feel safe and not be subjected to violence around them,” she said.
