Applicants for Housing Aid to Undergo Screening

City housing officials will begin conducting background checks for participants in a federally funded rent assistance program after the City Council’s adoption last month of an administrative plan for the program.

Housing division administrator Steve Wagner said that if a background check by police turns up criminal or drug-related activity in the last five years, an applicant would not be eligible for assistance under the HUD-funded program, known as Section 8. Pending criminal cases may also preclude an applicant from receiving assistance, Wagner said.

Currently, 338 low-income Culver City residents participate in the program, and more than 800 people are on a waiting list, which has been closed to new applicants for three years, Wagner said. About 40 people enter the program from the waiting list each year.

The city’s new administrative plan also specifies that preference will be given to Culver City residents.