Finding Closed Doors in House Hunt

With time for the task running out, a nonprofit group in Costa Mesa has found only one of the six houses it is seeking for developmentally disabled adults.

In November, the California Council on Developmental Disabilities, a federally funded state agency, gave Project Independence a grant of $75,000 and a year to find housing in Orange County that will allow about 20 adults to live on their own.

The idea was that the clients would pay the rent, but the agency would handle the difficult task of finding appropriate housing and persuading landlords to sign leases.

One hundred landlords and one lease later, the effort is foundering.

The hurdles confronting Project Independence underscore both the eagerness of disabled adults to live like other people, and the complex concerns of landlords who seek stability in their tenants.

“Every time I mention they’re adults with developmental disabilities, [landlords] balk,” said Michael Manchester, manager of co-op housing for Project Independence. “It feels so much like discrimination and bias. But they have the right to rent to whoever they want.”

So far, Manchester has found a home in Irvine for four disabled men. But her efforts to house four women have so far failed.

Adults with developmental disabilities generally struggle to find housing, Manchester said. Most work for minimum wage and have trouble paying Orange County rents. Housing discrimination can be another blockade.

Many Reasons Exist for Denying a Lease

The reality is that homeowners or their rental agents might have legitimate reasons to refuse a lease, said John Hambuch, housing manager at the Orange County Housing Authority.

Some might elect not to participate in the federal government’s rent subsidies program known as Section 8, which many disabled use, including some of Manchester’s clients. Leery of the extra paperwork, they’re “afraid to do business with the government,” he said.

Others might be wary of equipping their apartments with wheelchair access or bathroom grab bars to comply with the federal Americans With Disabilities Act. They don’t realize the tenant must pay for the costs of the retrofitting, Hambuch said.

Also, many disabled people lack credit histories or landlord references, since most have lived with family, Hambuch said.

Patrick Dunn of Security Management Leasing has leased a Buena Park home to developmentally disabled individuals, but after talking to Manchester about a Huntington Beach home for the women, he realized he couldn’t accept her financial terms.

“She wanted each person responsible for that portion of the lease,” Dunn said. “I want to help anybody, especially those in need, but what she wanted was unreasonable.”

The county’s competitive housing market can also allow homeowners to be choosier with their tenants, said Huntington Beach homeowner Joe Giordano.

Giordano wouldn’t rent a four-bedroom, four-bath home to the women. He said he knew they would all be working, but he believed a family would provide more financial security than a four-person lease.

“I feel bad saying it, but you have to play God in a way and pick and choose,” he said.

Pinning Their Hopes on a Santa Ana Home

Having been turned down by 100 landlords, Manchester and the group of developmentally disabled women are now pinning their hopes on a house in Santa Ana they recently toured.

In the kitchen, Anne Harwood, 55, opened the oven door and peered inside.

She and her three friends inspected the four bedrooms and two baths. Flanked by the spacious backyard’s pomegranate and peach trees, they stopped to share their impressions.

Each liked the house. More important, all were eager to move out of their parents’ homes and be on their own. Harwood, for one, worries that her elderly parents won’t always be able to care for her. And she thinks moving out will help her make new friends. The rent was manageable: $1,795 a month, or best offer.

On their way out, Harwood tried not to get too excited.

“I know, I know,” Harwood told Manchester. “Don’t get your hopes up. And don’t count your chickens.”

“Before they’re hatched,” her future potential roommate, Cindy Vanderbeek, 38, finished.