Section 8 Renters May Get Help From City

Responding to an alarming shortage of affordable housing, the Los Angeles City Council and the city’s Rent Adjustment Commission are considering urgent measures designed to ensure that landlords rent to thousands of tenants with federal housing vouchers.

The measures, backed by housing advocates and tenant groups, take aim at the growing number of landlords who have opted to cease renting to tenants who use so-called Section 8 housing vouchers.

The trend has forced many tenants out of their homes and made it impossible for others to find housing. Currently, 59% of those with vouchers are unable to find housing within the time and rent limitations, rendering their federal assistance useless.

“Last year we lost 6,000 Section 8 contracts, mainly because landlords can get more money on the open market,” said Rod Field, an attorney with the Los Angeles Housing Law Project.

Field is part of a coalition that has asked the City Council to back an amendment to the city’s rent stabilization law that would make it illegal to evict tenants from rent-controlled buildings because they are paying with the federal vouchers. The council is expected to vote on the matter today.

Local authorities have also negotiated an increase in the allowable maximum rents under Section 8. That hike could amount to nearly $100 on a two-bedroom apartment--if it is approved by the Rent Adjustment Commission--and would probably increase landlords’ willingness to rent to subsidized tenants.

The amendment, which has already received initial approval from city lawmakers, is opposed by the Apartment Owners Assn. of Greater Los Angeles. The group’s leaders say it is “unconstitutional and misguided” to force landlords to accept Section 8 tenants, whose vouchers can amount to hundreds of dollars less than market rents.

“We will, of course, approach Mayor [James K.] Hahn for a veto,” said Charles Isham, executive vice president of the association.

The amendment declares that changes are “urgently required for the immediate preservation of the public health and safety.” The declaration means the law would take effect immediately--offering protection to tenants who currently have no recourse when a landlord decides to opt out of the subsidy program.

Without the amendment, Elizabeth Cooper of North Hills faces the prospect of losing the apartment she has shared for nearly 12 years with her developmentally disabled and wheelchair-bound son.

“I’m just hoping and praying that the City Council will find it in their hearts to sign this and sign it with urgency,” said Cooper, who received a 90-day notice from the new owner of her apartment. “It will give some kind of protection to tenants who face this and who face the fear of not knowing what to do.”

The dilemma facing Section 8 tenants is an outgrowth of the city’s tight housing market, high rents and changes in federal guidelines. The changes have made it easier for landlords to terminate contracts with the Los Angeles Housing Authority and fetch higher rents on the open market, housing advocates say.

Some landlords argue that the exodus is also fueled by the program’s burdensome bureaucracy and inspections.

“Many small apartment owners throw their hands up in despair and say, ‘I don’t need it,’” Isham said.

Whatever the cause, landlords are fleeing the program. In a typical scenario, Section 8 tenants are told the owner will no longer accept vouchers and that the tenants are responsible for the full rent.

The average income of a Section 8 tenant is $12,000 a year. More than 46% of these tenants are either elderly or disabled.

“The effect is that the rent will become out of reach for the tenants,” said Mary Maher, an assistant director of the city’s Section 8 program. “Normally they can pay their share under Section 8, but they can’t afford the full rent. They end up probably getting evicted for failure to pay rent.”

Forced back into the housing market, the ousted Section 8 tenants find few units available. The phenomenon has meant an upsurge in calls to assistance programs such as Neighborhood Legal Services of Los Angeles County in Pacoima.

“I’ve had hundreds of clients,” said Chancela Al-Mansour of Neighborhood Legal Services. “Last year alone, I had three buildings of more than 25 people who, at the same time, received 30- or 90-day eviction notices saying the owner was terminating all Section 8 contracts.”

Housing officials and advocates argue that Section 8 tenants deserve the same protections as tenants of rent-controlled buildings--those covered under the city’s Rent Stabilization Ordinance.

The law covers buildings built before 1978. It also clearly defines the reasons for which tenants can be evicted. The amendment to be considered today would add language to the ordinance making it illegal to reject Section 8 tenants from rent-controlled buildings merely because they pay with federal vouchers.

In the past, some Section 8 tenants have faced formal eviction notices while others have simply been told their vouchers would no longer be accepted. Neither practice would be legal under the amendment.

But landlords complain that the proposed change would effectively force them into an “endless lease.” Landlords fear that, if they fail to accept the vouchers, they would still be required to house the Section 8 tenants and accept the small portion of the rent they are required to pay.

Such a scenario, Isham said, would amount to the government taking landlords’ income.

“It would be another disincentive to go into the Section 8 program,” he said.

The Apartment Owners Assn. board has not decided if it will sue.

But the measure is being applauded by tenants across the region who have organized in protest over the massive loss of housing caused by landlord defections from the program.

Sheila Bernard, president of the Lincoln Place Tenants Assn., helped encourage Section 8 tenants of her Venice complex to file a lawsuit accusing the owner of discrimination. The landlord denied the allegations and the suit was settled.

“We’re glad these thousands of evictions will no longer be permitted, because many of these evictions involved frail seniors and also families with children,” Bernard said. “It’s a real injustice.”

At the same time, officials are hoping to make the voucher program more attractive to landlords by increasing rents.

The Housing Authority has asked the city’s Rent Adjustment Commission for permission to raise the rents of existing Section 8 tenants higher than the 3% increase allowed under the rent stabilization ordinance.

For example, an apartment currently renting for $800 could increase to $824 under the rent stabilization ordinance. But if the Rent Adjustment Commission approves the proposed change, rent on the same apartment could increase to as much as $920, if justified by neighborhood and market conditions, Maher said.

The additional rent would be covered by increased federal subsidies.

With that increase, already approved by the Department of Housing and Urban Development, some owners of rent-controlled buildings would actually receive higher rents from Section 8 tenants than they would be permitted to charge other renters.

“We’re obviously looking to protect our tenants,” said Maher, the city’s Section 8 representative. “But we’re also looking to make sure Section 8 is a good deal for landlords.”

The Rent Adjustment Commission is scheduled to take up the issue at its April 4 meeting.