Housing Help for Needy in L.A.

The Los Angeles Housing Authority will begin reissuing rent subsidies to hundreds of families whose aid was abruptly terminated more than a year ago when the agency found it had no more money, officials announced Thursday.

“Praise God,” said Doris Young, whose voucher was canceled shortly before she and her two daughters, ages 12 and 16, were to move into a South Los Angeles duplex.

“This is like a dream come true. I just trusted God -- step by step, day by day -- that somehow we could get help,” she said. Since last year, Young, 49, has lived with a succession of friends, eventually bunking in the office of a friend’s small clothing store west of USC.

In February 2004, the Housing Authority of the City of Los Angeles said it could not pay for Section 8 vouchers it had given to 1,500 families that, in some cases, had already found apartments. Many were forced to live in shelters, hotels or with relatives or friends.

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, which administers the Section 8 program, intervened, and at one point threatened to put the agency into receivership after an audit uncovered financial and administrative flaws.

The Housing Authority has since changed leadership and revamped its operations. With its annual allocation of federal funds, it expects to begin offering payments this month to the roughly 950 eligible families it estimates are still in Los Angeles, agency Executive Director Rudolf Montiel said.

By summer, the authority hopes to begin giving vouchers to some of the 90,000 families on a years-long waiting list. It has about $361 million to spend on vouchers this year.

The Section 8 program subsidizes rent for about 44,000 low-income households in Los Angeles. Participants contribute about 30% of their income, and the program covers the rest.

Voucher recipients must find landlords who will participate. Arnie Corlin, a board member of the Apartment Assn. of Greater Los Angeles, said many members remain unconvinced that reform has taken root at the Housing Authority.

“From the owners’ standpoint, we will have to be shown that it’s an efficiently run organization,” said Corlin, whose group joined tenants and advocates in a coalition to save Section 8.

Larry Bush, a HUD spokesman, said his agency was confident that Los Angeles officials could run the program smoothly. “The Housing Authority is working on track, meeting all of its goals, and we expect it to continue to do so,” he said.

Part of the problem at the Housing Authority was its practice of issuing more vouchers than it had money to pay for to ensure that no voucher went unused. It’s similar to the way an airline allows more reservations than it has seats.

If the vouchers couldn’t be covered by that year’s allotment, officials would tap into reserves or the next year’s allocation. But Congress last year took away the ability to use certain reserves.

Montiel said letters would begin going out in about 10 days to participants whose vouchers were suspended. He said he hoped advocates and word of mouth would help locate people.

Young said she would not wait for a letter. She plans to contact housing officials immediately.

When she learned last year that her voucher was worthless, Young said, she collapsed on a street corner and cried.

“There are so many women like myself,” said Young, who works and attends classes. “We need this help to get back on our feet.”