For Section 8 applicants, getting a voucher is just the beginning

Alex Coolman

GLENDALE -- The city’s collection of applications for Section 8

housing assistance went smoothly this year, but city officials say the

real challenge will come when voucher recipients actually try to find

housing.

The city collected nearly 13,000 applications for housing assistance

during January in a process that saw few glitches. On Feb. 27, the

housing authority will hold a computerized drawing to determine who will

receive the 200 vouchers the city has available.

But Ray Vargas, the city’s housing programs administrator, said a

shortage of low income housing in Glendale means that even the lucky few

who get vouchers will have a hard time finding a place to live.

“The real story here, and it’s going to be true all year, is it’s not

the fact that they receive the voucher that’s going to make a difference

necessarily,” he said. “It’s getting more and more difficult to find a

unit.”

In fact, Vargas said, a city study found that only half of the people

who received housing vouchers though Oct. 1 of 2000 were actual able to

find appropriate section 8 leases.

Between July 2000 and January 2001, 11 Glendale landlords who had

previously accepted section 8 tenants declined to continue with the

program, according to the study. The dropouts cited the inconvenience of

dealing with the paperwork, their belief that assistance was no longer

needed, and other reasons.

Part of the problem, though, is clearly one of supply and demand. It

is common in Glendale for vacant apartments to be met with 40 to 50

applicants, Vargas said.

Faced with that kind of interest in their apartments, landlords have

little financial incentive to give them to renters receiving federal

assistance.

Glendale is taking steps to try to address the housing crunch. The

city’s housing authority has been working with the West Hollywood

Community Housing Corporation to identify neighborhoods that could

support the development of affordable housing sites.

That process is still ongoing, but Vargas said the demand for such

development appears to be strong. The 13,000 Glendale households filing

section 8 applicantions, he noted, represent at least 30,000 individuals

in need of housing assistance.

“That’s quite a few people that are asking for help with their rent.”