Expansion of Housing Choice Voucher Program in Ward 3?

[Anonymous]

Has the voucher program for affordable housing been expanded during the pandemic? We live in Ward 3 and have noticed a significant demographic shift in the tenants of some nearby apartments over the last six months or so. I went to check on renting a unit at one for my parents recently and was surprised that they were accepting vouchers. Does anyone have any background on this program?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Has the voucher program for affordable housing been expanded during the pandemic? We live in Ward 3 and have noticed a significant demographic shift in the tenants of some nearby apartments over the last six months or so. I went to check on renting a unit at one for my parents recently and was surprised that they were accepting vouchers. Does anyone have any background on this program?

It’s a bit of a Trojan horse in a place like Ward 3. When a landlord takes a voucher for a rent controlled unit, the unit adjusts to market rate. As there have been challenges in some buildings with a number if voucher tenants, the experience, for example at Sedgwick Gardens, was that some longstanding tenants in rent controlled units them decided to leave. So the landlord enjoys the financial benefit of vouchers that effectively pay market rent, all the while reducing the number of rent control tenants. Then the landlord is in a position to redevelop the entire property into upscale market rate housing. So in the short term, vouchers seem like a good idea, but in the longer term they may reduce the stock of affordable housing in areas like Ward 3.

[Anonymous]

This is messed up.

[Anonymous]

In DC, it is illegal to refuse to accept Housing Choice Vouchers (aka Section 8 Vouchers). It happens all the time but it is against the law. The building that you looked at is complying with the DC Human Rights Act.

https://ohr.dc.gov/sites/default/files/dc/sites/ohr/publication/attachments/OHRGuidance16-01_SourceofIncome_FINAL.pdf

[Anonymous]

The demographics changed? How awful for you. Thoughts & prayers, OP.

[Anonymous]

I own a house in AU Park that I have rented it out on occasion. Whenever I list the house I get dozens of calls asking if I accept vouchers. I always say yes and not a single one of the potential tenants has ever shown up to see the house at their appointment. It is almost as if it is some sort of DC agency simply testing whether or not I accept vouchers.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I own a house in AU Park that I have rented it out on occasion. Whenever I list the house I get dozens of calls asking if I accept vouchers. I always say yes and not a single one of the potential tenants has ever shown up to see the house at their appointment. It is almost as if it is some sort of DC agency simply testing whether or not I accept vouchers.

That is what is actually happening.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:In DC, it is illegal to refuse to accept Housing Choice Vouchers (aka Section 8 Vouchers). It happens all the time but it is against the law. The building that you looked at is complying with the DC Human Rights Act.

https://ohr.dc.gov/sites/default/files/dc/sites/ohr/publication/attachments/OHRGuidance16-01_SourceofIncome_FINAL.pdf

It’s not quite that simple. I am a landlord in DC and have properties on Capitol Hill and in Trinidad. When I list them, I get tons of interest from Section 8 tenants and even get calls from social workers at DCRA trying to place tenants. I always show the property to whoever shows up ( and most of the Section 8 tenants who make an appointment fail to show and don’t cancel). However, DCRA vouchers are set by neighborhood and they have a max rent that they will pay in each neighborhood for a property with a certain number of bedrooms. I have never had a situation where a Section 8 voucher is actually high enough to cover the rent I am asking (and have previously gotten for the unit) so I cannot and do not have to accept the voucher. I have market rate renters who are happy to pay my asking rent. All a landlord has to do is know the voucher amount for their unit and set their rent above that level and they are complying with the law.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:In DC, it is illegal to refuse to accept Housing Choice Vouchers (aka Section 8 Vouchers). It happens all the time but it is against the law. The building that you looked at is complying with the DC Human Rights Act.

https://ohr.dc.gov/sites/default/files/dc/sites/ohr/publication/attachments/OHRGuidance16-01_SourceofIncome_FINAL.pdf

It’s not quite that simple. I am a landlord in DC and have properties on Capitol Hill and in Trinidad. When I list them, I get tons of interest from Section 8 tenants and even get calls from social workers at DCRA trying to place tenants. I always show the property to whoever shows up ( and most of the Section 8 tenants who make an appointment fail to show and don’t cancel). However, DCRA vouchers are set by neighborhood and they have a max rent that they will pay in each neighborhood for a property with a certain number of bedrooms. I have never had a situation where a Section 8 voucher is actually high enough to cover the rent I am asking (and have previously gotten for the unit) so I cannot and do not have to accept the voucher. I have market rate renters who are happy to pay my asking rent. All a landlord has to do is know the voucher amount for their unit and set their rent above that level and they are complying with the law.

PP you quoted here. Obviously, you’re right. As a landlord, you get to set the rental amount and you certainly aren’t breaking the law if you set it above HUD’s fair market rent. You don’t have to rent to a voucher holder at a lower rate than another prospective tenant is willing to pay. You can even choose to rent to a non voucher holder over a voucher holder for the same amount of rent. You simply can’t categorically refuse to rent to a voucher holder without violating the law. Obviously, the effect of what you describe is that more expensive areas will have fewer voucher holders, like in Ward 3, typically.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I own a house in AU Park that I have rented it out on occasion. Whenever I list the house I get dozens of calls asking if I accept vouchers. I always say yes and not a single one of the potential tenants has ever shown up to see the house at their appointment. It is almost as if it is some sort of DC agency simply testing whether or not I accept vouchers.

I have known people who faced lawsuits from the city for merely saying they would prefer not to take them. Seventy four percent of all landlords are small time. These are people who do this either on the side or own 4 or less units etc. the government is placing the burden of affordable housing on the backs of these landlords rather than more so addressing itself. I know this is a forum for housewives to talk about breastfeeding and stuff, and many people are probably root for the “underdog” all the time, but realistically private landlords put themselves out there, take a risk, get eviction moratoriums put on them when they have mortgages to pay, or get section 8 tenants, many of whom damage property, have more people living in the units than are intended, pull out the copper pipes when they leave etc…it’s all about perspective.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Has the voucher program for affordable housing been expanded during the pandemic? We live in Ward 3 and have noticed a significant demographic shift in the tenants of some nearby apartments over the last six months or so. I went to check on renting a unit at one for my parents recently and was surprised that they were accepting vouchers. Does anyone have any background on this program?

It’s a bit of a Trojan horse in a place like Ward 3. When a landlord takes a voucher for a rent controlled unit, the unit adjusts to market rate. As there have been challenges in some buildings with a number if voucher tenants, the experience, for example at Sedgwick Gardens, was that some longstanding tenants in rent controlled units them decided to leave. So the landlord enjoys the financial benefit of vouchers that effectively pay market rent, all the while reducing the number of rent control tenants. Then the landlord is in a position to redevelop the entire property into upscale market rate housing. So in the short term, vouchers seem like a good idea, but in the longer term they may reduce the stock of affordable housing in areas like Ward 3.

Pretty slimy of the city to superficially use affordable housing - and more specifically the people who need affordable housing - as pawns for ending rent control.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Has the voucher program for affordable housing been expanded during the pandemic? We live in Ward 3 and have noticed a significant demographic shift in the tenants of some nearby apartments over the last six months or so. I went to check on renting a unit at one for my parents recently and was surprised that they were accepting vouchers. Does anyone have any background on this program?

It’s a bit of a Trojan horse in a place like Ward 3. When a landlord takes a voucher for a rent controlled unit, the unit adjusts to market rate. As there have been challenges in some buildings with a number if voucher tenants, the experience, for example at Sedgwick Gardens, was that some longstanding tenants in rent controlled units them decided to leave. So the landlord enjoys the financial benefit of vouchers that effectively pay market rent, all the while reducing the number of rent control tenants. Then the landlord is in a position to redevelop the entire property into upscale market rate housing. So in the short term, vouchers seem like a good idea, but in the longer term they may reduce the stock of affordable housing in areas like Ward 3.

Pretty slimy of the city to superficially use affordable housing - and more specifically the people who need affordable housing - as pawns for ending rent control[b].

What did you expect from the Bowser administration?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Has the voucher program for affordable housing been expanded during the pandemic? We live in Ward 3 and have noticed a significant demographic shift in the tenants of some nearby apartments over the last six months or so. I went to check on renting a unit at one for my parents recently and was surprised that they were accepting vouchers. Does anyone have any background on this program?

It’s a bit of a Trojan horse in a place like Ward 3. When a landlord takes a voucher for a rent controlled unit, the unit adjusts to market rate. As there have been challenges in some buildings with a number if voucher tenants, the experience, for example at Sedgwick Gardens, was that some longstanding tenants in rent controlled units them decided to leave. So the landlord enjoys the financial benefit of vouchers that effectively pay market rent, all the while reducing the number of rent control tenants. Then the landlord is in a position to redevelop the entire property into upscale market rate housing. So in the short term, vouchers seem like a good idea, but in the longer term they may reduce the stock of affordable housing in areas like Ward 3.

Pretty slimy of the city to superficially use affordable housing - and more specifically the people who need affordable housing - as pawns for ending rent control.

What's the connection between vouchers and rent control? Units can adjust to market rate whenever anyone moves out of a unit.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Has the voucher program for affordable housing been expanded during the pandemic? We live in Ward 3 and have noticed a significant demographic shift in the tenants of some nearby apartments over the last six months or so. I went to check on renting a unit at one for my parents recently and was surprised that they were accepting vouchers. Does anyone have any background on this program?

It’s a bit of a Trojan horse in a place like Ward 3. When a landlord takes a voucher for a rent controlled unit, the unit adjusts to market rate. As there have been challenges in some buildings with a number if voucher tenants, the experience, for example at Sedgwick Gardens, was that some longstanding tenants in rent controlled units them decided to leave. So the landlord enjoys the financial benefit of vouchers that effectively pay market rent, all the while reducing the number of rent control tenants. Then the landlord is in a position to redevelop the entire property into upscale market rate housing. So in the short term, vouchers seem like a good idea, but in the longer term they may reduce the stock of affordable housing in areas like Ward 3.

Pretty slimy of the city to superficially use affordable housing - and more specifically the people who need affordable housing - as pawns for ending rent control.

What's the connection between vouchers and rent control? Units can adjust to market rate whenever anyone moves out of a unit.

I don't think that's true. My understanding is that when a rent control unit goes vacant, I think the landlord can increase rent for the unit up to a maximum of 10% or increase a comparable unit rent up to 30%. Voucher program units are explicitly exempt from rent control.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Has the voucher program for affordable housing been expanded during the pandemic? We live in Ward 3 and have noticed a significant demographic shift in the tenants of some nearby apartments over the last six months or so. I went to check on renting a unit at one for my parents recently and was surprised that they were accepting vouchers. Does anyone have any background on this program?

It’s a bit of a Trojan horse in a place like Ward 3. When a landlord takes a voucher for a rent controlled unit, the unit adjusts to market rate. As there have been challenges in some buildings with a number if voucher tenants, the experience, for example at Sedgwick Gardens, was that some longstanding tenants in rent controlled units them decided to leave. So the landlord enjoys the financial benefit of vouchers that effectively pay market rent, all the while reducing the number of rent control tenants. Then the landlord is in a position to redevelop the entire property into upscale market rate housing. So in the short term, vouchers seem like a good idea, but in the longer term they may reduce the stock of affordable housing in areas like Ward 3.

Pretty slimy of the city to superficially use affordable housing - and more specifically the people who need affordable housing - as pawns for ending rent control.

What's the connection between vouchers and rent control? Units can adjust to market rate whenever anyone moves out of a unit.

I don't think that's true. My understanding is that when a rent control unit goes vacant, I think the landlord can increase rent for the unit up to a maximum of 10% or increase a comparable unit rent up to 30%. Voucher program units are explicitly exempt from rent control.

I stand corrected! Thanks.