Housing & Disability discussion

legalmania · 05-06-2010, 12:41 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by plgerrard

Good info LIT LOVE. Here is my two cents

I can shed some light on rental assistance, as that was my expertise for 25+ years. Rental assistance is available from two sources: Privately-owned Subsidized Housing and Public Housing Authorities. The Public Housing Authorities have 2 programs: 1) Public Housing is renting at a physical property owned by the local housing authority. 2) The Housing Choice Voucher program allows you to choose where you live (with some restrictions), and the housing authority will pay the landlord the rent above ‘Tenant Rent’.

‘Tenant Rent’ is the portion you will pay based on your income. Calculation of rent is generally the same at both Privately-owned housing and Public Housing Authorities: 30% of your ‘Adjusted Income’, less an allowance for average utility costs. So, if you have no income, you would pay no rent. If you do have income, and have a verified disability, the cost of medical treatment will be deducted from your actual income to arrive at the ‘Adjusted Income’. Many times your disability cannot be verified until your SSI/SSDI is approved. So, you would not be able to claim medical bills until then.

The preference for elderly/disabled was once mandatory for both programs. In the late nineties, the federally mandated preference was revoked, and replaced by an Optional preference. In my experience, only Public Housing Authorities still apply the Optional preference for elderly/disabled. The reason is that the Public Housing Authorities have only 2 programs with only 1 definition of disability.

There are 18 different programs for Privately-owned Subsidized Housing, and six different definitions of disability. The definition of disability that is applied depends on the program the property is operating under. Many times more than one program can exist at a given property, making the application of a disability preference difficult.

The size of apartment you will qualify for depends on your family size. You will find that most Privately-owned and Public Housing have adopted the HUD occupancy recommendations of: Minimum one person per bedroom, and maximum two people per bedroom. So, a single person would only qualify for a one bedroom, where a family of 4 could qualify for a 2, 3 or 4 bedroom.

HUD has a website with a great search engine for both Privately-owned and Public Housing.

http://portal.hud.gov/portal/page/po...tal_assistance

At the same page is a link for Housing Counseling Agencies. If you are not interested in subsidized rentals, the Housing Counseling Agencies would be the place to start, as they can provide help and advice with your current housing situation.

If you are interested in a subsidized rental, here is what you can anticipate for average wait times. This, of course, will vary depending on where you live.

Public Housing (physical property): 2-3 months
Privately-owned: 2-4 bedroom: 3-6 months
Privately-owned: 1 bedroom: 9-12 months
Privately-owned restricted to elderly/disabled: 12-15 months
Housing Choice Voucher Program: 1-2 years

Not every state offers these programs. I know in South Florida you chances of getting into a hud housing is minimal. If you do qualify the neighborhoods are not very inviting.

plgerrard · 05-06-2010, 04:17 AM

These are Federal, not State programs. If you check the link I provided, you will see there is assisted housing available in every state, including Puerto Rico.

I did indicate the average wait times varied by location. They are national averages - meaning some areas will be less, others higher.

It is true that subsidized housing stock is generally located in the poorer neighborhoods. However, most people on a limited income can't afford to live in the more affluent neighborhoods anyway. This gives them an option for rental assistance.

legalmania · 05-10-2010, 03:12 PM

In south Florida they would hand you a piece of paper of all the homeless shelters in the area if you couldn't afford rent. There was no section 8 housing. I can't remember any agencies that helped people pay rent. I know because I use to help people fight eviction, even if it was a slum lord, they would evict you if you didn't put the rent money in the court registry.The only ones that would help would be the Red Cross, if you had a fire or storm damage, they would help you out for 3 days. It's been a couple of years, I hope things changed.

http://portal.hud.gov/portal/page/po...tal_assistance

finz · 05-11-2010, 11:59 PM

Florida has section 8 housing. Here is a link http://www.gosection8.com/section_8_...g_rentals.aspx

legalmania · 05-13-2010, 02:02 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by finz

Florida has section 8 housing. Here is a link http://www.gosection8.com/section_8_...g_rentals.aspx

When Jeb Bush was Governor he cut a lot of government programs. He wanted welfare reformed totally and ssi and ssdi to be privatized. The new governor is almost the same way. Things may have changed with the housing crisis, but I doubt it. The houses that have picture not shown don't exist. The ones that do are in really bad neighborhoods.
Here is an article of how things were when Bush was in office he left in 2007 and from what I've read things haven't changed up to two years ago.

http://www.floridacdc.org/articles/040227-1.htm

finz · 05-13-2010, 09:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by legalmania

In south Florida they would hand you a piece of paper of all the homeless shelters in the area if you couldn't afford rent. There was no section 8 housing. I can't remember any agencies that helped people pay rent. I know because I use to help people fight eviction, even if it was a slum lord, they would evict you if you didn't put the rent money in the court registry.The only ones that would help would be the Red Cross, if you had a fire or storm damage, they would help you out for 3 days. It's been a couple of years, I hope things changed.

http://portal.hud.gov/portal/page/po...tal_assistance

**********************************************

You said there was no section 8 housing in south Florida. The facts are that there is indeed section 8 housing in South Florida. Section 8 housing does not guarantee granite counter tops in the kitchens of the most desirable neighborhoods. The purpose is to help those who are truely desperate. Section 8 can't afford to put everyone up in decent neighborhoods. I believe a goal , like with Welfare, is that people will try to better their situation and move out.

It is unfortunate for those of us who are disabled and have no way to better our situation.

legalmania · 05-14-2010, 12:32 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by finz

**********************************************

You said there was no section 8 housing in south Florida. The facts are that there is indeed section 8 housing in South Florida. Section 8 housing does not guarantee granite counter tops in the kitchens of the most desirable neighborhoods. The purpose is to help those who are truely desperate. Section 8 can't afford to put everyone up in decent neighborhoods. I believe a goal , like with Welfare, is that people will try to better their situation and move out.

It is unfortunate for those of us who are disabled and have no way to better our situation.

I was taking about to help pay rent. There were no agencies that helped pay rent or utilities. The people that I was trying to help didn't want granite counters, just a roof that didn't leak, and hot water, a stove little things like that. Jeb Bush would get by this law by giving money to landlords to fix their houses to qualify for section 8. Of course the landlords had no intention of renting to people who qualified for section 8, because there weren't any, that I knew of. In an article I read they claim that over 8,000 people got section 8 well there is over 5 million people in south Florida. The people on Welfare didn't have enough to eat never the less move out. It was so depressing, I had to move. I can't blame Jeb Bush all together because the people could have voted him out, they kept him in and the government along with the agencies kept shrinking and shrinking. There is nothing worse than having to tell a disabled vet ( especially the ones with kids) that I can't help him or her. They would have to go to a homeless shelter, or a relatives house, a lot of them would buy a van and live in there. I really hope things get better for you finz.
Here is an article,as of 2009.
http://www.wpbha.org/housing/section-8/index.htm

ELIGIBILITY

http://section-8housing.info/elegibility

legalmania · 05-14-2010, 12:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by LIT LOVE

legalmania:

If you follow this link http://www.shelterlistings.org/ use the options

18 and Over
Permanent Affordable Housing
Florida

you would see there are currently 85 listings. That should give someone living in the state of FL information to start with.

Thanks LIT LOVE, but I moved from south Florida almost two years ago because of the frustration of not being able to help these people. A lot of them could not qualify , to buy, even low income, because of bad credit or no job. I hope things get better down there, but I won't go back. Maybe someone will be looking for help from down there and run across your link. Thanks again.

finz · 05-14-2010, 02:54 PM

Lil Love,

Now it looks like legalmania is making this about helping people to pay their rent where they live, which is not how section 8 works.

This thread was about helping people find any kind of financial help while waiting for SSDI, including subsidized housing. The government subsidies will most likely require someone move to a different apartment building....whether that be accross town or a few towns over. I do not doubt that many are in less than desirable areas. It sounds a little cruel to say "beggars can't be chosers" but the whole point of the program is that it's better than nothing.

When I was in my 20's, while saving up for my condo, I rented an apartment in a complex that had a few section 8 units. My mother had a cow that I was moving to the low rent district

Of course, she had no issue when I got married and we owned investment property and rented to section 8 tennants

I just want any readers in south Florida to know that there is section 8 housing available in that area. I know this for a fact. Not just from the multiple listing that anyone can see online by googling section 8 and south Florida, but because I am looking at investment property in that area. Many of my relatives go to Pompano Beach every year.....I'm looking at condos there for only $30,000 to $50,000 ! You couldn't buy a house on my street for less than $400,000......some of the prices in Florida are a steal. The point of that is......same town that people chose to vacation in and some of the buildings I am looking at have section 8 tennants in them. When I pick one, I will most likely rent it to a section 8 tennant (as a landlord, the rent is guaranteed to be paid from section 8 as opposed to a 'regular' tennant who might not pay then you have to go through expensive eviction proceedings) until I am ready to move down there.

Chemar · 05-14-2010, 03:15 PM

these posts have been moved from the Catch 22 sticky thread as that thread is not really meant for this kind of discussion but rather for sharing of helpful links and information

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