Cutting Fraud in Section 8 Housing
By Supervisor Greg Cox
The following commentary appeared in the Rental Owner in March 2004
The County of San Diego is fortunate to have rental property owners who are willing to participate in the Rental Assistance Program for low-income residents. Called Section 8, the program helps qualified individuals and families by paying a portion of their rent directly to rental property owners who are willing to participate in the rental assistance program.
In order to qualify for the County’s Section 8 Program, the individual or family must live in an unincorporated area of San Diego County or in Chula Vista, Coronado, Del Mar, El Cajon, Escondido, Imperial Beach, La Mesa, Lemon Grove, Poway, San Marcos, Santee, Solana Beach, or Vista and must earn a total gross annual income at or below 50 percent of the San Diego County Area Median Income (AMI), currently $31,900 for a family of four.
The success of the Section 8 program relies on the willingness of rental property owners to accept Section 8 tenants. As a public assistance program, Section 8 has suffered a stigma and understandably, many rental property owners have expressed hesitation and concern about issues that may arise with their Section 8 tenants.
In order to increase participation and confidence from rental property owners and to fight fraud, the County has launched an aggressive new means of verifying eligibility of Section 8 participants with more frequent criminal background checks, hopefully giving SDCAA members added incentive to participate in the Section 8 program.
The County Must Conduct Background Checks on Section 8 Tenants
There are significantly fewer Section 8 vouchers than qualified applicants. Routinely, once an individual or family applies and meets the qualifications, they are placed on a waiting list for two to five years. While the County Housing Authority’s Rental Assistance Program currently manages Section 8 funding to over 10,000 participants, we have a waiting list of 20,000 individuals and families in need.
The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) has conservatively estimated that $600 million is paid out annually nationwide to Section 8 Rental Assistance Program participants who knowingly falsify or omit information in order to gain more rental assistance than they are entitled to under the law. HUD also estimates that 12 percent of all Section 8 participants either have become totally ineligible during their participation in the program due to changing circumstances, or are receiving benefits that exceed their legal entitlement.
Although the qualifications of all Section 8 applicants are verified at the time of their application, including a criminal background check, County staff did not regularly verify that participants had not engaged in a prohibited criminal activity throughout their participation in the program. Instead, Section 8 participants were asked to voluntarily notify the County of certain life changes that may make them ineligible for continued participation in the program. For example, if someone in the household is involved in illegal drugs or violent criminal activity, they are required to report arrests and convictions to their housing caseworker. This could result in termination of Section 8 assistance based on the type of criminal activity and the program regulations.
New Fraud Fighting Mechanisms in Place
As part of the County’s continued efforts to ensure that Section 8 Rental Assistance funds are disbursed to only qualified individuals and families, the County must rely on more than voluntary reporting. That is why I introduced a measure, approved by the Board of Supervisors, directing that criminal history background checks be conducted on all existing Section 8 participants.
These ongoing criminal history background checks greatly contribute to ensuring that San Diego County’s HUD funded Rental Assistance Program is active in pursuing and eliminating fraud. Rental property owners should have full assurance that taxpayer dollars are being spent appropriately and efficiently. Additionally, it is critical for the success of the County’s Section 8 program that we also demonstrate to HUD that San Diego County actively strives to maintain the integrity of this program at the highest level.
Ending Section 8 assistance to ineligible participants would free up additional assistance to individuals and families currently on the waiting list, making more rental housing assistance available to law abiding eligible low income families in a region where affordable housing is at a minimum.
Get Involved in Section 8
The County has a long-standing commitment to zero fraud in tax supported County programs. I am pleased to have the Board of Supervisors’ support for continuing that commitment to ensuring critical resources are available to those individuals and families most in need and legally eligible.
The Section 8 program provides the most needed form of assistance to low-income residents by helping them to access housing. But, Section 8 can only succeed with the participation and support from rental property owners. If you are interested in learning more about the Section 8 program, or would like to participate, please call the County Department of Housing and Community Development’s Section 8 Information Line at (858) 694-4890.