- Contact Info
Realtor/Broker NC/SC
704.651.3888
- Categories
- Real Estate News
- Buyer Info
- Seller Info
- Real Estate Investing
- Charlotte Area News
- Off-the-Wall
- NC Mortgage News
- Home Inspections
- Monday Mattoid Musings
- Archives
- August 2008
- July 2008
- June 2008
- May 2008
- April 2008
- March 2008
- December 2007
- November 2007
- October 2007
- September 2007
- August 2007
- July 2007
- June 2007
- May 2007
- April 2007
Are Landords and Government Subsidizing Criminals??
July 3rd, 2007 categories: Charlotte Area News, Real Estate Investing, Real Estate News
Section 8 housing – a great program that offers an helping hand to folks who, for a variety of reasons, have become down on their luck and don’t have the means to pay for a place to live. If you don’t know about Section 8 programs, it is basically a program where qualified individuals are given vouchers to apply toward housing. These vouchers are worth various amounts and people are provided varying amounts dependent on their circumstances. A person with a voucher then takes these to a participating landlord and applies the voucher toward the rent.
What I like about the program is that it keeps government out of building and maintaining homes, and lets individual citizens handle this. The landlord/citizen must maintain their properties within government guidelines and charge market-based rents. Is it perfect? Well, the government is involved so you can expect bureaucracy and far from perfect guidelines, but all-in-all, for a government-run housing program I feel it is excellent.
Issues, questions, concerns – you name it arise, though, when an area or groupings of buildings, i.e. apartments accept what outsiders consider excessive numbers of Section 8 voucher-holders to live. People have the perception that if a large number of housing-subsidized families were to move into an area, living in close-proximity to each other, then the crime rate will increase significantly.
This issue has been mentioned a lot lately here in Charlotte. The tragic shootings of two Charlotte police officers brought this into media scrutiny again. It continues to re-surface and be discussed because this incident occurred in an area purported to have a “large number of government-subsidized housing…”
The problem with these sort of assumptions and fears is that people start reaching conclusions without looking at the facts. Here are some facts (with a few of my strong opinions tossed in…) – Section 8 Housing Vouchers are a great way to assist truly needy people and, as mentioned above, keep the government from building homes. You have to qualify for the vouchers – this is not a program riddled with fraud. Are there frauds and fakes? I’m sure a few manage to get through the screening. People in the program have to stay out of trouble. We outsiders need to realize, that it is not a cake-walk to get into the program. If you abuse your privileges, you are kicked out, and with a lot of people waiting to be next in line to receive vouchers, persons with vouchers have A LOT of incentive to adhere to the rules.
Okay…I’m defending the program, but what are the facts about crime and Section 8? Well, there has just been a study released that looked into this very thing. Conducted by the University of North Carolina at Charlotte (UNCC), this study explored the connection of crime and Section 8 properties. Guess what..? they found there was no connection. The study compared violent and property crimes in 2005 and 2006 to the number of Section 8 residents living in the area studied. To be fair, though, the report did indicate that there was a increased chance that crime would be higher near Section 8 homes.
So what gives? I think Willie Ratchford, Executive Director of City of Charlotte Community Relations Committee, summarized it best when he said “People live where they can afford to live. You are not going to get a $3,000 voucher to live in southeast Charlotte.” He has an excellent point. Persons with criminal histories tend to not have stable incomes. If your income is not stable then you cannot afford the more expensive areas. Unfortunately individuals who are honest, hard-working people but having some issues with health etc. and therefore also having problems with income, cannot afford to live in the best areas either.
In the end, Section 8 doesn’t help criminals get their housing subsidized by the government and naive landlords. Section 8 programs help those who desrve some assistance. I’d be willing to bet that a very high percentage of Section 8 voucher holders want to graduate out of the program and would be more than willing to advance to where they can live somewhere else and without the stigma that often comes with being in the Section 8 program.
July 3rd, 2007 at 11:57 am
Very nice blog you have here.
July 15th, 2007 at 4:42 pm
As a Realtor and a landlord, I was a bit hesitant when I took on a Section 8 tennant here in Columbus, Ohio. It seemed as if property owners always groaned at the sound of the words “Section 8″. My experience was fantastic. The inspectors were helpful and reasonable and the program worked in a manner that compelled he tennant to take good care of the property. She has been in this property for over 5 years and is no longer subsidized as she now is in a better financial position. Though I am sure there are horror stories as well, I encourage my investor clients to learn about the program before they rule it out.