HISTORY OF THE SECTION 8 PROGRAM

Federal housing assistance programs began during the Great Depression to address the country’s housing crisis.  In the 1960s and 1970s, the federal government created subsidy programs to increase the production of low-income housing and to help low income families pay their rent.  In 1961, the Section 23 Leased Housing Program amended the U.S. Housing Act of 1937.  This subsidy program, the predecessor to Section 8, was not a pure housing allowance program.  Housing authorities selected eligible families from their waiting list, placed them in housing from a master list of available private units, and determined the rent that tenants would have to pay.  The housing authority would then sign a lease with the private landlord and pay the difference between the tenant’s rent and the market rate for the same size unit.  In the agreement with the private landlord, housing authorities agreed to perform regular building maintenance and leasing functions for Section 23 tenants, and annually reviewed the tenant’s income for program eligibility and rent calculations.

In the 70s, when studies showed that the major low income housing crisis was no longer substandard housing, but the high percentage of income spent on housing, Congress passed the Housing and Community Development Act of 1974, further amending the U.S. Housing Act of 1937 to create the Section 8 Program.  In the Section 8 Program, tenants pay about 30 percent of their income for rent, while the rest of the rent is paid with federal money.

The Section 8 program initially had three subprograms—New Construction, Substantial Rehabilitation, and Existing Housing Certificate programs.  The Moderate Rehabilitation Program was added in 1978, the Voucher Program in 1983, and the Project-based Certificate program in 1991.  In the Section 8 program, eligible families with a certificate or voucher find and lease a unit and pay a reasonable rent--a percentage of their income.  The local housing authority pays the owner the remaining rent, capped by the Fair Market Rent (FMR).  The housing authorities determine the reasonable rent and the FMR is determined by the U. S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).  The numbers of units a local housing authority can subsidize under its Section 8 programs is determined by Congressional funding.  Since its inception, some Section 8 programs have been phased out and new ones created although Congress has always renewed subsidy for families participating in the program.

BACKGROUND ON HACLA’S SECTION 8 PROGRAM

In 1975, the Housing Authority of the City of Los Angeles (HACLA) implemented the Section 8 Program providing rent subsidies in the form of housing assistance payments (HAPs) to private landlords on behalf of eligible families.  The Section 8 program, funded by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), provides housing assistance to extremely low and very low-income families, senior citizens, and disabled or handicapped persons.  Its objective is to provide affordable, decent and safe housing for eligible families, while increasing a family’s residential mobility and choice.  HACLA, a state chartered public housing agency since 1938, now administers the second largest Section 8 Program in the country.

The Housing Authority has two different types of rental subsidies—tenant-based and project-based programs. Both programs have similar income-based admission requirements set by HUD.  Households with a tenant-based subsidy have a voucher that allows them to move from one place to another.  Those in the project-based programs live in a building in which the units are subsidized.  If a tenant moves from the building, they lose their rental subsidy.  Generally, those in the project-based programs and some tenant-based programs for special populations are referred by various agencies and building owners to the Housing Authority, which confirms that they meet all the Section 8 eligibility requirements. Households on the Housing Voucher tenant-based program come from the Housing Authority’s waiting list of applicants.  As of October 2000, HACLA has funding for 44,434 units assisting about 95,000 total family members.

Over the years, HACLA has offered a variety of Section 8 special programs to eligible households.  The thirteen different programs currently being administered by the Section 8 Division each have different eligibility requirements and each target various segments of low income households such as persons with AIDS and homeless individuals.  Other programs such as the Family Self-Sufficiency (FSS) and the Welfare to Work Voucher programs are designed to help households get off of welfare and other public assistance and gain economic self-sufficiency.  The Housing Authority has 132 contracts with 69 non-profit agencies, and works with other government agencies to deliver supportive services to Section 8 clients.