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Section 8 loophole thwarts evacuees return to New Orleans- We Don't Want no Section 8s!
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by René | July 6, 2008 at 11:52 am
477 views | 2 Recommendations | 4 comments
Two weeks ago in Houston, two Katrina evacuees hauled the final boxes out of their apartments. But even as their landlords prepared to change their locks, Gina Martin and Samantha Egana couldn't go home to New Orleans, because their Section 8 vouchers were stalled by the Houston Housing Authority.Despite months of trying, neither could transfer the federal rental assistance back to their hometown.
In theory, Section 8 vouchers are "portable" -- transferable to anywhere in the United States. But many evacuees have had transfers denied or delayed because of a HUD loophole allowing local agencies to reject moves to "higher-rent" areas like New Orleans.
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HANO caseworkers have warned Martin and Egana that they still face a month of waiting: two weeks for inspection and two weeks more for a Section 8 contract. At the least, everything should be ironed out before August, when Martin heads to Tulane University and her two children start at Delgado Community College.
See the 132 enraged comments from New Orleans. Most do not want the Section 8s back!
Many are outraged that these people are going to Tulane and Delgado, when they can hardly afford to send their own children there. Many commented on the many new vehicles parked just outside Section 8 houses in their neighborhoods.
Research has shown that Section 8s and crime often follow the same local patterns, and this is not unique to New Orleans. see The Atlantic.com
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Most RecentMost Recommended Comments (4)
at 17:12 on July 6th, 2008
The Atlantic article you cite, with which I was familiar, is a report on some amazing statistics. Violent crime has decreased in large American cities, but has increased sharply in small and medium sized cities. Some studies have shown that maps that plot the locations of heavy criminal activities also plot the locations of the recipients of Section 8 vouchers. It is another example of the failure of liberal programs designed to help poor people.
at 17:34 on July 6th, 2008
René, I like this story. It's good stuff.
at 19:13 on July 6th, 2008
thanks, Joel and Pep, if you read the comments from the original article on nola.com (Times-Picayune) you will see how much the people here dislike the Section 8s.
at 12:43 on July 28th, 2009
Yes you can in a lot of areas equate section eight with high crime areas but please note before making your comments and accusations that 1.the areas are not soley sec.8 2. The housing authority needs to do a better job{better yet do their jobs}in screening the recipients of the vouchers 3.these areas are the only one that want accepts the vouchers at the under market rental rates that sec.8 is offerreing to voucher holders wich inturns leaving voucher hpolders no choice but to move in already high crime areas! So whos att fault the system or the people who are in it?