This policy brief was developed to increase the awareness of the issues within government housing in the United States. This was a group project.

1. H D F S 4 1 3 0 P O L I C Y B R I E F
ISSUES WITHIN
GOVERNMENT
ASSISTANCE
HOUSING
April 2019
CERA BROWN
CAMILLA FROST
APRIL JIN
CASSIDY LONG
MATTALYN SULLIVAN
Prepared by:
U.S. government housing assistance is a complex policy area that has been a relevant issue for
decades, proving the issue of affordable, accessible housing for low-income renters has not been
resolved. Legislation involving tenants, landlords, and evictions has changed throughout the
years, as more laws are passed to protect vulnerable groups, including families. Factors including
federal budget, an increase in renter households, minimum wage and affordability, and evictions
play a role in creating government housing policies. The need for increased government
assistance for housing is growing and the issue could be minimized by offering more programs
that assist individuals living in poverty. Low-income tenants often struggle with housing issues
for various reasons which can lead to an eviction or even a period of homelessness. These
individuals could reach a lifestyle of stability by eliminating the stress of risking eviction,
homelessness, and searching for affordable and available housing.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

2. BACKGROUND
Affordable housing is one factor that is heavily discussed in government housing policies, defined as “housing that costs no
more than 30 percent of a household’s income” (The Annie E. Casey Foundation, 2000, p. 11). As rental prices have risen faster
than renters’ incomes over the last 2 decades, these renters are now considered to be “severely cost-burdened,” meaning they
pay more than half of their incomes on rent; this causes families to make high-risk decisions paying between rent, providing
food for their families, health care, school costs, etc. (Yentel, 2019). Furthermore, one article from the Atlanta Journal
Constitution discusses the issue of rent being higher than one making minimum wage can afford. It highlights how housing
policy must focus on making housing more affordable to the working poor (Working poor can’t afford housing, 1992). Minimum
wage and poverty influence one another. The poverty thresholds used are based on household type, considering number of
children and adults in a family. Pew Research proves that the federal minimum wage in the United States is not enough to
overcome most poverty thresholds besides single household and it has not been for many years (Pew Research Center, 2014).
The increasingly difficult access to government assistance housing stems from the lack of federal investments. According to
Yentel (2019), the federal budget for housing assistance programs 50 years ago was nearly three times more than it is today.
Data received by the National Low Income Housing Coalition (NLIHC) displays that three out of four families are denied
assistance. Figure 1 shows that although there is a significant increase in the number of renters today, the supply of affordable
and available housing has decreased. As a result of the lack of affordable housing available in the United States, there is
currently a shortage of 7 million homes available to low-income tenants (Yentel, 2019). The issue in government housing
assistance persists, as the need of resources to supply enough buildings to house low-income and vulnerable families continues
to be in high demand.
Another issue that is seen within housing among low-income tenants is the commonly administered unfair and abusive
evictions, as it is often easier for landlords to evict the tenant than to restore the poor housing conditions (Niesse, 2019).
Legislation addressing fairness to low-income renters has progressed throughout the years. In a 2001 letter to Senator Miller,
landlords encouraged him to vote for the Sessions Amendment, which protects the automatic stay of renters who are able to
signify hardship cases if their lease has an unexpired term. This amendment added to current state law hardship provisions for
renters (National Multifamily Housing Council, 2001). Existing legislation protects renters and landlords in an effort to avoid
unnecessary evictions and court cases. A recent bill was passed last month in Georgia protecting renters from eviction because
of shabby living conditions and preventing renters from expensive court cases (Niesse, 2019).
The issues within government assistance housing are significant to families because many families in poverty will compete for
government housing assistance and sometimes end up staying on waitlists for years. In the meantime, these families settle for
low-quality and unsafe housing, double up with their relatives, or utilize homeless shelters (The Annie E. Casey Foundation,
2000). Living in crowded homes with other relatives or in unsafe environments makes parenting difficult and heavily impacts
parent-child relationships. In addition, poor housing conditions can lead to health problems, such as lead poisoning and asthma,
and poor school performance in children due to frequent moves and instability (The Annie E. Casey Foundation, 2000). Overall,
the crisis in housing negatively contributes to a family’s well-being, education, and health.
Figure 1. Significant growth in the number and share of households renting their home since 2006. Adapted from "More U.S. households are renting than at any point in 50 years," by Pew
Research Center, 2017, Pew Research Center. Retrieved April 9, 2019, from https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2017/07/19/more-u-s-households-are-renting-than-at-any-point-in-
50-years/. Copyright 2019 by Pew Research Center

3. POLICY OPTIONS
Recently, President Trump has laid out his $44.1 billion spending plan for the 2020 U.S. Department of Housing and Urban
Development (HUD) budget to prevent homelessness. His goals are to increase homeless assistance, healthy housing, and also help
with renters assistance. Trump is seeking stable and increased funding into high impact programs in hopes to support low-income/non-
income Americans in finding a sense of stability (HUD Public Affairs, 2019). The proposed budget will benefit Americans by:
Other organizations and agencies have addressed the housing issue and created partial solutions. According to Yentel (2019), NLIHC
is leading the Opportunity Starts at Home campaign with 100 other national organizations in order to call for federal investments in
the national Housing Trust Fund. The goal is to increase the housing supply and assistance through vouchers and in emergency cash
assistance to protect tenants in finding stability and from homelessness. Smaller organizations at the state level have also taken action
towards finding solutions. In Kansas City, a grassroots organization called the KC Tenants has been the voice for renters who feel the
effects of rising rents and have advocated for their rights and for a more habitable and affordable housing. Recently, they released a
housing policy platform and asked a response from the 11 mayor candidates to which one vowed to issue a response in making housing
more affordable (Kite, 2019).
ORGANIZATION INTERESTS AND POSITIONS
As a student advocate group, we see a prevalent problem within government assistance housing and are fighting for
change. We are working with the NLIHC to educate lawmakers and shape the views of the public on the need of
affordable homes for low-income families. The NLIHC’s goals are to “preserve existing federally assisted homes and
housing resources, expand the supply of low income housing, and establish housing stability as the primary purpose
of federal low income housing policy” (National Low Income Housing Coalition, 2019, para. 3). Our views align with
the NLIHC in that we not only want affordable housing to exist for families, but that they need to have easy access
and that the homes are actually safe and in decent conditions. Moreover, we support their belief that housing is the
gateway to reducing intergenerational poverty and economic mobility (National Low Income Housing Coalition,
2019). Our goal is to ensure safe and affordable homes for vulnerable families because all people have the right to
obtain safe housing within their budget. People should not be discriminated against when looking for housing or have
to worry about losing their homes every month. We aim to improve existing policy regarding housing, as well as
create new ways to inform everyone of their rights to housing.
35%
of households in the
United States are
renter-occupied.
7 MILLION
AFFORDABLE HOMES
are in shortage for low-income
renters.
1/4
of renting families in the
U.S. benefit from funded
housing subsidies.
(The Annie E. Casey Foundation, 2000, p. 10)
(Yentel, 2019, para. 2)
(The Annie E. Casey Foundation, 2000, p. 10)
Providing $2.6 billion to support thousands of local housing and service programs assisting those living in the nation’s sheltering system
and also those living on the street. A 9 percent increase from the 2019 budget request.
Providing $290 million to The HUD’s Office of Lead Hazard and Control and Healthy Homes.
Increasing rental assistance to $37.9 billion.
Providing $22.2 billion for HUD’s housing choice voucher program to support approximately about 2.2 billion families (HUD Public
Affairs, 2019).

4. RECOMMENDATIONS FOR ACTION
Currently, housing vouchers, also known as section 8, are available for extremely low-income families, meaning their income is less than 30%
of the median income of the area they live in (Acosta et al., 2019). These vouchers aid these families to help them pay their rent. The funding
for section 8 is $20.31 billion and is decided federally by the HUD Office. This program is competitive and requires families to go on a
waitlist before they even are considered for a voucher, and only 1 in 4 houses that request assistance receive any (Acosta et al., 2019). Since
its creation in 1979, the voucher program has helped many families, but has also had to turn many away because of inadequate funding. In
1992, Cox explored how an expanded voucher program would help make apartments more affordable for many low-income families
(Working poor can’t afford housing). Since the voucher program is housed under HUD, this organization is responsible for national policy
that addresses housing needs to both expand the voucher program budget and to create a federal voucher acceptance law (Hud.gov, n.d.).
We believe that HUD should create a larger budget for the voucher program so that more vouchers would be handed out and reach more
families. We would also like to push for laws that would prevent landlords from denying these vouchers. Currently landlords are allowed to
deny section 8. This discrimination can “deepen the burdens… of vulnerable households” (Poverty & Race Research Action Council, 2019,
para. 4). Twelve states have already implemented such laws (Wiltz, 2018). We support these states and the expansion of legislation to a
federal level.
Each month the Fair Housing Coach puts out a newsletter that property managers can subscribe to. This newsletter describes a new topic
related to fair housing. They provide examples of ways a law or protected class has played out and how one’s property can comply to these
laws and protect everyone that works for the company. We would like to make this program mandatory to all landlords, so they are
constantly being updated on fair housing laws and their rights within housing. We would also like to make information like this available to
the public. Tenants need to be aware of their rights because they have the right to know what is protected under fair housing, when these
rights might be violated, and have access to the best possible living situations. Fair housing laws have both state and federal components.
We would like to have a program similar to the fair housing newsletter available to tenants. They should have constant access to the
information available for the laws they are living under.
REFERENCES
Acosta, S., Anderson, M., Aurand, A., Barrow, O., Bauman, T., Bennett, R… & Zagorski, G. (2019). Advocates’ Guide: A Primer on Federal Affordable Housing &
Community Development Programs. National Low Income Housing Coalition. Retrieved from https://nlihc.org/explore-issues/publications-
research/advocates-guide
The Annie E. Casey Foundation. (2000, July 1). Meeting the Housing Needs of Families. Baltimore, MD: Annie E. Casey Foundation. Retrieved from
https://www.aecf.org/resources/meeting-the-housing-needs-of-families/
Hud.gov (n.d.). About Hud Contracting. Retrieved April 9, 2019, from https://www.hud.gov/program_offices/sdb/guide/general
HUD Public Affairs. (2019, March 11). Trump Administration proposes 2020 HUD Budget.
Retrieved from https://www.hud.gov/press/press_releases_media_advisories/HUD_No_19_027
Desilver, D. (2014, February 18). Minimum wage hasn’t been enough to lift most out of poverty for decades. Pew Research Center. Retrieved from
https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2014/02/18/minimum-wage-hasnt-been-enough-to-lift-most-out-of-poverty-for-decades/
Kite, A. (2019, March 4). ‘I am ready to fight.’ KC evictees push for tenant bill of rights, affordable housing. The Kansas City Star. Retreived from
https://www.kansascity.com/news/local/article227086384.html
National Low Income Housing Coalition. (2019). About Us. Retrieved April 8, 2019, from https://nlihc.org/about
National Multifamily Housing Council, 13 March 2001, p. 001, General File # 5, Box V. 111, Series V, Zell Miller Papers, Series V: United States Senator,
Richard B. Russell Library For Political Research and Studies, University of Georgia Libraries, Athens
Niesse, M. (2019, March 29). Senators vote to prevent evictions by slum landlords in Georgia. Retrieved April 4, 2019, from https://www.ajc.com/news/state--
regional-govt--politics/lawmakers-decide-evictions-slum-landlords-georgia/N37V3PbUBtm8c9E3eFP5FJ/
Poverty & Race Research Action Council. (2019). State and Local Source-of-Income Nondiscrimination Laws: Protections that Expand Housing Choice and
Access to Healthy, Stable Homes. Retrieved April 9, 2019, from https://prrac.org/state-and-local-source-of-income-nondiscrimination-laws_protections/
Wiltz, T. (2018). Getting a Section 8 Voucher Is Hard. Finding a Landlord Willing to Accept It Is Harder. Pew Research Center. Retrieved from
https://www.pewtrusts.org/en/research-and-analysis/blogs/stateline/2018/08/31/getting-a-section-8-voucher-is-hard-finding-a-landlord-willing-to-accept-
it-is-harder
Working poor can’t afford housing, 3 June 1992, p. A10, General File # 3, Box 39, Series I, John James Flynt, Jr. Papers, Series I: Departmental, Richard B.
Russell Library For Political Research and Studies, University of Georgia Libraries, Athens
Yentel, D. (2019, March 14). The Affordable Home Crisis Continues, But Bold New Plans May Help. City Lab. Retreived from
https://www.citylab.com/perspective/2019/03/affordable-housing-near-me-data-bold-solutions-funding/584779/