Section 8 surge

Each month, Jennifer Frye escaped eviction by the skin of her teeth, barely scrounging up enough money to pay rent.

The single mother of three worked two or three jobs while enrolled full-time in a nursing program at Blue Ridge Community College. Then she learned in December 2008 that she’d qualified for a Section 8 housing voucher, which meant federal taxpayer money would cover some of her rent and utility costs each month.

“It was the best Christmas present ever,” Frye, 33, said. “I’d paid the rent with my loan check and didn’t know how I was going to get the money for December.”

Over the past two years, the number of Waynesboro families like Frye’s seeking housing vouchers has increased dramatically.

The Waynesboro Redevelopment and Housing Authority receives enough federal money each month to issue housing vouchers to about 400 families, Executive Director Eddie DeLapp said. After helping those families, the agency places about 200 families on a waiting list. That’s twice as many as before the housing bust.

The total value of vouchers issued in Waynesboro has increased by more than a third in three years, from about $1.4 million in 2006 to $1.9 million in 2009.

“With the economy so bad and so many people out of work, it demonstrates a greater need,” DeLapp said. “It’s a great program that serves a good need and I’m glad to be able to provide it.”

Families pay no more of a third of their income toward rent and utilities. Taxpayer money picks up the rest of the tab, paying the remaining rent directly to a family’s landlord and in some cases issuing an allowance for utilities. Houses and apartments rented to Section 8 tenants are inspected and must meet federal living standards.

Created in 1974, the Section 8 housing program is administered by the federal Housing and Urban Development agency, known by its acronym, HUD. More than 2 million families tap the $18-billion program.

While the number of tenants seeking Section 8 housing in Staunton has remained steady, the number of landlords willing to accept vouchers has increased, said Wanda Yvonne Stevens, executive director of Staunton’s housing authority.

That means tenants are receiving better housing for their vouchers. Twenty-five to 50 Section 8 families moved into nicer apartments and homes last year, Stevens said.

“There are a lot more rental properties available,” Stevens said. “We’ve been able to factor out less attractive properties.”

Some landlords say they welcome the guarenteed stream of revenue from the government and tenants have used Section 8 to rebuild their lives. Still others complain Section 8 attracts troublesome tenants who abuse the system.

At the first of each month, Lewis Price receives a check from the federal government for its portion of rent for about 20 Section 8 tenants.

“I call it having happy hour,” he said. “It’s good to have that guarenteed.”

However, some landlords said they have trouble getting tenants to pay their share of the rent.

“It’s sometimes problematic to get the rest of it,” said David Bottonfield, who has rented to Section 8 tenants for more than 15 years. “Very often families getting Section 8 have small children and the parents or adults in the household don’t work outside of the home, so the only income is some other kind of assistance. Or if they do work, it’s usually low-paying part-time jobs and stuff like that, so they’re always living on a very tight budget.”

Other landlords cite incidents with troublesome Section 8 tenants.

“Some have a tendancy not to take care of the property very well,” said Jean Droughman of Barger Management. “Sometimes we do have a lot of problems.”

“I’ve accepted some people because [housing authority officials] say ‘don’t look at their credit,’ so I don’t look at that on them,” Price said. “I’ve sometimes gotten people I wasn’t happy with that way.”

Both DeLapp and Stevens said they hear less than one or two complaints from landlords each year. For Section 8 tenants who don’t pay their rent, the eviction process is the same as for any other tenant, meaning they have to abide by state code as well as the landlord contract.

For families who don’t want to wear the label that comes with public housing, Section 8 is an attractive alternative, Stevens said.

“There’s a higher demand because it’s more private,” she said. “It’s a much easier lifestyle. You don’t have to deal with a stereotype that’s forced on you because of your address.”

Additionally, the program dramatically reduces the financial strain on those in need, Linda Claytor, 58, said.

Claytor used a Section 8 voucher for several years before she and her family became ineligible because they received too much monthly income from Medicare, disability and worker’s compensation.

“It allowed us to afford the medicines we needed and support my kids,” she said. “It allows you to support your family with the money you have. It means you have money for things like clothes, toilet paper and toothpaste.”

For Frye, Section 8 money helped her to work toward a professional career.

“It’s difficult to concentrate on school when you’re having to think about whether you’re going to be evicted,” she said.

Before receiving a voucher, Frye said she battled to keep up with rent on a home that had holes in parts of the ceiling, poor insulation and a faulty heater.

After Frye was approved, she and her family moved into a well-kept three bedroom house, a far cry from her former housing situation.

“It was a godsend,” she said.

After graduating with honors in May, Frye is awaitng word after interviewing for several nursing positions.

Over the next five years, she hopes to complete a nurse practitioner program and save enough money for a down payment on a home of her own.

“I promised my kids the next place we move is going to be a place we buy,” she said. “This is the way the welfare system is supposed to work. A lot of people just need a hand up to get out of their sitation.”