All Articles Tagged "section 8"
Connecticut Town Accused of Using Housing Vouchers to Keep Out Minorities
Image: Hemera
A lawsuit has been filed against the Housing Authority of Winchester, accusing the group of purposely giving housing vouchers to white recipients in order to keep out minorities.
A Housing Authority rule states that recipients of their Section 8 vouchers live in one of 17 towns across the state of Connecticut, according to the lawsuit. Those towns are 91 percent white and 4.5 percent Hispanic, it goes on to say. The town of Winchester, CT is more than 94 percent white. The Connecticut Fair Housing Center has joined the plaintiff in the case, Crystal Carter, an African-American woman.
The plaintiffs also allege that the Housing Authority had in place “illegal residency requirements.”
“These requirements are unlawful because in communities with populations that are disproportionately white and/or non-Hispanic they perpetuate segregation by excluding minority applicants who live outside those communities from obtaining housing there,” the lawsuit reads. Carter was applying from Hartford, CT, so the Winchester Housing Authority wouldn’t even send her a Section 8 application. Now the organization says it will change its policy. Well isn’t that decent of them? Nothing like a lawsuit to spur change.
Here’s information about the Section 8 program and its policies, FYI.
Investigators Arrest Section 8 Cheating Suspects
(AJC) — Georgia investigators started arresting about 80 people around the state Wednesday for allegedly lying their way into federally funded Section 8 housing.
Georgia Bureau of Investigation Director Vernon Keenan said 63 people were arrested by Wednesday evening and more will follow in coming weeks. The announcement of further arrests was intended as a threat toward Section 8 cheaters across the state.
Keenan invited those who have erred on their Section 8 forms to come forward, since they could receive leniency. Those found cheating would have to leave the housing and pay back what they owe, but they might not face prosecution, he said.
Thousands Crowd Housing Authority For Section 8 Waiting List, Fights Break Out
(Huffington Post) – Officials now estimate that a crowd of 30,000 turned out, three times what they had originally anticipated. Some in attendance may have been accompanying actual applicants even if they were not applying themselves. 13,000 applications were handed out.
The large numbers indicate a huge demand, but there is literally no supply. The housing agency director “stressed that none of her agency’s 455 housing aid vouchers is available at the moment.”
