Rental Assistance Change could Affect Thousands in Philadelphia

How A New HUD Proposal May Make Public Benefits Harder to Obtain
​
On February 20th, The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), published a proposed rule meant to adjust the “Eligible Status” for the Housing and Community Development Act of 1980. As HUD ramps up signs that this proposal will be accepted, public pressure campaigns have also increased calls for the withdrawal of this rule. The rule establishes new eligibility requirements for rental assistance programs like Section 8 housing, Public Housing Authorities (PHA), Rent Supplement Programs, and many others. 

---

The new proposal would establish a verification process and bar any non-citizen from receiving rental assistance money. This would include people living here on work visas and green cards, and will majorly impact mixed households that include a US citizen living with a non-citizen. States, cities, and Housing Authorities would have to verify each member of a household's citizenship status and then prorate their rental assistance benefits based on the number of individuals in the household who are or are not citizens. 

For example, a family that consists of one mother who is a US citizen, a father who is here on a VISA, and two children who are citizens would no longer receive their full benefits and would only receive 75% of their former benefits. This difference in benefits may be the deciding factor between the family having to move or split up their living situation. These new requirements would be a stark departure from norms, as other state and federal assistance programs, like SNAP, do not factor in individual family member citizenship status.

While this is meant to curb the use of public benefits by undocumented immigrants, the rule will lead to expensive burdens for the agencies that implement these benefits, and will harm US citizens, green card immigrants, and countless families. According to HUD, the new act is meant to close what they call the “Mixed Status Households Roommate Loophole.” However, HUD’s own data shows that these individuals make up only about 0.25% of all people receiving HUD benefits. And while the agency may be trying to prevent fraud from this small group of people, the new ruling will inadvertently affect everyone on housing assistance programs.

The new verification processes will burden both the distributors and the average assisted household. For the states and agencies, the proposal would cost upwards of $3,000,000 for initial implementation and an additional $300,000 a year to uphold the same service level HUD already provides. But, given how no additional funding is being allocated to HUD, waitlists are expected to increase while services are expected to decrease, leaving perfectly good units vacant. Assisted households will also be hurt, as they will have to provide regular proof of citizenship, which many households may not have access to.

How will this affect Philadelphia? 
Philadelphia already deals  with being the 2nd poorest major city and a housing crisis. These additional burdens on the Philadelphia Housing Authority will lead to exacerbated issues. But the largest impact will be on Philadelphia households. The new verification process will require all families to provide proof of citizenship, even though about 8% of Americans, and 11% of People of Color, do not readily/easily have access to these documents. Such discrepancies may lead to lapses in benefits or even complete removal from rental assistance programs.

To achieve a greater understanding of the potential impacts, I reviewed Pew Research and Census Data and found that Philadelphia has approximately 331,000 renters, 54% of whom are rent burdened and qualify for rental assistance. Thus, about 170,000 Philadelphians qualify and or benefit from HUD, all of which may be impacted by this new ruling.

Of those 331,000 renters, about 95,000 are households where one or more members are non-citizens. Of those 95,000, 51% of those families are cost-burdened renters. Under the new rule, approximately 48,500 Philadelphian households may have to decide between losing a crucial source of income that allows them to live in their home or moving.

If the proposal is implemented, it will significantly impact thousands of American households, including hundreds in Philadelphia alone!

AHCOPA and many other housing rights groups around Philadelphia are working their hardest to provide up-to-date information and resources to those who may be affected if this new ruling is implemented.

​