Oregonian Cover Story Underscores Need to Preserve Hard Units

The front page of today’s Oregonian features a story about a Section 8 housing choice voucher recipient in Gladstone experiencing problems securing appropriate rental housing due to limited availability, high prices, and discrimination (Oregon law currently bans many types of housing discrimination, but does not require landlords to accept tenants who have federal rent subsidies). The family profiled – single mother with three boys – received the tenant-based assistance after spending 10 years on the waiting list in Clackamas County but is fast approaching the 120-day deadline by which the voucher must be in use or returned. Click here for the full article.

The article highlights the importance of preserving existing affordable homes, instead of relying on the issuance of an additional housing choice voucher as an adequate replacement. Those who do not support efforts to preserve projects with project-based Section 8 rental assistance often point to the supposed safety net of tenant-based vouchers as a primary reason for their position, because qualified tenants in homes with project-based assistance are eligible for tenant-based assistance if the owner of their current building opts out of the project-based assistance contract. But, as the article reveals, the unfortunate reality is that, though an important resource for many people with low incomes, tenant-based assistance doesn’t guarantee the existence of an affordable home.

— Posted on 6/13/2011