Disability Issues

It appears that landlords and real estate rental/lease management companies require a gross income of three times the rental amount. This requirement will make qualifying for leasing/renting difficult for persons on Social Security Disability.

In searched keywords a common phrase is ’section 8 housing disability’ which links to to blog.

I checked into HUD’s Section 8 Homeownership Assistance in my area, but it isn’t offered. There is HUD’s Section 8 Rental Assistance, but there is a waiting list to qualify which takes 3 years. There doesn’t seem to be set aside slots for Social Security disabled persons in either HUD program.

There is a First Time Home Buyer Program, but persons on Social Security Disability their income is generally too low to qualify for ownership of a decent livable residence.

I joined The National Low Income Housing Coalition. I have provided a link to their website from this blog in the right hand Links section.

MAY 2003  ISSUE 21

Priced Out in 2002: Housing Crisis Worsens for People with Disabilities  By Emily Cooper and Ann O’Hara

Housing is a basic human need.  For people with disabilities to live in the community and achieve and sustain full participation in community life, they must have an affordable place to live – a place to call home.  Unfortunately, for more than 3.7 million adults with disabilities living on federal Supplemental Security Income (SSI) benefits, the goal of having a home of one’s own – whether a small studio apartment or a single family house – has become even more impossible to achieve.

Unfortunately, government housing policies continue to fail to address the needs of people with disabilities and others who are extremely poor.  Without some type of ongoing housing assistance, such as federally subsidized housing, people with disabilities who have the lowest incomes have virtually no chance of having a home of their own.

For many years, the federal government, as well as many state and local housing officials, have turned their backs on the poorest people with disabilities who need housing assistance in order to have any chance to live in decent housing of their own in the community.  This trend continues in 2003, as federal housing programs are cut so that tax cuts for the most affluent Americans can be implemented.

The findings contained in Priced Out in 2002  illustrate the deepening housing crisis affecting people with disabilities – and a housing affordability gap that is worse now than it was two years ago.  Priced Out in 2002 should serve as a wake-up call to all federal, state, and local officials who – while acknowledging the nation’s housing and/or chronic homeless problems – fail to make the housing needs and housing affordability problems of people with disabilities a high priority.

http://www.c-c-d.org/task_forces/
housing/od-May03.htm#Housing%20Affordability%
20for%20People%20with%20Disabilities%20in%20Your

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* I wish I could find a study regarding adults with disabilities living on federal Social Security Disability Income Disablity (SSDI) benefits relative to housing assistance needs.

I found an online Word document which addresses HUD’s Section 8 Homeownership Program, which includes people with disabilities. The document is dated October 2003. The following is a copy and paste from the document.

Fannie Mae is committed to working with Public Housing Agencies (PHAs) to finance homeownership for households participating in the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Section 8 Homeownership Program. Through our Regional and Partnership Offices, we will partner with PHAs, lenders, and community groups to support efforts to bring the benefits of homeownership to borrowers with Section 8 vouchers, also known as the Housing Assistance Payment (HAP). As part of this initiative, we will place a high priority on working with disability organizations and Community HomeChoiceÔ Coalitions and lenders that serve people with disabilities to increase homeownership opportunities for households with disabled family members.

Working with disability organizations and Community HomeChoice Coalitions to promote homeownership for people with disabilities.

http://www.hhs.gov/od/documents/Section8.doc

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Section 8 Made Simple: 2nd Edition (June 2003) This guidebook contains practical information to assist people with disabilities and the entire disability community to navigate through the Section 8 program more successfully. This guidebook is available online only.

I wish there was an updated version available somewhere online.

The following is a link to this on guidebook on the Technical Assistance Collaborative website.

How The Section 8 Program Is Administered

http://www.tacinc.org/Docs/HH/Sect8_2ndEd.pdf

* I checked into HUD’s Section 8 Homeownership in my area, but there isn’t a homeownership program. There is HUD’s Section 8 Rental Assistance, but there is a waiting list to qualify which takes 3 years. There doesn’t seem to be a set aside for disabled persons in either HUD program. Apparently, government home ownership assistance for disabled persons are placed with non-disabled low income persons which is an overburdened program.

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I found another online Word document which addresses Fannie Mae mortgage products and initiatives to serve more people with disabilities.

The following is a copy and paste from the document.

Owning a Home May Be an Option for You

The desire and dream to own a home is universal. People from all walks of life - including people with disabilities - see owning a home as a way to build economic wealth, to create community ties, to address affordable housing needs, and to have a place to call “home.” According to the Census 2000, U.S. Census Bureau, 49.7 million people in our country have a disability. That’s nearly one out of five people.

If you have a disability or a family member with a disability, and would like to learn more about Fannie Mae affordable mortgages as well as locate Fannie Mae-approved lenders and counseling agencies in your community, please call Fannie Mae’s Consumer Resource Center at 1-800-7-FANNIE (1-800-732-6643).

http://www.hhs.gov/od/documents/HomeChoiceConsumer
_Fact_Sheet.doc