Say Goodbye to Your Housing Stability
Hurricane season has not even officially started, and it is already shaping up to be a soul-crushingly stressful summer in South Florida. Almost every source of financial stability that we have come to take for granted, meager as they were, has fallen away from us. First, the federal program that prevents air conditioning shut offs when residents can’t pay their utility bills vanished into thin air, and Florida does not have a statewide program to replace it. The overdraft fees which once seemed to be on their way to extinction have come back with a vengeance. Now a new proposal by the federal government would eliminate a housing assistance program that has been around since the 1930s, since your grandparents were children. Even if you are not a Section 8 housing voucher beneficiary, this affects you, since financial problems compound each other; the budget of your extended family or your social network is about to get tighter. For help holding onto what little financial stability you still have, contact a Miami debt lawyer.
Federal Government Proposes to Eliminate Section 8 Housing Voucher Program
A recent proposal by the White House would eliminate Section 8 of the Housing Act of 1937. This program, which has been around since the Second World War, provides rental assistance directly from the federal government to individual low-income households. Currently, about a quarter of the households that qualify for Section 8 housing vouchers receive them. More than two thirds of the recipients of Section 8 vouchers are seniors, adults with disabilities, and households with children.
The proposal would provide the housing assistance money to the states in block grants instead of providing it directly to individual tenants. The trouble is that states’ budgets are already financially strapped, since the federal government has already eliminated so many other sources of funding for states to provide services for financially vulnerable residents. There already isn’t enough housing assistance to go around, and the new proposal is unlikely to make the situation better.
A Two-Year Cap on Rental Assistance for Able-Bodied Adults
Another aspect of the proposal that is likely to strike fear in the hearts of Florida tenants is the two-year limit on housing assistance to able-bodied adults, that is, people between the ages of 18 and 65 who do not qualify for Social Security benefits on the basis of disability. The plan is to redirect the money to elderly people, adults with disabilities, and families with children.
In a time when people are staying in their apartments because they cannot afford to move, even as the rent in their current apartment increases, this does not come as encouraging news to anyone. The best thing you can do is work with a lawyer to take charge of the aspects of your finances that are within your control.
Work With a Debt Lawyer About Debt Relief Options Before The Housing Assistance Apocalypse
A South Florida debt lawyer can help you if you are one bad day away from housing insecurity. Contact Nowack & Olson, PLLC in Miami, Florida to discuss your case.
Source:
housingwire.com/articles/white-house-proposes-elimination-of-section-8-housing-vouchers/
