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Since when is it the purpose of government to
provide subsidized housing for poor people??? -
Phoenix "owns 435 single-family homes in the Scattered Sites Housing program"
This screws up the free market by reducing rental prices and I suspect cuts into the income of people in the private sector that rent homes. I suspect it's an easy way the members of the Phoenix City Council to buy the votes of poor people to help themselves get reelected. Many other cities in Arizona also have these welfare programs for poor people which rent homes to poor folks at below market rent rates, such as Tempe, Chandler and Mesa. Phoenix to sell or rent homes to help low-income families Program assists low-income buyers by Emily Gersema - Feb. 21, 2012 09:53 PM The Republic | azcentral.com Phoenix is revving up to sell or rent some of the hundreds of homes that it had purchased over the years to help low-income families. "We set some targets" for the sell-off, said Phoenix Housing Director Kim Dorney. "This year it is to sell 10." Dorney said the city is considering a marketing effort to spread the news about the city-owned homes. She also said the city has been working with tenants already in public-housing programs whose incomes may qualify them to buy one of the houses or rent them. To qualify to rent one of the homes in the Scattered Sites Housing program, a family of two or more must meet the income requirements. For example, a family of two qualifies if it earns $13,300 to $42,650 a year; a family of three $15,000 to $48,000 per year; a family of four $16,650 to $53,300 with income requirements for larger families also in place. To buy a home, the family has to be at or below 80 percent of the median income limit, city officials said. To qualify, a family of two earns $42,500 a year; a family of three $47,800; a family of four $53,100. Another requirement: The family must also go through special education and training for financial management and homeownership. Public records obtained by The Arizona Republic showed the city owns 435 single-family homes in the Scattered Sites Housing program. Phoenix housing officials said the city had purchased some of the homes in the 1990s as part of a federal housing program, Section 5(h), whose beginnings date back to 1937. The program, overseen by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, was meant to help low-income residents buy homes while allowing public-housing agencies to sell homes that are costly to own and manage. Under the Section 5(h) program, Phoenix sold 92 homes to people who met the income requirements, said Pene Norville, a city housing official. Phoenix also bought other homes for its Scattered Sites Program under another HUD program, Section 32, which was created in 2003 to helps low-income residents buy homes. Section 32 gave public-housing agencies more flexibility for spending their federal capital funds, which is money earmarked for improving or purchasing public housing. Section 32 allows public-housing agencies to tap the capital funds to subsidize rent for low-income residents, buy additional homes that it could then turn and sell to low-income families, sell current homes that it owns to low-income buyers, or work out a lease-to-buy agreement with a potential homebuyer. So far, the city has sold 10 of the homes, officials said. On average, the Housing Department collected $114,777 per home sold between 2009 to 2012, city officials said. However, the homes have sold for much less, around $81,000 this year and last year. The proceeds go into other affordable-housing-program funds. Elizabeth Enciso, one of the program buyers, was able to buy a $110,000, 1,800-square-foot home near 15th Avenue and Camelback Road for her family. She called the program "a blessing for me and my family." |