1. Legislative Focus booklet of the California Association of Housing ...

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Hung Family “We could sustain ourselves without the help from government programs. This way, others can benefit from this program as well.” Silvia Hung only had a high school diploma and some accounting experience when her marriage ended. With children ranging in age from 3 to 16, Silvia struggled with supporting a family of 6 as a single mother, working multiple jobs and attending classes to earn her Associate's degree in accounting. Silvia heard about the Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher enrollment process through the news. She applied and was accepted after years of waiting. Eventually Silvia received a Bachelor's degree in Economics and was able to find a job that better supported her family. She then joined San Mateo County Housing Authority’s Family Self-Sufficiency Program (FSS) and created financial goals to pay off her debt and save for a down payment on a home. Silvia wanted to own a home so that, “we could sustain ourselves without the help from government programs. This way, others can benefit from this program as well.” When Silvia felt confident that she had saved enough for a down payment and could qualify for a loan, she signed up for the Housing Authority’s Homeownership Program (HCV/HO). She met with a mortgage specialist and provided documentation of the necessary down payment requirements and the certificate of attendance for a HUD certified Homeownership class. Now, a proud homeowner, Silvia reflects on her journey, “The most important thing I want for my children is obtaining higher education ….I believe that higher education allows them to have a better future and they can avoid going through the struggles that I went through.” The HCV/HO Program was designed to move people from government-funded rental assistance to financial independence and self-sufficiency. The program allows first-time homeowners to use a voucher subsidy to meet monthly homeownership expenses for up to fifteen years, with exceptions to the maximum term for disabled and elderly families. More than 19,000 families nationwide have become homeowners through this program. 4
Top 10 LEGISLATIVE Requests PRESERVE • STRENGTHEN • SIMPLIFY California's Housing Authorities believe the legislative requests listed below will best preserve, stabilize and simplify federally-assisted housing programs to better serve our nation and the millions of low income families and individuals who rely on these programs to achieve stability and self-sufficiency. Preserve: 1. Fully fund the Housing Choice Voucher (HCV) administrative fee and allow Housing Authorities to use the Administrative Fee reserve (Unrestricted Net Assets) for other housing purposes permitted by State and local law as was allowed prior to FFY2004. Full funding of HCV Housing Assistance Payments. 2. Fully fund the Public Housing operating subsidy and capital fund. Authorize Housing Authorities to use public housing operating reserves for capital improvements as directed by Congress. 3. Preserve the existing Moving to Work demonstration sites beyond their contractual agreement dates and expand the Moving to Work demonstration program to additional agencies. Strengthen: 4. Permit full fungibility between public housing operating subsidy and capital funds. 5. Fund $1 billion into the National Housing Trust Fund to produce affordable housing and create jobs. 6. Authorize Housing Authorities to participate in the IRS Intercept program to obtain repayment for fraud and net programs overpayments from participants' federal tax refunds in order to pay those debts. Simplify: 7. Authorize Housing Authorities to perform eligibility re-certifications every three years for households on fixed incomes, rather than every year, to create program uniformity across the HUD portfolio. 8. Authorize Housing Authorities to inspect Housing Choice Voucher units for Housing Quality Standards (HQS) every other year instead of every year. 9. Change the permitted rent structure so that a household's rent is based on gross income, rather than on adjusted income. 10. Direct HUD to continue using the nationally-accepted HQS as the inspection standard for the Housing Choice Voucher program rather than the more complicated Uniform Physical Conditions Standard. Artisan Court-Santa Barbara, California 5
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