EVICTIONS HURT VULNERABLE SECTION 8 ABUSES LEAVE TRULY NEEDY HOMELESS.

Byline: GIDEON RUBIN

Staff Writer

Antelope Valley community groups have expressed concern for years that those who abuse federally subsidized Section 8 housing imperil their neighborhoods.

Amid a Los Angeles County Housing Authority fraud crackdown of the voucher-based rental program, now more than ever, such abusers are imperiling their own families.

Violating Section 8 eligibility terms constitutes fraud, and can result in subsidy termination, essentially eviction. Violations include permitting parolees or individuals on probation to live in the housing unit or breaking the law.

The consequences of such termination, however, can be devastating to society's most vulnerable, the leader of one of the Antelope Valley's most prominent charities said.

Grace Resource Center executive director Steve Baker said he's troubled that removing a family's subsidy often results in unintended punishment of the innocent, and sometimes leaves the elderly and children with no safety net.

"When they lose that roof over their heads, that's when we have families living out of cars in the middle of the desert," Baker said.

The Section 8 program issues vouchers to low-income families and individuals who often wait years for such subsidies. The program is an offshoot of a housing subsidy program first offered during the Great Depression.

Recent Section 8 enforcement sweeps -- a significant portion of which have been triggered by tips from the public -- have produced growing numbers of recommendations for termination, a trend that's likely to continue.

The county Board of Supervisors last week unanimously approved 5th District Supervisor Michael D. Antonovich's recommendation for $178,000 to fund Section 8 fraud and abuse investigations -- a 137 percent increase over the previous fiscal year.

"A tremendous amount of people are concerned about the (Section 8) program and how it's impacting their communities," said Norm Hickling, an Antonovich aide.

Hickling said the increased funding reflects increased demand to investigate tips that have come into a Section 8 fraud hotline established in 2005.

"It's a real issue when people work hard to purchase a home in a nice neighborhood and then they see people who don't have the same respect for the neighborhood and their community come in and destroy it," Hickling said.

Nevertheless, Section 8 compliance enforcement can be gut-wrenching work, requiring inspectors to consciously distance themselves from their casework, said Gary Brody, a Section 8 fraud investigator in Palmdale.

Brody cited cases in which he recommended removal of an 80-year-old grandmother and a man who was legally blind to be among his most difficult assignments.

The elderly woman was removed for permitting a granddaughter who was on parole to live in her apartment. The blind man had 11 children and foster children living with him who turned his rental unit into a "crack house," Grody said.

"I think it's a shame that family are willing to take advantage of people who need Section 8," Grody said. "They're disrespecting their own families."

Although Baker finds the consequences of removing Section 8 subsidies troublesome, he acknowledged that recipients are responsible for compliance, noting that a parent who allows a drug addict or ex-convict into his or her home is "asking for it."

"I think Section 8 is wonderful for people who use it -- and use it by the rules," Baker said. "After you wait so long to get on Section 8, you'd think they'd be more protective of it."

Baker believes abusers represent a small minority of Section 8 recipients, and that the program is unfairly blamed for social problems.

"For every one that gets busted, there's a hundred that are using it properly," Baker said. "It's really a shame that people are abusing it, because everyone loses."

gideon.rubin(at)dailynews.com

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