by The Dharma Bum » Thu Aug 15, 2013 8:08 pm
That article is a perfect example of my initial comment. I can assure you section 8 housing isn't neglected. Anything but. They inspect every unit and if you don't repair everything they say to prior to move in they won't let their client move in.
The guy calls it a "catalyst for deterioration" but what does that really mean? It means homes in his neighborhood were foreclosed and bought by investors to turn into rental properties. The cause of that was well underway before any of the properties were even foreclosed or bought by investors for conversion into rental units. Renters moving in is the end of a long chain of economic events that had to take place before a resale neighborhood becomes a rental neighborhood.
That is what caused the demographic shift, not a couple of section 8 homes in the mix. There's not enough of them to have that kind of effect (only 5000 in the Austin Metro area) because the type of attitude illustrated in that article and by you and jimmyz is common place and also people don't want to have to comply the regulations.
I'm telling you that is a bunch of shit. Landlords CAN'T neglect their property and remain section 8 participants because HUD sends an inspector to go through the unit and make sure it complies with federal regs before they will validate the lease and they do it on each unit every time. The real problem people have with section 8 is that they don't want black people to move into their neighborhood and they associate subsidized housing with minorities.