O.C. to Accept Rent Subsidy Applications

For the first time in almost four years, the Orange County Housing Authority will accept applications for a federal program providing $45 million in subsidized rents to low-income families.

Advocates for the poor said the new program offers a rare opportunity for thousands of families, but stressed that it won’t make much of a dent in the county’s affordable housing shortage.

Rents have climbed to an all-time high in Orange County, averaging more than $1,000 a month. The prices have forced some poor families to live in cramped conditions--in some cases, garages.

The last time the agency accepted applications was in March 1996, when about 10,000 people applied, said John Hambuch, manager of the authority’s housing assistance division. It created such a backlog that the agency has not accepted new applications until now.

Authorities have narrowed the waiting list to about 1,500 and will open the process again for two weeks, Aug. 16 through Aug. 31. Between 15,000 and 20,000 families are expected to apply.

The rental assistance program is intended for households earning less than half their community’s median annual income, or $34,150 a year for a family of four in Orange County.

Those who qualify pay up to 40% of their annual incomes in rent, with the federal government paying the remainder, up to a limit. Last year, the county paid an average of $500 per month for each of the 7,000 families enrolled in its program.

“We’re delighted to be able to open the waiting list,” Hambuch said. “The downside is that we know we’re going to be inundated. Of course, the more who apply means the longer the wait for those whose names are at the bottom of the list.”

Applications will be scanned and assigned a random number by computer, Hambuch said. The number will be treated as a lottery number that places applicants on the waiting list. Preference will be given to Orange County residents living outside of Santa Ana, Anaheim and Garden Grove, which administer their own programs. Santa Ana will accept applications at the same time as the county. Anaheim is also taking applications but Garden Grove is not.

Those who qualify eventually can expect to receive the rent subsidy, although it could take years, depending on their number.

Launched by President Richard Nixon, the program was seen as an alternative to conventional public housing and was designed to give low-income families the freedom to choose their own homes, with rental assistance from the government.

But demand for the help has far exceeded the supply. In Orange and Los Angeles counties, there are four needy renters for every affordable housing unit--the widest gap in the nation and twice the national average, according to a study by the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities.

The two counties also have the highest proportion of low-income tenants in overcrowded conditions, and their efforts in getting government housing assistance to poor residents rank among the worst in the nation, the study found.

In Orange County, rents increased by 7.8% over the last year, with an occupancy rate of about 97%, rental surveys show.

“It’s so expensive here that many people can’t afford the rent,” said Ross Bogan, manager of the Salvation Army Hospitality House, which helps those in need find shelter. “They wind up sharing two or three families to a two-bedroom apartment. It’s a huge problem.”

Backed by a healthy economy and a strong housing market, many owners recently have renovated affordable apartments and raised rents, so former tenants can no longer afford them, said Lynn Bielanski, manager for the Garden Grove Housing Authority. Bielanski said there are still about 3,000 people on her city’s waiting list. Some have been waiting since 1996.

“The increase in rent has tremendously lessened our ability to help,” Bielanski said. “Sometimes people can’t afford the rent in the units they’re living in, and they’re having to move. They’re also having a harder time finding the apartments. It used to be about 30 days, and now it’s closer to 60 days.”

Both Garden Grove and county housing officials have noticed an increased in the number of tenants who have had to move because of rent hikes. Hambuch said that, depending on the city, between 20% and 50% of the tenants in his program have had to move.