Many needy people, but housing help goes unused

By Timothy Pratt (contact)

Thursday, Sept. 20, 2007 | 7:02 a.m.

Refugees from West African civil wars. Divorced grandmothers living with friends. Homeless men. People with Los Angeles-area addresses.

These were some of the 1,896 people in line in the January chill at the North Las Vegas Housing Authority two years ago, hoping their names would be drawn from a barrel so they could get on a waiting list for federally subsidized housing.

Nearly three years later, a federal inspector general's audit reveals that even those who got on the Section 8 voucher waiting list that day - as well as hundreds of families in the Las Vegas Valley - probably never got into subsidized housing.

The U.S. Housing and Urban Development audit, released this month, revealed that $4.4 million in public money went unused during a two-year period, meaning that people eligible for the vouchers didn't get them.

"The housing authority vouchers sat in the office and were not used," HUD spokesman Larry Bush said.

Apart from highlighting implications for families across the valley, the audit calls into question the housing authority's future, because its board and staff see a plot to shut down the agency.

Housing Authority Executive Director Don England said Wednesday the audit was "accurate."

"We weren't processing them as fast as we could have," he said. The result: "Many that could've gotten housed didn't get housed."

The audit, dated Sept. 4, was the subject of a special housing authority board meeting Tuesday. The mayor and the rest of the City Council form the board.

Mayor Mike Montandon said shortly before the meeting that he thought the audit, although correct in its conclusions, reflected a "bigger picture."

He said federal officials had told him, "We want to shut you down." HUD, he said, wants to close smaller housing authorities nationwide, and North Las Vegas', the smallest of three in the valley, is on some list somewhere.

Montandon thinks the federal government will visit the housing authority again .

"That audit is going to trigger another audit , which will trigger another audit. You could still do everything and be shut down," he said.

However, Michael Zerega, spokesman for the inspector general, said he had "never heard of any underlying agenda."

The Section 8 program is the North Las Vegas Housing Authority 's largest program . The vouchers may be used to rent apartments anywhere in the valley, provided landlords accept them. People receiving vouchers are expected to spend 30 percent of their adjusted gross income on rent. There is no limit on how long people may stay in the program, but housing authorities check people's income and other conditions every three months to verify that they still qualify.

The federal audit looked at the North Las Vegas program from January 2005 through March 31 , 2007 . During that period, the housing authority got $26.1 million in federal money for 1,371 vouchers. Some of those months , hundreds went unused, a total of $4.4 million worth.

England said that happened because the authority was understaffed. He also said required background checks were taking months to complete.

In recent months, he said, the program has improved, with nearly 95 percent of its vouchers in use. The background checks are now outsourced, he added. Though the checks now rely on Social Security numbers instead of fingerprints, the private sector can turn them around in 24 to 48 hours ; the federal government was taking up to six months, England said.

Montandon said the background checks point to a problem in the program .

The City Council's role as housing authority board is a two-edged sword, he said, because he and other council members regularly receive complaints from constituents who have Section 8 voucher holders as neighbors.

He said the housing authority needs to be as thorough as possible with background checks, and, even then, some families take advantage of the program.

"I can drive you out there and find a family that's giving me the finger and saying four-letter words, living with three other families - because we failed in our background checks."