Audio Budget cuts slice Duluth's low income housing (story audio) Photos Misty Parks home More from MPR Federal funding cuts freeze out some who need housing Section 8 cuts sow fear among poor families Resources Duluth Housing Redevelopment Authority Respond to this story Talk about this story in the MPR News Forum Submit a commentary Help us cover this story

	E-mail this page			Print this page

Budget cuts slice Duluth's low income housing
by Bob Kelleher, Minnesota Public Radio
December 8, 2004

This small Duluth home is divided into downstairs and upstairs apartments. Misty Parks pays $600 a month for the two bedroom unit upstairs. The Federal Section 8 program pays $400 of it, with Parks responsible for $200. But housing officials say the rent must come down by about $100 a month. (MPR Photo/Bob Kelleher)

Duluth housing officials want Section 8 landlords to cut their rents. Section 8 is the federal program that pays the difference between what low income people can afford, and what rental units really cost. But the money coming from the Federal Government has been slashed. If Duluth landlords can't absorb the cuts, hundreds of low income renters may lose their homes.

Duluth, Minn. — Misty Parks is plenty worried. She's a single mom, living with her six year old son, in an upstairs apartment carved from the bedrooms of an older West Duluth home. The rent's reasonable, but more than Parks could pay without help. Now, she's learned her landlord has been asked to drop the rent further. Parks isn't sure what will happen.

"I've looked through the paper for two bedrooms," Parks says. "She's taking a price cut on this apartment as it is. So I wouldn't - I could not see her lowering it again."

But housing officials are telling landlords to lower the rent, or lose Section 8 tenants. And they're warning renters, they could be looking for new housing soon.

"I've been here almost three years, and I know, she wouldn't want to throw us out," says Parks. "She ain't going to have a choice. If we can't make up our rent. If we can't do it we can't do it."

The problem comes from Washington. Last spring, Congress changed the formula used to pay communities for Section 8. It not only cut the money available, it back-dated the cuts several months. Local housing authorities have been scrambling since.

In Duluth they've raised the amount tenants are required to contribute, and they've made other changes, including a freeze on new applications. But it's not enough. Duluth's Section 8 housing program faces an $80,000 deficit, according to Diane Martin, who directs housing services for the Duluth Housing Authority.

She's taking a price cut on this apartment as it is. So I wouldn't - I could not see her lowering it again. - Misty Parks

"In attempt to keep people from becoming homeless, or having to terminate contracts and lose their voucher, we're asking that landlords take a look at their rent schedules and see if they can lower their rents to be equivalent to our new payment standards, so that we can keep people housed," Martin says.

It's putting a lot of pressure on people like Jan Collison. Collison and her husband own 10 Duluth rentals - seven filled with Section 8 renters. She sees federal budget problems getting dumped on people like herself.

"Yes, it does," Collison says. "Everything falls on landlords."

The Collisons charge Misty Parks $600 for a two bedroom apartment, including utilities. They'll have to cut Parks rent almost $100.

Like other Duluth landlords, the Collisons say they lose either way.

"Are we going to continue to rent to Section 8's?" asks Collison. "Are we going to decide to do the lower rent that the government wants us to do? And, is there going to be some way that we can possibly lobby against this?"

And it's not like the landlords can afford to empty their rentals. The demand for apartments has been soft in Duluth for several months.

And it's not just a Duluth problem, according to Rick Ball, Executive Director of the Duluth Housing Authority.

"This is a crisis across the country." Ball says. "The budget cuts are significantly impacting housing markets in every community across the country, really."

Minneapolis has gone through the same thing - higher payments from renters - and lower rent reimbursements for landlords. In Duluth, they're trying to keep some 1,400 households now in the program from losing their homes. Ball says the real solution would have to come from Washington.

"It needs resolution," says Ball. "We hope that we'll be able to get some attention of the budget appropriations folks in Washington D.C., and see some changes. But, at this point we have no choice but to deal with this on a local basis."

Tempers could fly as the Duluth Housing Authority meets with as many as 800 affected landlords. Then, the officials meet with the renters. Landlords are supposed to tell the Housing Authority what they'll do by December 22nd. Landlords who don't comply could lose their Section 8 contracts as soon as February.

But February can be a brutally cold month for low income tenants to be out looking for a new home.

News Headlines

Related Subjects