Association says housing aid to continue through December

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(The Center Square) - Federally-funded housing assistance will continue to be paid through December, a national housing association director told The Center Square Friday afternoon. 

Previously, those who rent to federally-subsidized tenants faced nonpayment of rent if the federal government didn't reopen soon, according to the California Apartment Association. Friday marked the 31st day of the shutdown.

Eric Oberdorfer, director of policy and legislative affairs at the National Association of Housing and Redevelopment Officials, told The Center Square  Friday that his organization heard from officials at the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, who said housing assistance will be paid for November and December. 

"Housing Assistance Payments, administrative fees and shortfall funding for November are expected to be posted by Tuesday of next week," Oberdorfer wrote via email. "HUD will then work on getting December payments loaded into the system. This means that rent for the voucher program will be covered through December."

On the HUD website this week, Secretary Scott Turner said his department is continuing to operate critical services. But he warned, "Each day the shutdown drags on, the department’s challenges grow, threatening our ability to serve our nation’s most vulnerable neighbors."

The Center Square reached out to HUD, but did not get a response Friday afternoon.

The housing choice voucher program, traditionally known as Section 8 housing vouchers, are federally funded. Those who receive housing assistance through that program were previously told they would continue to receive benefits through the first half of the month, California Apartment Association officials said.

“The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development has already obligated funding that allows public housing authorities to continue operating their tenant-based voucher programs through October, and likely into mid-November,” wrote Whitney Prout, executive vice president of legal affairs for The California Apartment Association, in an Oct. 2 blog post on the association’s website.

Prout was unavailable for comment on Friday.

According to the Peter G. Peterson Foundation, an organization that advocates for fiscal responsibility, housing assistance cost the federal government $67 billion in 2023, the latest year for which information was available. It is unclear how much of that money went to those who rely on housing assistance in California.

Of that $67 billion, $30 billion was spent on tenant-based rental assistance, $15 billion was spent on project-based rental assistance and $8 billion was spent on public housing.

In the middle of the state, the news that continued funding through November is welcome.

“This is positive news for both residents and landlords participating in the Housing Choice Voucher program, as it ensures that payments will continue on schedule for the coming months,” read the Oct. 13 statement published on Fresno Housing's website.

The Center Square couldn’t reach officials at Fresno Housing, since the organization is closed every other Friday. 

Communities across the state were bracing for a funding shortfall after the middle of November because of the ongoing federal government shutdown. Santa Clara County officials said in an Oct. 30 press release that the federal shutdown will impact residents of the county, stating that taking away the much-needed assistance the housing voucher program supplies will worsen the county’s homelessness crisis.

“We expect that the federal changes will affect about 5,000 unhoused individuals in Santa Clara County,” said Idelle Villarreal, a program and policy manager for the county Social Services Agency.

Legislators who sit on committees that deal with housing in state Senate and Assembly were not available for comment on Friday. The Center Square also was not able to reach officials with housing-related state agencies.