FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                    May 17, 2005

Release No. DCS-2

CITY SUSPENDS SECTION 8 APPLICATIONS

The City Department of Community Services will stop accepting new applications for Section 8 rental housing assistance after May 27 because about 10,500 people are already on the waiting list. At current rates, it would take 10 years for new applicants to receive rental assistance under the federally funded program.

“This really shows the need for affordable housing,” said City Rental Assistance Administrator Sandra Toma.

The suspension of applications will allow the City’s Section 8 staff to update the waiting list. A public notice will be issued when the waiting list is reopened.

The City has done this before. In 1994, it stopped accepting applicants because the waiting list was about 8,000 names long. The list was not reopened until 2001, seven years later.

Public notices have been published regarding the planned suspension, and the Department of Community Services has contacted social service agencies about the change.

The City receives about $30 million a year in Section 8 rental subsidies from the federal government. The Bush administration has indicated it plans major changes in the program.

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Contact:

            Gary Iwai, Community Assistance Administrator, 527-5914

            Sandra Toma, Rental Assistance Administrator, 527-5915