On February 20th, hundreds of advocates for safe, decent, and affordable housing gathered for the Starts with Home rally to advance a range of solutions to address many communities’ housing needs. HOME Line Tenant Advocate Ubah Shire shared her story with the crowd about the discrimination she faced because every landlord she approached refused to accept her housing subsidy.
I’m going to tell you about my experience with Section 8. I am a mother of two, an immigrant from Somalia and the first college graduate in my family. Section 8 made it possible for me to finish my first two years of college because I had a voucher that provided my family with affordable rent. It works good when it’s working, but it doesn’t work often because there are limited landlords that accept Section 8
I had to move out of my Section 8 apartment because of an emergency, and I had to find another apartment with my Section 8 voucher. For nearly 2 months I searched online, made phone calls, drove around searching for a vacancy and could not find any landlord that would accept my voucher. I almost became homeless with my kids.
I had to give up. I sent an email to my Section 8 caseworker thanking them but explaining it was not useful to me. I was forced to make the decision, even though it was hard, to give up my higher education. I had to get two jobs so I could afford an apartment that was not covered by Section 8. Therefore, my hopes of finishing social work had to take a back seat.
This search for a landlord who will accept Section 8 is difficult especially for immigrant families who have language barriers, and seniors or anyone who has limited or fixed income. There’s no way they can navigate rejection after rejection when it comes to the necessity of housing. Because of this barrier many families stay in harsh conditions just to avoid the process of losing what low quality housing they may be living in.
My message is plain and simple: landlords should not discriminate against Section 8 or other subsidies that help tenants pay for their housing.
Ubah Shire – Tenant Advocate
SF3780/HF3640 would prohibit landlords from denying tenants purely based on their participation in a housing subsidy program. Call, email, schedule an appointment with your legislator, and let them know your support for expanding tenants’ protections. You can find your state legislators and their contact info here.
Leave a Reply