Committee Backs Housing Voucher Incentives

Milwaukee County Courthouse. Photo by Graham Kilmer.

The Milwaukee County Board of Supervisors is moving to fund an incentive program aimed at helping more tenants receiving rental assistance get into housing.

The program, if approved by the board, would create a fund to pay for any damages caused by renters using section 8 vouchers, which guarantee recipients do not have to spend more than 30-40% of their income on rent. It would be managed and administered by the county’s Housing Division, which primarily focuses on people experiencing homelessness.

The idea for the program came out of discussions in county board committees about the problem of housing voucher discrimination, which occurs when a landlord won’t rent to a tenant because that person receives section 8 housing assistance. The county has an ordinance banning such discrimination, but it has proven completely ineffective since it was adopted in 2018.

Housing officials reported to the board that survey data indicates landlords are concerned about section 8 tenants causing damage. There is no evidence to suggest section 8 tenants cause more damage that those renting without assistance, officials said, but the perception nonetheless hampers efforts to place people in housing.

Sup. Shawn Rolland sponsored board legislation to create the new incentive program. Because the county has been unable to curb section 8 discrimination with its ordinance, Rolland said he hopes to “change the game” for voucher tenants by attaching an incentive to their housing applications that doesn’t exist for other tenants, during a meeting of the board’s Committee on Finance.

When the housing division tries to place someone who is experiencing homeless in a rental unit, they are competing against other renters in one of the most competitive real estate markets in the country, said James Mathy, Housing Division Administrator.

“So we don’t necessarily see this just from a discrimination standpoint, we’re fighting for units just like everybody else is — our staff is — they’re incredibly hard to find right now, especially one bedroom apartments,” Mathy said.

When the Housing Division places someone in a rental with a voucher, the division first inspects the unit. So the landlord would not be able to use damage mitigation funds on existing damage. The mitigation funds would come at the end of a tenants lease, and housing officials would verify the damage, the expenses and factor in the security deposit before paying out to a landlord, said Connor Goggins, senior real estate project manager.

The Housing Division’s focus on people experiencing homelessness, particularly street homelessness, makes it unique from other housing agencies like the Housing Authority of the City of Milwaukee. This population often has very poor or no credit history, gaps in rental history and sometimes a criminal record, all of which can make it more difficult to compete against other tenants for a prospective unit, Goggins said.

“So really, we’re really trying to expand their choice,” Goggins said.

While the board’s Finance Committee approved the resolution, not everyone on the board supports it. Sup. Ryan Clancy spoke against the policy, and Supervisors Juan Miguel Martinez and Steve Taylor voted against it. Members of the committee that voted for it include Supervisors Liz Sumner, Sequanna Taylor, Willie Johnson, Jr., Peter Burgelis and Rolland.

Clancy said the resolution would give “handouts” to the “worst landlords” and asked his colleagues to oppose the program.

“We’d literally be handing money to landlords who invest so little into their housing, and in those terrible conditions, that they know that they would fail an inspection,” Clancy said.

Mathy explained to Clancy that the Housing Division performs inspections prior to moving a tenant in anywhere, regardless of whether vouchers are being used or not.

“So we obviously wouldn’t be supporting slumlords or anything like that; we’re verifying upfront the condition of those units,” Mathy said.

Rolland said Clancy’s comments were “false and inflammatory and wrong,” and that the program, by its design, would not provide incentives to landlords engaging in discrimination.

Mathy said the Housing Division views the program as “tenant advocacy,” as the incentive is aimed at improving a voucher recipients competitiveness in the rental market.