Please forward this to any veterans or families of veterans when you can. This is a huge step in the continued war to eliminate veteran homelessness.
Rule Denying Housing to Disabled Vets is Scrapped
By Doug Smith -LA Times
HUD says Veteran’s disability income will no longer be a barrier to qualifying for subsidized shelter.
Responding to months of pressure from veterans advocates and elected officials, the US Dept. of HUD announced on Aug. 8 that it would change a widely criticized rule that excludes the most disabled veterans from subsidized housing designed for them.
The rule, which HUD officials had previously said they could not change, counts service-related disability benefits as income.
Compensation based on the percentage of the Veteran’s disability up to 100% can raise a veteran’s income above the max. It is allowed for housing restricted to low-income residents.
“The days of a Veteran having to choose between getting the VA benefits they deserve and the housing support they need are finally over,” Veterans Affairs Secretary Denis McDonough said in a statement.
“This is a critical step forward that will help Veterans nationwide — and bring us one step closer to our ultimate goal of ending Veteran homelessness for good.”
“Looks like we’ve got a hell of a victory,” said Rep. Brad Sherman (D-Sherman Oaks), who had introduced a bill to change the rule but also pushed former HUD Secretary Marcia Fudge to find a speedier solution.
In a class-action case brought by veterans over a host of complaints against the VA, US District Judge David O. Carter ruled in May that the policy discriminates against disabled veterans. “Those who gave the most cannot receive the least,” he wrote.
HUD’s announcement came on the third day of a nonjury trial over the lawsuit in Los Angeles that was partly to establish what remedy Carter would order to end the discrimination.
Long a source of frustration and anger among veterans, the issue gained political traction as new housing was built on the US Department of Veterans Affairs West Los Angeles campus.
Veterans living in a tiny home village there learned they could not qualify for it because their income exceeded the limit for veterans’ subsidies called HUD-VASH vouchers.
HUD also awarded $20 million available for additional administrative
funding to 245 public housing agencies in 43 states to expand their housing search assistance to support veterans, expand landlord recruitment for the program, offer incentives and retention payments, help veterans with security deposits, and provide landlord-tenant mediation activities.
The new policy also requires public housing agencies that administer HUD-VASH vouchers to set veteran income eligibility at 80% of the area median income, up from the 50% that generally applies.
This expanded eligibility will allow for more veterans to be housed.
Under the new policy, disability compensation will still be counted as income for calculating the amount the Veteran must pay for rent, not eligibility. Tenants in subsidized housing must pay 30% of their income in rent.
