Hey everyone, HUD recently cut the budget of St. Paul Public Housing Agency (PHA) by $3 million. PHA received no warning the cut was coming. There have been ample articles about this cut in the Pioneer Press over the past few weeks.
We Landlords were informed by PHA that they are going to cut all landlords rent payments by 15% across the board. This means that subsidized tenants will now pay less for an apartment than unsubsidized tenants. For example, my 2 bedroom apartments rent for $700 per month. After this cut, I will receive $595 from section 8 for that apartment, while my market rate tenants continue paying $700 per month. I know "landlords" and "slumlords" are equal terms in many of your minds. But, the reality is very different. 30% of the housing in St. Paul is rental housing and most of us landlords run a great business and are proud of the service we provide to the community. Also, contrary to perceptions, most landlords don't make a ton of money. A typical apartment building spends 45 - 55% of their income on expenses (utilities, taxes, insurance, maintenance, legal, administrative, etc) and 40%+ on debt service. That leaves us with about a 10% margin for profit and capital improvements. PHA's proposal is the equivalent to asking landlords to FURTHER subsidize section 8 tenants. I believe PHA has chosen the route of cutting landlords rent solely because the rental market is soft. This is short sighted. The rental market is soft, but rapidly improving with the economy. (According to GVA Marquette, St. Paul's rental vacancy rate was 6.5% in 1Q04 down from 7.6% in 4Q03). Prediction: As the rental market continues to improve, landlords with quality properties will move section 8 tenants out in favor of tenants that pay full rent. Most of the 4000 voucher holders will move in the next 12-18 months. We might be on the cusp of the worst affordable housing crisis St. Paul has ever seen. Question. The feds have spent over $330 million on Housing 5000 and the city has spent over $70 million (1). With so much money available for housing, why did the feds cut St. Paul PHA $3 million? Regards, Bill Cullen. East Side Landlord President, St. Paul Association of Responsible Landlords. _____________________________________________ NEW ADDRESS FOR LIST: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To subscribe, modify subscription, or get your password - visit: http://www.mnforum.org/mailman/listinfo/stpaul Archive Address: http://www.mnforum.org/mailman/private/stpaul/
