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Delays and waiting list for KCMO subsidized housing

Woman still homeless after 8 months with voucher
Posted at 9:17 PM, Aug 04, 2016
and last updated 2016-08-04 23:32:34-04

Your federal tax dollars are helping some families in Kansas City find homes. But that process can sometimes take months or even years.

About 7,500 KCMO families are being served by the Section 8 Housing Voucher Program through the Housing Authority of Kansas City to help pay for housing. 

There are another roughly 4,000 families on the waiting list.

Shakedra Nunnally is one of the lucky ones to have a voucher.

In December, fire caused smoke damage to the home on Montgall Avenue she was renting with her voucher. The damage forced Nunnally and her four children to move out.

At times, the family of five has lived in Nunnally's car.

"It's like we're here, there, here, there and I don't want to take my babies to no shelter," she said.

In February, about two months after the fire, the Housing Authority of Kansas City gave Nunnally a replacement voucher to search for a new home.

But after going to two different homes, the Housing Authority ruled the landlord was charging too much for rent so she couldn't move into either place.

"We have an obligation to make sure that the house or the apartment that that family is moving into meets minimum quality standards," said Ed Lowndes, Housing Authority of Kansas City Director. "Also we have to make sure the rent is reasonable and fair." 

Lowndes said his agency inspects each home before a family can move in.

More than half the units fail that inspection the first time.

Landlords are then given 30 days to fix any problems.

Lowndes said even after inspectors approve a unit, it's typically at least a month before a family can move in.

"So about 30 to 45 days is our optimum," he said.

When the 41 Action News Investigators asked if 8 or 9 months of waiting would be extraordinary, he said, "It's very unusual. Eight or nine months, that's high, but it's possible."

Housing Authority records for July show two veterans, who based on policy get preferential treatment, were able to move into their new homes one day after getting their vouchers. 

Another family had to wait five months.

On average, the 25 families who moved into new homes in July had to wait more than two months after getting approved for a voucher. Click here to see voucher history for July 2016.

Actually getting a voucher is even more problematic.

Those same records show one family applied for a voucher in 2006 before actually getting it nearly ten years later. 

Then that family had to wait more than three months after getting the voucher to move into an approved home.

"There are a lot of factors that play into it of trying to expedite the review that we have to do and balance that against the due diligence that we have to do,"  said Lowndes.

Authority records also show there are currently ten full-time inspectors. Four of them were hired in the last year and a half.

In the first half of this year, the team performed 7,901 inspections or on average more than 1,300 per month.

"There can be some backlog," said Lowndes, "I do have adequate staff right now to do the scheduling." 

Meanwhile, Nunnally is hoping to move into an apartment complex off Bannister Road.

A Housing Authority inspector recently checked her three-bedroom unit.

But every day she has to wait for final approval is another day without a home. And the cost of the last 8 months has already been very high.

"Lost my job because I don't have no one to keep the kids," Nunnally said. "I don't have nowhere to go." 

It is up to the voucher recipient to find his or her own home which can be a factor in the length of time it takes to get the Housing Authority to approve a home.

Those recipients typically also pay a part of their housing cost based on income.

The Housing Authority makes that calculation of the voucher recipient's part in the payment as part of the approval process.

Lowndes points out for larger families like Nunnally's, it's more difficult to find housing because three and four-bedroom homes are in short supply in Kansas City.

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Andy Alcock can be reached at anderson.alcock@kshb.com.

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