A picture of the nation’s affordable housing crisis was painted in vivid detail during a recent news program that featured three Dallas-area women struggling to find a place to live. Their frustrating journey to secure affordable homes, even with precious Sec. 8 vouchers in hand, was real. Also real were the NIMBY attitudes expressed by a homeowner opposed to affordable housing in her neighborhood. What was her objection?
“The lifestyle, I feel like, that goes with Sec. 8 is usually working single moms or people who are struggling to keep their heads above water … . I feel so bad saying that, but it’s not people who are, I guess, of the same class as us … ,” said the opponent.
Those darn single, working mothers. They ruin everything.
In the same show, FRONTLINE and NPR also spotlighted a few isolated cases of abuse in the low-income housing tax credit (LIHTC) program. These bad apples don’t represent the larger industry, which has built and rehabilitated about 3 million affordable homes across the country for low-income families, seniors, veterans, the disabled, and, yes, single moms.
While even one act of fraud is horrible, troubles in the LIHTC program have been few and far between. The recent media coverage painted the housing credit industry with a broad brush, zeroing in on the anomalies. There’s no indication of a widespread problem. That said, there’s always room for improvement. Long before the show, housing leaders had supported recent legislation that would strengthen the LIHTC.
The bigger story remains the lack of affordable housing in this country. The struggling women in Dallas would have stable places to live if there were more affordable housing. And that takes the LIHTC program.
