Carson’s Rent Increases Will Devastate Millions of Low-Income Renters

Under new a Trump Administration proposal, HUD tenants would have work requirements and rent increases, including tripled rent for households that need assistance the most. As the latest insult to decency from the Trump Administration, millions of low-income families will be at greater risk of homelessness.

On Wednesday, HUD Secretary Ben Carson released the Trump Administration’s proposal to increase rents and add work requirements for households receiving federal housing assistance. HUD’s press release announced the changes would end confusing and costly policies that have failed to help families increase their earnings. However, millions of low-income renters will see their rents rise and face the prospect of eviction if Congress accepts these proposals.

HUD’s Making Affordable Housing Work Act proposes to raise tenant rent contributions to 35% of gross monthly income, up from the current 30% of adjusted monthly income. It also eliminates deductions for childcare and medical expenses. This would apply to all HUD rental subsidy programs, including Section 8 and Public Housing.

The legislation would also impose a new minimum rent three times higher than currently used. The minimum rent is based on 35% of working 15 hours per week at the federal minimum wage, or about $150.

Senior and disabled tenants would be exempt from the rent increase, and instead continue to pay 30% of their gross income for rent. The minimum rent for senior and disabled tenants would also stay at $50.

Raising rents and imposing such a harsh minimum rent will make it impossible for many residents of federally assisted housing to meet their basic needs. If a single mother makes $450 a month, she will only have about $250 left for food, medicine, childcare and other necessities after taxes are taken out and the rent is paid. The average monthly SNAP benefit for a two-person household in 2018 is estimated at only $252 per month. Basing rent calculations on gross income, without deductions for medical or childcare expenses, means that even seniors and disabled residents, exempt from the rent increase will pay more for their apartments.

Although the rent increases have hardship exemptions, the proposed legislation does not spell out how families in hardship will be helped by HUD. It says that the hardship remedies will be left to the HUD Secretary’s discretion through the regulatory process. Although new regulations require a public comment period, HUD can still implement them even with lots of comments opposed to the changes.

HUD’s proposal will also impose work requirements that will hurt young families and be costly to oversee. It will require all adult members of the household 18 and older to work in order to receive federal housing assistance. It exempts the elderly and disabled persons from the work requirement. It does not spell out what the actual work requirements will be, instead letting the HUD Secretary set these rules through the regulatory process. Congress would be enacting changes to work requirements without even knowing how much work will be required or exactly who will have to do it.

An early leaked draft of the proposal called for 32 hours of work per week for each adult in a household. It would allow job training and education to count towards work, but not volunteer activities. Most able-bodied HUD tenants do work, but low-wage work is often temporary, sporadic or seasonal. It has been shown that work requirements drive people out of assistance programs but do not have a good record of moving people out of poverty. It is expensive to monitor and enforce work requirements, especially when they will apply to only a small portion of assisted households. Elderly and disabled tenants make up 89% of those receiving federal housing assistance and they are exempt from the work proposal.

Raising the rent for the lowest-income renters is another attempt from the Trump Administration to dismantle HUD. The Trump FY 2019 Budget slashes HUD funding by more than 18%. It eliminates most block grant programs that help build affordable housing, slashes funding to operate and maintain public housing and under-funds Section 8 Housing Choice Vouchers so that they would fall short by 200,000 vouchers. Cutting federal housing programs and raising rents for the poorest renters is especially cruel in light of the massive tax cuts that benefit corporations and the wealthiest people. The Trump Administration says that programs need to be reduced and tenants need to pay more because of the spiraling federal deficit. But the tax cuts just passed will add more than $1.2 trillion to the national debt.

If these proposals are enacted by Congress, it will be devastating for low-income renters. Millions of families will be at greater risk of homelessness. Vulnerable children, seniors and disabled persons will go short on food or medicine. Community services will be strained as over-burdened renters and more homeless people reach out for assistance.

What you can do to help 

Fortunately, Congress has already rejected similar proposals when it passed the FY 2018 appropriations in March. In addition to rejecting the rent increase and work requirement proposals, the FY 2018 appropriations increased affordable housing significantly as part of a two-year budget deal that lifts spending caps for FY 2019 as well. The increased caps for next year mean that Congress can continue affordable housing increases rather than making cuts. Many members of Congress are also leery of making major program changes this close to the 2018 midterm elections.

Even so, it is critical that low-income renters contact their Representative and Senators. You need to make sure they know that raising rents for the poorest Americans is unacceptable. Hearing from constituents has the most influence on their vote. You can see the effects of the Trump housing cuts on your area here, and take a minute to contact your members of Congress through our easy to use form here.