Public housing policy lacks income limit

Nothing concrete developed to address income limits for Berwick Housing Authority tenants as they met with Director Clarence Robinson in a special meeting Thursday.
A recent audit showed that several families in the area who were originally eligible for public housing based on household income now have incomes in excess of the upper limits. One household in Berwick public housing was found to have an income of more than $100,000.
There are no rules requiring tenants to leave public housing when their incomes grow to exceed the eligibility cap.
Robinson opened the meeting by asking tenants what they knew about an Office of the Inspector General identifying residents with incomes over the original eligibility limits.
He said the lack of rules requiring removal of residents exceeding the income cap is problematic not only for Berwick but for other cities and towns across Louisiana, as evidenced in a report passed out during the meeting showed.
The report listed names of housing authorities, income limit for family (based on household size), total family income, amount over income, assets and other categories.
One resident not wanting to be identified expressed her concerns as an aging resident with increasing costs of health insurance and health care expenses is putting a financial strain on her. She is afraid of being removed from her home.
“I’m terrified if my rent keeps going up, then the next choice is I’m going to be priced out,” she said. “I’ll be a freezing bum under the bridge or in a nursing home.”
Robinson assured the resident “it won’t be that.”
Morgan City Housing Authority attorney Robert Duffy said the local board doesn’t set federal regulations. It’s the federal government that set the rules through Congress.
Congress did not create a maximum income limit, Duffy said.
“As an attorney in Morgan City, I don’t have the grounds to evict them because of the fact that lawfully, I followed the rules through Congress,” Duffy said.
“Congress, in its infinite wisdom, did not set a maximum income.”
Congress said at one time that anyone could stay in public housing if they qualified, Duffy said. Congress did not set stipulations for what disqualifies existing residents.
“There is no law in place to say what the criteria is regarding that,” Robinson said. “So nobody ever really gave us an opportunity to discuss that and the media took off with it.”
Each housing authority is responsible for its own jurisdiction, Robinson said.
There are regulations to place to certify people for housing. However, “once residents are on the inside there is nothing in place,” Robinson said.
“Now people are freaking out saying what’s going on,” Robinson said.
Robinson is director of both Berwick and Morgan City Housing authorities.