PUBLIC HOUSING NOT YET AVAILABLE

Cindy Cummins is upset about the condition of low- to moderate-income housing available in Cape Girardeau.

She recently moved to Cape Girardeau and has had numerous problems with her apartment.

She outlined many of the problems in a Letter to the Editor.

"In four months time, everything has gone wrong with my apartment," Cummins wrote in her letter.

"I don't feel like myself or anyone else should have to live like this in substandard housing," Cummins wrote.

And no one should, said Bill Tucker, East Missouri Action Agency housing director.

"We don't arbitrate a situation," Tucker said. "The tenant can vacate in 30 days. They are not forced to live anywhere."

But, if the tenants move, they must give written notice to the agency and the landlord on the rent due date.

There is no single Housing and Urban Development site in the city, said Steve Williams, the city's housing assistance coordinator.

However, assisted housing is available through EMAA, he said. There are housing rehabilitation programs indirectly funded by HUD. Money given to smaller cities is administered through state agencies.

In Cape Girardeau, the low- to moderate-income housing is subsidized with vouchers from the EMAA.

The agency tries to assist families, who have lower incomes, with their rent, Tucker said.

Under the Section 8 certificate and voucher programs, the agency makes rent-subsidy payments to landlords. But the tenants have to first qualify for HUD assistance, Tucker said.

The qualifications are established yearly by the federal government.

The EMAA doesn't screen applicants. They are certified based on their income for either the certificate, voucher or coupon programs.

In Cape Girardeau County, a family of four that earns less than $18,150 a year could qualify for housing assistance, Tucker said.

After being accepted in the housing assistance program, the family must find housing and request a lease.

Then the agency goes out and does a housing quality check, Tucker said.

"We make sure it's safe, sanitary and decent," he said. Each year, the property is recertified.

Under the "mod-rehab" program, owners are given funds to make some repairs to the rental property to bring it up to quality standards, he said.

The voucher program was started in 1986 when officials decided that if families wanted to pay more than 30 percent of their income toward housing, they could do so, Tucker said.

The Section 8 certificate tells the owner and applicant how much rent the tenant is responsible for, he added. The agency makes up the difference between the two amounts.

If rent is $300 a month and tenants can only pay $100 based on their income level, the EMAA will pay the landlord-owner the remaining $200.

"It's all in the paperwork," Tucker said. "We automatically send a check to the owner and they verify that the tenants are still in residence."

About 1,000 families are being assisted throughout the agency's seven-county area. There is a waiting list of more than 3,300 families who want housing assistance, Tucker said.

The agency conducted a survey about two years ago and found the average family was assisted for about three years before leaving the program, Tucker said.

Housing programs

East Missouri Action Agency housing assistance programs:

Section 8 Certificates:

Subsidy amount is the difference between 30 percent of the family's adjusted income and the gross rent.

The tenant pays the greater amount of either the 30 percent adjusted monthly income, 10 percent of the gross monthly income or the Welfare Rent.

Housing Vouchers:

Subsidy amount is the difference between 30 percent of the family's adjusted income and the payment standard.

The minimum total tenant payment is 10 percent of gross monthly income. There is no maximum payment.

Rent may exceed the payment standard if the family is willing to pay the additional amount.