§ 1437f), commonly known as Section 8, provides rental housing assistance to low-income households in the United States by paying private landlords on behalf of these tenants.
In the 1960s and 1970s, the federal government created subsidy programs to increase the production of low-income housing and to help families pay their rent.
The housing authority would then sign a lease with the private landlord and pay the difference between the tenant's rent and the market rate for the same size unit.
A voucher may be either "project-based"—where its use is limited to a specific apartment complex (public housing agencies (PHAs) may reserve up to 20% of its vouchers as such[11])—or "tenant-based", where the tenant is free to choose a unit in the private sector, is not limited to specific complexes, and may reside anywhere in the United States (or Puerto Rico) where a PHA operates a Section 8 program.
Each year, the federal government looks at the rents being charged for privately owned apartments in different communities, as well as the costs of utilities (heat, electricity, etc.)
This can be attributed to such factors as: Depending on state laws, refusing to rent to a tenant solely for the reason that they have Section 8 may be illegal.
[22] However, other landlords willingly accept Section 8 tenants, due to: Whether voucher- or project-based, all subsidized units must meet the HQS, thus ensuring that the family has a healthy and safe place to live.
This improvement in the landlord's private property is an important byproduct of this program, both for the individual families and for the larger goal of community development.
To manage excess demand, PHAs often create preference policies that place specific categories of applicants at the top of wait lists.
[29][30] An early report states that the effects of this program need to be analyzed over a long period of time before determining results.
[33] There is a provision for disabled people who have a Section 8 subsidized dwelling to have their rent frozen for a specified time if they are working part-time below a certain income level.
[37] Hanna Rosin, an American journalist, has argued that Section 8 has led to crime being more evenly spread out across U.S. metropolitan areas, without any net decrease.
This was the core thesis of her article published by The Atlantic in 2008, in which she linked Section 8 to a crime wave in the Memphis, Tennessee, metropolitan area.
Rosin's article has been highly influential among politicians in cities claiming to be negatively affected by Section 8, such as Lancaster, California.
In the article, Anrig accuses Rosin of placing an excessive amount of blame on housing policy for the reported increase in crime.
The article refers to the fact that Rosin never made a conclusive argument that those who participate in Section 8 were responsible for the higher rates of crime, as those who receive housing support are subject to screenings based on drug use and previous criminal activity.
Rosin instead relies on a heat map of crime created by Richard Janikowski and Phyllis Betts who is reported to have said they were "[...] amazed – and deflated – to see how perfectly the two data sets fit together."
Janikowski and Betts later disavowed any connection between housing vouchers and increases in crime in the area in a later letter to the editor of the Atlantic.
Rosin failed to mention that there was a consistent decrease and increase in crime from inner cities to inner-ring suburbs across most metropolitan areas due to shifting populations.
Anrig argues that economic factors are more likely responsible for Memphis's increase in crime, as male unemployment almost doubled between the years of 1990 and 2000.
Even though the participants were far more likely to stay in poorer areas when given the chance to leave, families still received modest academic and psychological benefits.
Marr finds that housing placement specialists function as an intermediary between tenants and landlords that help increase the mobility of Section 8 voucher recipients.
Marr finds, through observations and interviews, that the resource of housing placement specialists can help prevent private landlord apprehension, and help voucher recipients navigate the program and general rental market.