CONGRESSMAN LINCOLN DAVIS INTRODUCES LEGISLATION TO PROTECT RENTAL HOUSING FOR RURAL AMERICANS November 06, 2007

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- U.S. Rep. Lincoln Davis today introduced a bill to create a voucher program to keep rural Americans from losing their homes. The vouchers would give low-income families in Section 515 multifamily housing a means to keep their homes when living in projects that are going through a change of ownership, restructuring or revitalization. The vouchers would set specific rent limits or cover relocation costs for tenants in prepaid or foreclosed properties.

Nearly 5 million rural households live in rented homes. The Section 515 program has provided more than 550,000 affordable homes in rural America, often the only such rental housing in those communities. In the Fourth District alone, Section 515 funding subsidies over 1,600 units for rural Tennessee, with nearly 100 buildings taking part in the program. Residents' incomes typically average less than $10,000 per year, and more than half of resident households consist of elderly or disabled Americans. However, in the proposed budget for FY08, the Administration moved to eliminate many rural housing programs, as well as all funding for the construction or preservation of affordable housing in rural communities.

Congressman Davis's legislation seeks to correct this serious omission in the Administration's FY08 budget proposal. "Hardworking families in my district and in rural areas across the Country are in danger of having the rug pulled out from under them by an Administration that wants to cut funding for low income housing," Davis said.

Under the current law, which allows prepayments of Section 515 loans, many owners have already fulfilled legal provisions requiring them to house low-income tenants, potentially enabling landlords to raise rents or displace low income families.

In 2004, the USDA released "Rural Rental Housing - Comprehensive Property Assessment and Portfolio Analysis (CPA)." The study reported that Section 515 developments had insufficient funds to cover needed repairs and maintenance. The report stated that revitalizing Section 515 developments for the long term was in the public's best interest. The CPA took the cost to the government into account, and suggested that USDA protect existing tenants from rent increases through the use of vouchers or some other means.

"With our Country in the middle of a housing crisis, now is not the time to make it harder for families, the disabled or the elderly to keep a roof over their head. That's why I'm introducing legislation that will create a program to protect the homes of rural Americans.".