Minimum Income Rent Reform Vancouver Housing Authority Moving to Work Demonstration 2014 MTW Conference February 5, 2014

Planning for Rent Reform VHA formed a planning group in 2011 We spent about six months looking at internal data and what everyone else was doing before our plan began to form We knew we wanted something that would save housing costs as well as motivate households toward self-sufficiency

Planning for Rent Reform Concerns we had to address included: ▫Local economy and lack of jobs ▫Local high cost of housing ▫Strong advocacy and tenant groups The data showed a couple of interesting facts about our subsidized households that led us toward a minimum rent

Households in the VHA HCV Program

Work-Able Household Type A Work-Able Household is one that contains one or more Work-Able members Work-able is defined as an adult under the age of 62 who is not disabled, a dependent, or a full- time caretaker for a disabled household member

Comparison of Housing Assistance and Tenant Rent by Work-Able Household Type

Comparison of Housing Assistance and Tenant Rent – 4 Person Households Only

Minimum Income Rent Reform The minimum income is $9000 annually for each Work-Able household member ▫A household with two work-able members has a minimum income of $18,000, three = $27,000 ▫A Work-Able household’s assistance calculation is based on the greater of their minimum or their actual gross annual income ▫$9000 is a little less than one would earn working 20 hours per week at WA State minimum wage

Examples of how a Minimum Income would affect Participants 1.A two bedroom household with one adult, two children, and TANF of $478 per month: ▫Annual income is $5736. Dependent deduction is $960. Current TTP is $119. Utility Allowance is $90. Tenant rent is $29. ▫New minimum Income is $9000. Dependent deduction is $960. New TTP is $201. Utility Allowance is $90. Tenant rent is $111.

Examples: 2.A two bedroom household with two work-able adults, two children, and earned income of $1000 per month: ▫Annual income is $ Dependent deduction is $960. Current TTP is $276. Utility Allowance is $90. Tenant rent is $186. ▫New minimum income is $18,000. Dependent deduction is $960. New TTP is $426. Utility Allowance is $90. Tenant rent is $336.

Examples: 3.A two bedroom household with two work-able adults, two children, and earned income of $1567 per month: ▫Annual income is $18,803. Dependent deduction is $960. Current TTP is $446. Utility Allowance is $90. Tenant rent is $356. ▫Minimum income is $18,000. Actual income is above minimum – no change in tenant rent.

Examples: 4.A three bedroom household with three adults, one is over age 62 and on Social Security of $900 per month, other two are work-able and report zero income: ▫Annual income is $10,800. Elderly deduction is $700. Current TTP is $252. Utility Allowance is $106. Tenant rent is $146. ▫New minimum income is $18,000. Elderly deduction is $700. New TTP is $432. Utility Allowance is $106. Tenant rent is $326.

Impact Analysis

HCV Workable Households *ImpactedNot Impacted NumberPercentNumberPercent HOH is Elderly122.37%366.75% HOH is under age 62 and Disabled % % HOH is female % % HOH is only adult in household % % Households with children % % HOH is White % % HOH is Black % % HOH is American Indian/Alaska Native81.58%50.94% HOH is Asian71.38%224.13% HOH is Native Hawaiin/Pacific Islander193.75%163.00% HOH is Hispanic or Latino397.71%336.19%

Hardship Policy Two different types of exemption for hardship are offered ▫First, every work-able household receives six months of exemption from the minimum income to use when they choose ▫Second, any impacted household can request an additional exemption  Requests are approved by a panel made up of two VHA representatives and one program participant

Implementation New MTW Activity under VHA FY 2013 Plan ▫Many meetings, presentations and notices in addition to usual Annual Plan process In January 2013 the first of multiple notices went out to impacted households New web pages, phone lines, computer changes 13 different classes on job readiness offered Over 500 interims raising rent based on minimum income effective June 1, 2013

Use of the Tenant Choice Hardship Households using six-month hardship is far less than anticipated On average only about 25% of those households facing a rent increase used their exemption During the first 7 months we have had an average of 137 using their exemption and 334 paying an average increase in rent of $120 per month.

Use of the VHA Approved Hardship 59 Requests as of 12/31/2013 ▫45 were determined to not have a hardship ▫10 had a short-term hardship ▫4 had a long-term hardship 32 of the requests were made prior to implementation Another 12 made long before six- month exemption exhausted 5 households have made multiple requests Represents about 11% of the total households impacted

Performance Metrics and Outcomes Dec-2012 Dec-2013Dec-2014 BaselineBenchmarkOutcomeBenchmark Average HAP Payment for Work-Able Households $665$650$617$600 Percentage of Work-Able Households with Earned Income 50.69%51.00%51.09%53.00% Average Earned Income in Work-Able Households $15,653 $17,289$16,000 Imputed Cost Savings $0$100,000$308,231$500,000 Number of Evictions/Terminations for Unpaid Tenant Rent Leasing Success Rate of New Voucher Admissions 91.00% 99.07%91.00% Days Required for New Voucher Admissions to Lease

Estimated Monthly Cost Savings

Conclusion Use of hardship exemptions is far less than anticipated Cost savings as a result of the minimum income are above projections Employment among participants is rising There appears to be few, if any, serious negative outcomes