REPS LIEU AND SHERMAN URGE HUD TO CHANGE POLICY PREVENTING DISABLED VETS FROM GETTING HOUSING

WASHINGTON – RealEstateRama – Congressman Ted W. Lieu (D-Los Angeles County) and Congressman Brad Sherman (CA-32) called for the Department of Housing and Urban Development to change its policy on counting service-connected disability benefits as income so that homeless disabled veterans can access housing. The Members are requesting that Secretary Marcia Fudge make changes to HUD’s current policy on income thresholds because the policy counts service-related disability benefits as income, which can then disqualify disabled servicemembers from veterans housing vouchers. Effectively, because of this HUD policy, the more disabled a veteran is, the less likely it is that they can access permanent supportive housing, including the West LA VA veteran housing that Reps. Lieu and Sherman have championed.

In the letter, the Members write:

Thank you for your service to our nation. We are writing to you regarding an urgent matter impacting the ability of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to house disabled veterans at VA campuses, including at the Greater Los Angeles Veterans Affairs Medical Center (West LA VA) campus located in the City of Los Angeles, and which affects homeless disabled veterans nationwide.

We ask that the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) consider a definition change that would eliminate service-connected disability benefits only when qualifying a disabled veteran for a HUD-VASH voucher thus allowing them to live in permanent supportive housing and get the services they so desperately need. The veteran’s benefits could continue to be counted when determining their fair share of the rent.

The current policy choices by HUD have unfortunately resulted in disabled veterans being shut out of housing intended for disabled veterans. This matter has become urgent due to a recent federal court ruling where the judge wrote that “Perversely, the more disabled a veteran, the less likely they are to receive a HUD-VASH voucher and become housed.”

The West LA VA campus is one of the largest facilities operated by the VA, providing medical care and support services to over 86,000 veterans living in five counties in Central and Southern California. Southern California is home to one of the largest concentrations of military veterans in the nation. It also has one of the largest populations of homeless veterans, with a no fewer than 3,000 veterans being unhoused in Los Angeles County alone.

In an effort to ensure that all of our region’s veterans have access to permanent housing, we co- authored the West Los Angeles Leasing Act, a law that authorizes the VA to enter into enhanced- use lease agreements with third parties to build and operate permanent supportive housing. That legislation was signed into law in 2016 by former President Obama and since that time, it has allowed the VA to create a Master Plan for the West LA VA property. Though there were delays due to the National Environmental Preservation Act process, an unprecedented pandemic and numerous construction challenges, the VA has now opened three new housing buildings on campus and is about to break ground on additional housing this month.

As the VA works to place veterans into housing in these new buildings at the West LA VA, it is has encountered barriers to housing many disabled veterans. Income limits set by HUD typically limit the income of a voucher holder to 80% of Area Median Income in determining if that applicant can qualify to live in a housing unit. However, for housing constructed with the assistance of the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) program, AMI limits for a prospective resident are much lower, typically a 30% AMI limit.

Most of the new housing under construction or completed at the West LA VA benefited from the LIHTC program and as such, only applicants that can meet those very low income limits can reside in new permanent supportive housing on campus. This presents a significant barrier both for veterans who would like to reside at the West LA VA and for VA staff who have embarked on a massive effort to house the more than 3,000 homeless veterans in Los Angeles County. When we wrote the West Los Angeles Leasing Act, our goal and the goal of the VA was to make sure that every veteran had an opportunity to live in housing at the West LA VA.

The very low AMI threshold has created major barriers for VA staff trying to house veterans with higher disability ratings. These veterans who were injured and disabled while serving our nation, many of whom are chronically homeless, should not be denied an opportunity to seek housing on at the West LA VA. For example, in Buildings 205 and 208, which opened in May, there are a number of vacancies despite thousands of unhoused veterans in Los Angeles County. To the credit of the VA and local and state governments, the AMI limit has been slightly raised to 50%, in an effort to help house more disabled veterans. But numerous disabled veterans still remain shut out. More must be done and be done soon.

As we work each year with the VA to make sure we get our nation’s heroes into the homes that they deserve, we ask that Treasury and HUD work together to find a solution to help us in that effort. No veteran should be denied access to veteran housing due to their disability status.

We ask that you give this request immediate consideration. We are ready to work with our partners at HUD, Treasury, and the VA to ensure that every veteran in this region has an opportunity to be considered for housing at the West LA VA. We look forward to your response regarding this very important matter.

Sincerely,

 READ THE FULL TEXT OF THE LETTER HERE

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