Last year our families, living in the 100 HUD-subsidized section 8 units were uncertain about whether they would be permitted to remain at Greenfield.

In 2000 the owner, Mr. Capano, decided to opt-out of his project-based section 8 contract with HUD.

Under project-based section 8 the subsidy is provided to the property. However, at the end of a contract the subsidy is then provided to the tenant through the use of a housing voucher. In theory, a tenant should be able to take the housing voucher and use it to procure an affordable dwelling. In reality, vouchers do not work when there are few landlords that will accept them and not enough units of affordable housing to accommodate the number of families in need of a home.

Perhaps foreseeing the potential displacement of thousands of families as project-based section 8 contracts nationwide were approaching expiration, the federal government put into place some remedies. Among the remedies were several programs to entice owners to extend their current contracts or enter into new long term contracts. Also guidelines were established to insure that residents received the proper notice of the opt-out. These guidelines also provided tenants with the right to remain in their homes, especially in areas of vulnerable populations and low vacancy rates. Residents would receive an enhanced voucher which could be used to remain in their current unit. Initially, Mr. Capano was refusing to accept the enhanced vouchers and insisting that residents would have to pay the market rent or be displaced. However, having not followed the proper procedure for opting-out, the owner decided to extend his contract with HUD for an additional year. During the year’s extension HUD and the contract administrator (Delaware State Housing Authority) agreed to work with the Greenfield Manor Resident Council and Mr. Capano’s representatives to discuss the available incentives to owners to remain in the program.

What has been happening for a year?

In June 2001 Resident Council members were told by DSHA that a meeting with the owner was being planned, but that there were scheduling conflicts with Mr. Capano. Meanwhile, to the disappointment of the residents, meetings were conducted and decisions were made and we were not included. The current contract was re-negotiated which set higher rents and made provisions to add an additional staff person to manage the paperwork for the section-8 program. While we were waiting to meet with our owner we received a second opt-out notice. This time the notice was proper in that it included language about our right to remain at Greenfield. Then we learned that DSHA had decided that the scheduled November meeting of Residents, Mr. Capano, HUD, and DSHA should no longer include representatives of Mr. Capano.

Almost immediately after the November meeting we were faced with a funding crisis due to problems at HUD. The resident council was unable to use funds we had been granted to exist as a tenant council. Other grassroots organizations, advocates and tenant organizations nationwide were effected by the freeze on spending. Since there were so many homes at risk at Greenfield our allies remained committed to the cause in spite of lack of funding to do the work. The resident council continued to work with the Delaware Housing Coalition and Community Legal Aid Society Inc. to preserve the affordable housing at Greenfield.

As the council made attempts to get information from HUD and DSHA we were constantly met with avoidance, delay tactics or incorrect information. It became apparent that there existed a tradition of conducting business on behalf of residents without actually including the residents in the process.

In March the residents learned that New Castle County would be issuing the enhanced vouchers. Finally, in April we met with a representative from Capano Management, HUD, NCCo and DSHA. There were commitments made to make repairs to the apartment units and to make the transition from project based to tenant based subsidy a smooth transition. While NCC has begun inspecting apartments and re-screening residents for eligibility to receive enhanced vouchers, the transition has not been a smooth one.

In addition to having to contend with prejudicial attitudes from some of the employees at NCC, residents have received mis-communications and incorrect information. Many residents are frustrated since inspections, meetings and interviews are assigned arbitrarily with little concern for accommodating everyday activities such as work, school, child care and other appointments. Some residents missed a full workday to be at inspections which never took place. Others didn’t receive the proper notification of the inspections. Meanwhile, Greenfield Manor continues to ignore or improperly address maintenance requests, make errors in rent calculations and filling out the enhanced voucher paperwork.

There have been a number of tactics being used to reduce or eliminate the number of section 8 units at Greenfield. Residents are concerned that for more than a year Greenfield Manor has failed to comply with the terms of their section 8 contract with HUD by allowing units of section 8 housing to remain vacant. Currently, there are approximately 40 such vacant units. If these units are not filled prior to the contract end date they will be lost to the affordable housing pool. Allowing the units to remain vacant precludes 40 families from securing affordable housing.

Also, there are repairs that are needed in the units and there has been little to no effort made to bring the apartments up to code. Residents fear that by not repairing the units the owner may be able to force the residents to move, since New Castle County cannot provide any subsidy for a unit that does not pass inspection. There are empty nesters at Greenfield that need transfers to smaller units in order to receive the enhanced vouchers. Management continues to ignore residents’ requests to be downsized. Within a year these residents will also be forced to move. Furthermore, some of the elderly and disabled residents need to be reasonably accommodated with ground floor units.

So, here we are about two months from the contract end date and residents are still uncertain about their future at Greenfield. We’ve won our right to remain in our homes and we’ve gotten verbal commitments to help save our homes. However, we do not feel confident that all promises will be kept. It seems that in the past HUD has not done an efficient job of overseeing the project-based section 8 program at Greenfield and currently there appears to be no effort to do anything differently. Residents wonder why there is so much time and money spent to create housing regulations that will not be enforced and to implement programs that will not be monitored properly. It is disheartening to witness owners using any and every means to route low income families into the streets while those in position to stop it look the other way. It is terrifying that it continues to happen across the country. As for the Greenfield Manor Resident Council-we are determined to use every means available to us to stop this tremendous loss of affordable housing units and the lack of accountability within the affordable housing arena.