The Tulsa Housing Authority is freezing its housing voucher waitlist thanks to federal decisions, leaving hundreds of Tulsans in potentially precarious circumstances.
The Housing Authority is currently managing its Section 8 program with the same amount of money it was given last year despite rental rates increasing 3% on average. This means the authority is operating on a $3.1 million shortfall, according to a presentation at its April meeting.
Housing Authority Vice President of Communications Ginny Hensley said this decision comes after a Housing and Urban Development (HUD) staffer told the authority to “manage the program.” HUD disperses federal housing assistance dollars throughout the United States.
“We interpret (this) to mean that any Section 8 vouchers lost to attrition would not come back into the program,” Hensley said in an email to KWGS.
Hensley said around 800 vouchers from the program won’t be replaced. That’s more than 2,000 Tulsans who won’t be able to get Section 8 housing, she said.
In a Facebook post Thursday, the Housing Authority noted more than 10,000 Tulsans rely on federal rental assistance.
“Obviously, homelessness is increasing. Rent increases are not keeping up with pay. And so we are really facing (a) crisis-level situation in Tulsa,” Hensley said at the authority’s May meeting Thursday.
The Housing Authority’s decision to freeze new vouchers comes after authority president Aaron Darden warned at the April meeting of a “mass eviction event” in Tulsa if they pulled Section 8 money from present voucher holders.
Hensley also noted President Donald Trump has proposed cutting federal rental aid by 40%. Trump’s plan would send that money to the states to create rental assistance “based on their unique needs and preferences.”
“This would be completely devastating, not just to Tulsa but to every community across the U.S.,” Hensley said in the email.
