Housing 住房

To rent or not to rent

How landlords thwart America’s attempts to house poor people

第一段：

“Why the fuck does this county even offer Section 8 if it’s a mythical unicorn that nobody ever gets?” asks Alex, the main character in Netflix’s new series “Maid”. The show, based on Stephanie Land’s book “Maid: Hard Work, Low Pay, and a Mother’s Will to Survive”, is a portrait of poverty and domestic work in Washington State.?Section 8, now known as the Housing Choice Voucher Programme (HCVP), is a federal housing-assistance scheme that subsidises rent for 2.3m poor American households lucky enough to get their hands on a voucher. Others can spend years on waiting lists, hoping to be chosen.

Netflix新劇《女傭》中的主角Alex問道：“如果這是一個沒人能得到的神話中的‘獨角獸’，為什么這個縣要提出 Section 8 ?”。這部電視劇改編自斯蒂芬妮·蘭德的書《女傭:辛勤工作、微薄工資和一個母親的生存意志》，該劇描繪了華盛頓州的貧困以及家務(wù)勞動。Section 8（現(xiàn)在被稱為房租補貼憑證計劃）是一個美國聯(lián)邦政府住房援助計劃，為230萬足夠幸運得到憑證的貧困美國家庭提供租金補貼。那些沒那么幸運的人則已經(jīng)在等待名單上呆了數(shù)年時間，希望能夠被選中。

第二段：

Housing-policy wonks often refer to the voucher programme as a kind of lottery: win and your life may fundamentally change. When towering public-housing projects were demolished in the 1990s, the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) used vouchers as a way to house America’s poor through the private market. With a voucher, tenants put 30% of their monthly income towards rent and the federal government covers the rest. Many people on voucher waiting lists are homeless or living with their families. Nearly half of all voucher-holders are black, 70% are racial minorities and about a third earn less than $10,000 a year.

住房政策專家經(jīng)常把“憑證計劃”比作一種彩票: 中獎，你的生活可能會從根本上改變。當高聳的公共住房項目在20世紀90年代被"推翻"時，美國住房和城市發(fā)展部(HUD)使用“憑證”作為通過私人市場為美國窮人提供住房的一種方式。有了“憑證”，房客將每月收入的30%用于交房租，房租的其余部分則由聯(lián)邦政府支付。許多等待發(fā)放“憑證”的人要么無家可歸，要么和家人住在一起。近一半的“憑證”持有者是黑人，70%是少數(shù)種族，約三分之一的人年收入低于1萬美元。

第三段：

Vouchers are not just about housing: cheaper rent means more money for expenses such as food, bills or school. Because vouchers theoretically allow tenants to rent a home anywhere, they can help poor families move to wealthier, safer neighbourhoods. Many researchers view them as a way to increase social mobility. But not everyone wins the lottery. Many cities have had to close their waiting lists. A new study from the Housing Initiative at Penn, a research outfit at the University of Pennsylvania, estimates that 10.4m households would be eligible for a voucher under HUD’s criteria, four times as many families as there are vouchers for. By comparing the gap Between existing and needed vouchers with local renter populations, researchers found that Orlando, Charlotte and Phoenix would benefit most from a policy where vouchers were given to all who qualify.

“憑證”不僅僅與住房有關(guān): 更便宜的租金意味著更多的錢將用于食品、賬單或上學等支出。因為從理論上講，“憑證”允許租戶在任何地方租房，它們可以幫助貧困家庭搬到更富裕、更安全的社區(qū)。許多研究人員將“憑證”視為提高社會流動性的一種方式。但并不是每個人都能中彩票。許多城市不得不關(guān)閉其等候名單(申請)。賓夕法尼亞大學的研究機構(gòu)Penn住房計劃的一項新研究估計，根據(jù)住房與城市發(fā)展部的標準，將有1040萬戶家庭有資格獲得“憑證”，這一數(shù)字是已有“憑證”的家庭數(shù)量的四倍。通過比較現(xiàn)有的和有需要“憑證”的人數(shù)與當?shù)刈夥咳丝谥g的差距，研究人員發(fā)現(xiàn)，奧蘭多、夏洛特和鳳凰城將從一項“向所有符合條件的人發(fā)放憑證的”政策中獲益最大。

第四段：

When the Democrats unveiled their mammoth $3.5trn Build Back Better bill, it included $75bn for housing vouchers. In the version that the House of Representatives passed in November, that was winnowed to about 300,000 new vouchers costing $24bn. Yet receiving a voucher and successfully leasing a unit with it are two very different things. The Penn researchers found that only about one in five households who were eligible for a voucher successfully obtained and used one in 2019. It is tricky to find a home to rent at all in a tight market. But poor renters face extra barriers. The HCVP only gives voucher-holders two months to sign a lease before they need an extension; security deposits can be pricey; and voucher-holders may not have access to a car or a computer to help with their search.

當民主黨公布其3.5萬億美元的《重建更好未來》重大法案時，其中包括750億美元的住房憑證。在眾議院11月通過的版本中，這一方案被篩到大約30萬張新憑證，耗資240億美元。然而，獲得憑證和使用憑證成功租到一套房子是完全不同的兩件事。Penn的研究人員發(fā)現(xiàn)，在2019年，那些有資格申請憑證的家庭中成功獲得憑證并使用憑證的只有大約五分之一數(shù)量。在供不應(yīng)求的市場中，要想租到一套房子是很困難的。但是貧窮的租房者面臨著額外的障礙。HCVP只給憑證持有者兩個月的時間來簽署租約，超時他們就需要延期; 押金可能很貴; 持有憑證的人可能沒有汽車或電腦來幫助他們尋找。

第五段：

The biggest barrier to using a voucher may be the outsize role that landlords play in choosing whom to rent to. Eva Rosen, of the McCourt School of Public Policy at Georgetown University, says landlords exist on a spectrum. On one end, there are property-owners in poor neighbourhoods who seek out voucher-holders because they like the security of knowing that the government will pay some of their tenants’ rent each month. On the other side are landlords who refuse to rent to families with vouchers because they don’t want to deal with the paperwork and extra inspections that come with the subsidy—or because of outright discrimination.

使用憑證的最大障礙可能是房東在選擇租賃者時所扮演的巨大角色。喬治城大學麥考特公共政策學院的Eva Rosen說，房東們存在不同意見。一方面，貧困社區(qū)的業(yè)主會尋找持有憑證的人，因為他們知道政府會為他們的租客每月支付一部分租金，這樣他們就放心了。另一方面，房東拒絕把房子租給有憑證的家庭，因為他們不想處理伴隨補貼而來的文書工作和額外檢查，又或者是因為公然的歧視。

第六段：

A study published in 2018 by researchers at the Urban Institute, a think-tank, documents just how hard it is for voucher-holders to sign a lease. Researchers screened 341,000 rental advertisements and called landlords in five cities over 16 months. The authors found that they had to look at 39 adverts, on average, to find one potential home. When they called landlords to check whether they would accept a housing voucher, more than 75% of property-owners in Fort Worth and Los Angeles immediately declined. Denial rates were lower in Newark (31%) and Washington, DC (15%), in part because both cities have laws protecting families with vouchers from discrimination. Los Angeles passed such a law after the study was published.

2018年，智庫城市研究所的研究人員發(fā)表了一項研究，證明了憑證持有者簽署租約有多么困難。研究人員在16個月的時間里篩選了34.1萬個租房廣告，并聯(lián)系了五個城市的房東。研究人員發(fā)現(xiàn)，他們平均要看39個廣告才能找到一個可能的家。當他們打電話給房東，詢問他們是否愿意接受住房憑證時，沃斯堡和洛杉磯超過75%的業(yè)主立即拒絕了。紐瓦克(31%)和華盛頓特區(qū)(15%)的拒絕率較低，部分原因是這兩個城市都有法律保護有憑證的家庭不受歧視。這項研究發(fā)表后，洛杉磯通過了這樣一項法律。

第七段：

It is not yet clear how the covid-19 pandemic has affected the HCVP. Stefanie DeLuca of Johns Hopkins University says extra rental assistance might have helped some small landlords struggling with their mortgages. For others, the lengthy eviction moratoriums may have eroded trust Between property-owners and the government. While the Democrats’ Build Back Better bill focuses on increasing the number of vouchers, it also includes $230m in incentive programmes to entice more landlords to accept them.

目前尚不清楚covid-19大流行病如何影響HCVP。約翰霍普金斯大學的Stefanie DeLuca表示，額外的租金援助可能會幫助一些掙扎于抵押貸款的小房東。對其他人來說，長時間的暫停驅(qū)逐可能已經(jīng)削弱了業(yè)主和政府之間的信任。盡管民主黨的《重建更好未來》法案側(cè)重于增加憑證的數(shù)量，但它也包括2.3億美元的激勵計劃，以吸引更多房東接受憑證。

第八段：

Other adjustments could make the programme more effective. The maximum amount of money a landlord can get from the government is based on the average rent for an entire metropolitan area. Some landlords in poor neighbourhoods covet voucher-holders because they can charge much more for a unit than it would otherwise fetch. Ms Rosen argues that switching to a system where maximum rent varies by zip code will shut down such predatory tactics. And no federal law exists protecting voucher-holders from discrimination.

其他調(diào)整可以使方案更有效。房東從政府獲得的最高金額是根據(jù)整個大都市區(qū)域的平均租金。一些貧困社區(qū)的房東覬覦持有憑證的人，因為他們可以收取比其他情況下更高的房費。Rosen女士認為，轉(zhuǎn)換到“最高租金隨郵政編碼而變化的”系統(tǒng)將會關(guān)閉這種掠奪性策略。而且沒有任何聯(lián)邦法律保護憑證持有者不受歧視。

第九段：

Only 15 states and Washington, DC, can boast of such a measure. Several cities have followed suit. Still, landlords can skirt around these protections by failing inspections or setting rent just above market rates. “No one has paid any attention to landlords since the 1970s,” says Ms DeLuca. It might be time to start.

只有15個州和華盛頓特區(qū)可以夸耀這樣的措施。幾個城市也紛紛效仿。不過，房東可以通過“未通過檢查”或“將租金定在略高于市場價格的水平”來繞開這些保護措施。DeLuca女士說：“自20世紀70年代以來，沒人再關(guān)注過房東”。也許是時候開始關(guān)注他們了。