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Home | Newsroom | Housing | Thousands of California renters with Section 8 vouchers can’t use them. What lawmakers are doing about it

Thousands of California renters with Section 8 vouchers can’t use them. What lawmakers are doing about it

As California struggles with a crisis in affordable housing, state lawmakers are trying to improve a severe shortage of housing available to renters who have federal Section 8 vouchers.

The vouchers allow tenants to pay only 30% of their income toward rent, with federal assistance to pay the rest. But most landlords do not accept tenants who pay with vouchers, saying they are too burdensome.

…“It’s billed as a golden ticket,” said Alexander Harnden, a policy advocate for the Western Center on Law and Poverty. “At this point, I describe it as a ticket to last summer’s movie. If you can find where it’s playing, that’s great. Otherwise it’s just a piece of paper.”

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