Tuesday, October 10, 2006 - Landlords Needed in Beaumont, TX

From the RECON Newsletter...

HELP WANTED: LANDLORDS

BEAUMONT (The Beaumont Enterprise) – To keep the federal government from trimming its $9 million annual commitment to the Section 8 housing program in Southeast Texas , the Beaumont Housing Authority (BHA) is in a rush to find landlords willing to join the program.

Since Hurricane Rita, many landlords have raised their rents above the HUD-determined fair market level to recoup costs for damages that their insurance companies did not cover, BHA Executive Director Robert Reyna said. In its 2006 survey of area rental markets, HUD concluded there was no need to adjust the fair market rental rates to make up for post-storm rent increases.

BHA serves about 1,600 families through Section 8 and currently has a waiting list of more than 1,700 families.