CNMI gets new housing aid from HUD

The United States Department of Housing and Urban Development has recently awarded the CNMI new slots under a federally-funded housing program which is expected to benefit 26 more low-income Northern Marianas families.

Northern Marianas Housing Corp. Manager Diana P. Crisostimo said the new award from HUD for the Section-8 Housing Assistance Program will enable the government-controlled corporation to accommodate 26 CNMI families who have applied for the federally-funded assistance.

Ms. Crisostimo said only U.S. citizens are eligible to avail of the federal assistance under the program since the HUD has started phasing out citizens of the Freely Associated States — Palau, Federated States of Micronesia and Marshall Islands — from it.

Families who can apply are those who have been involuntarily displaced from their existing homes; are paying in excess of 50 percent of income for rent; or those who are living in a substandard housing.

Ms. Crisostimo said families that meet all requirements will be placed on a waiting list until their application comes up for admission. Applicants who are placed on the list are categorized in three different priorities.

The housing corporation accepts new applications only when the waiting list has been trimmed down to less than 50 applicants.

NMHC has reported a significant increase in the number of CNMI families who have availed the Section-8 Housing Assistance Program during the last two years, a clear indication that adverse effects of the recession continue to plague the islands.

More than 200 families throughout the Northern Marianas are now enjoying the benefits of the federally funded Section-8 Program, which provides housing assistance to very low and low-income families.

Over a hundred families are currently renting units at NMHC-administered subdivisions in Garapan, Mihaville and Koblerville on Saipan, and on Tinian and Rota while more than a hundred other families are enrolled under the Voucher and Certificate Program, wherein the beneficiaries are living in privately-owned apartments of their choice.

The amount shouldered by the HUD depends on the income level of the family. The program assists in paying the fair market rent 30 percent of their adjusted income or 10 percent of their gross income, whichever is greater.

However, in cases when families do not have any source of income at all, the Section-8 Housing Assistance Program fully subsidizes them and pays the entire contract rent.

Section-8 Housing Assistance Program earmarks housing funds for indigent local families who are sheltered in an apartment or for-rent houses of their choice on a specific amount.