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Johnstown Housing Authority’s chairman would like to hold landlords accountable for troublemakers living in their Section 8 government subsidized rental units.
Chairman Brian Vuletich says he’s tired of hearing complaints from neighbors about police being called over and over to the same homes.
“Does our ‘one strike you’re out’ policy apply to both landlords and tenants?” Vuletich asked authority Solicitor Timothy Leventry and Executive Director Dan Kanuch.
Kanuch said his staff reviews city police reports every few months to identify criminal activity in any of the housing authority units. That includes both the authority-owned apartment complexes and the Section 8 homes.
But the records only cover arrests, Kanuch stressed. Repeated nuisance calls are not on the reports.
Vuletich asked Leventry to review the policy as it applies to those renting Section 8 homes and to the property owners.
Leventry explained that the Section 8 renters are not technically housing authority tenants. The authority, Leventry explained, contracts with the property owner to rent the units to income-eligible individuals or families.
The landlord receives a reimbursement, but is required to maintain the property to a certain level.
Leventry agreed to look into existing contracts and investigate ways to add some teeth to the rules.
Vuletich pointed out there is a waiting list of 514 applicants for Section 8 housing and another list of 170 applicants waiting for vacancies in authority-owned property.
“Why are we continually accepting certain behavior when there are 500 people waiting on the list?” Vuletich asked after the meeting.
Meanwhile, Kanuch said the authority’s staff believes it is getting a bedbug problem under control.
“We have our action plan in place,” Kanuch said. “They are handling a lot more communities and going through the inspection process.”
Authority board member Michael Vuckovich asked if the authority could require inspection of all furniture being moved into its buildings.
But Kanuch said it isn’t just furniture. Bugs can hide out in clothing, boxes or just about any item.
“They can be anywhere,” Kanuch said. “They are here. They are in Johnstown; and not just in public housing.”
The action plan has inspectors moving through the authority’s communities, checking apartments. The inspections and exterminations started in Fulton I. Connor Towers, where at least one apartment had an infestation.
“Within four or five months, they will be going back through Connor,” Kanuch said.
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