Legislation aimed at keeping the affluent out of public housing could save taxpayers as much as $100 million. The Housing Opportunity Through Modernization Act on Tuesday won approval in the U.S. House with a vote of 427-0, including an amendment proposed by U.S. Rep. Vern Buchanan that would tighten income and asset verification processes. “When you do research and find up to 25,000 people abusing the system, it’s concerning,” he said.

Buchanan told SRQ that the broad bipartisan support for the legislation showed the need for greater scrutiny of those self-reporting assets and income before moving in to public housing. “A lot of Democrats are concerned about any cuts to housing,” the Republican congressman conceded, “but this makes sense because there are many people waiting in line and deserving of the subsidized because there are a lot of people there who shouldn’t be.” 

The amendment offered by Buchanan was inspired by an Inspector General’s audit of the Department of Housing and Urban Development that discovered thousands of instances of fraud taking place each year, including 25,226 families whose income exceeded eligibility requirements, and of then 17,761 that had enjoyed that excessive income for more than a year. In the most egregious instance, a tenant in Nebraska lived in subsidized housing despite having $1.6 million in assets and an annual income of more than $67,000. "We estimate that HUD will pay $104.4 million over the next year for public housing units occupied by overincome families that otherwise could have been used to house low-income families," reads the audit.

Buchanan represents parts of Sarasota and Manatee counties and spoke with housing authority officials locally about the issue. He learned officials feel somewhat powerless right now to stop abuse. Officials, Buchanan said, were enthusiastic about this legislation. “It gives them more tools,” he said. “Now, they just have to go on the honor system.” 

William Russell, president and CEO for the Sarasota Housing Authority said the legislation will “improve the accuracy and integrity of the programs and help ensure that the right amount of benefits are going to help the intended recipients.” Rob Rogers, executive director of the Manatee County Housing Authority, echoed that support. “Anything to reduce the burden on families, improve our administrative efficiency of the program and minimize the risk of waste, fraud and abuse is welcomed,” he said. 

The bill awaits action in the U.S. Senate.