Voucher program Short Changing poor, study says

 Nearly 52,000 families could be forced to pay more rent because housing agencies are short $93 million to pay for a voucher program that helps primarily poor Americans, a group of housing officials says. And complicated Section 8 housing voucher guidelines prevent some $300 million in surpluses from being used to bridge the shortfall, according to a study by the National Association of Housing and Redevelopment Officials. The money would be returned to the U.S. Treasury instead of being sent to housing agencies in a deficit, the study said. ''The biggest concern is that there is a precipitous drop in the ability to serve low-income households around the country,'' the association's executive director, Saul Ramirez, said Tuesday in Baltimore, where the group was holding its annual conference. The organization counts nearly 3,000 housing and community development agencies as members. Housing and Urban Development authorities disputed that, saying no money has been returned to the Treasury this year and that any surpluses could not be totaled up until fall 2005 because housing agencies go by different fiscal year periods. [more ]