HVAC fire veterans struggle to find housing in Indiana

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — An accidental fire destroyed her hideout in downtown Indianapolis. Veterans and Families of Indiana is trying to get 48 homeless veterans back into housing.

Many landlords who do not accept housing subsidies do not provide housing to HVAF clients. The practice is completely legal in Indiana, and some housing advocates believe it is becoming more common.

When Marine Corps veteran and HVAF customer Dion Donnell moved to Indianapolis with his four children, he discovered that the same subsidies meant to help people find a home could actually hurt their chances of being accepted as renters. “It’s almost like you’re begging them. – Please accept me. I have a voucher. They don’t want to take risks.”

When a tenant uses a federal subsidy, the property must be inspected and meet minimum health and safety standards. If the landlord refuses to accept the voucher, he may refuse the basic maintenance of the apartment.

Emmy Hildebrand, CEO of HVAF Indiana, also notes that housing subsidies can be stigmatizing. “There is a huge bias against people using a voucher as a form of payment.”

Of the 48 veterans displaced by the October fire, 10 have housing vouchers and another nine are in the process of receiving them, Hildebrand said. So nearly half have the resources to pay rent, but in Indiana, landlords have the legal right to refuse a tenant’s ability to use subsidies as payment.

“Because they come with all sorts of negative beliefs,” Hildebrand said.

In 2015, the Indiana General Assembly passed law prohibiting any local government in the state from requiring landlords to accept subsidies as rent.

Amy Nelson, executive director of the Fair Housing Center of Central Indiana, said, “Most states have gone the other way by adding such protections, noting that this is a very vulnerable population that includes a number of veterans.”

Fair Housing Center conducted an audit in 2014, it was found that 82% of surveyed housing providers in Marion County refused to accept housing vouchers.

Nelson believes the situation has only gotten worse.

“Unfortunately, this pushes people back into poor areas with high crime rates where landlords rent to them,” Nelson said.

HVAF was collecting money for 48 displaced veterans, as well as hundreds of other clients who use its programs every month, while working to find properties and partners willing to accept veterans’ vouchers.

“But by far one of the biggest challenges is finding a landlord who will accept that voucher as payment,” Hildebrand said. “If we could easily do this, we could solve the crisis of half the veterans who lost their jobs in the fire.”