Scumbag landlords - taking rent aid to the poor and not paying city taxes

[EastsideAl]

Why is the state paying anyone's rent, let alone lots of people's rent?

Ummmm... oh I don't know, perhaps because there are lots of poor families in Detroit, Michigan, and the USA who cannot fully afford prevailing rents and may otherwise be left homeless?

The Housing Choice Voucher Program is actually a federal program administered by HUD, with money granted to programs established in each state. It was set up as a way to move away from public housing, Section 8 direct payments, and homeless shelters, and towards a needs- and choice-based private market approach to housing problems.

This means that prospective tenants apply for and are granted a certain voucher subsidy amount, and then must seek out and arrange their own housing from private landlords. The voucher subsidy for some percentage of the rent [[which is based on tenant income and the market-level rent) is then paid to the landlord. The idea was conceived as a market- and choice-based solution for housing similar to school choice voucher programs.

Of course, the program is supposed to be managed at the state level to prevent the kind of fraud and abuse that apparently happened here.