The Sun Sentinel examined federal housing subsidy data from housing authorities in Broward and Palm Beach counties and found 230 homes commanding rents of $2,000 or more, up to $3,375 a month, from Section 8 families. Typically, tenants pay about one-third of their income toward the rent and the government pays the rest.
FL-High-HUD-Rentals…This large home in a gated community in Coral Springs
Here’s an odd side effect of South Florida’s foreclosure crisis: Some immense homes with pools and three-car garages in gated communities are being rented out to unlikely tenants — poor people paying with Section 8 aid.
Among the properties are homes with up to 4,500 square feet of space in private communities with guardhouses and regal names such as “Monarch Lakes” and “Bellagio at Vizcaya.”
Some of the owners are teetering on foreclosure and gambling they can earn enough money from the federal housing vouchers to stave off the banks. Others bought the properties cheap in foreclosure auctions and want the guaranteed rental income.
Housing advocates and the government view the turnabout as a win-win for homeowners and the poor, who have access to safer communities and better schools.
But some neighbors are aghast.
After a single mother and her nine children rented a house in the exclusive Isles neighborhood of Coral Springs, the homeowners association adopted an amendment to its governing documents stating: “No Section 8 or government leasing assistance is permitted.”
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