Evidence of a continued recession and the ongoing fallout of MI foreclosures was manifest in a recent, unexpected turn of events at an apartment complex in Melvindale. Over ten thousand applicants arrived at Coogan Terrace last week, a complex which qualifies for the Housing Choice Voucher Program, also known as Section 8. This 199-unit high-rise is a public housing establishment available to those 62 years or older or who are low income and are handicapped on Social Security disability.
The Housing Commission of the US Department of Housing and Urban Development requires a waiting list of 100 people. Due to a decline in the list, the commission announced it was accepting resident applications. However, the discommodious nature of the turnout was thought to be promulgated by the use of social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter, where news of the announcement spread very quickly.
The high rate of unemployment coupled with an increase in MI foreclosures due to the subprime banking collapse is likely to have attributed to the overwhelming number of people who showed up with hopes of qualifying for a spot on the list.
The employees at Coogan Terrace have a very big job to undertake in order to sort through the enormous amount of paperwork set before them. Housing director Theresa Kirk stated it may be summertime to get all of the applications entered into the system and jokingly admitted, “We should be good for the next 20 years.”
Until we see consistent declines in unemployment and MI foreclosures, the scenario which was played out above will unlikely be the first or only event of its kind to have occurred, nor the last for that matter, for some time to come.