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I dated a woman for a number of years. She lived in Section 8 Housing (Taino Towers in NYC/Harlem) and still does. While with her, I learned a number of ways Section 8 and Food Stamps (SNAP) and WIC and welfare are defrauded from her, her family and her friends.Just judging from Taino Towers, at LEAST 30% of residents are involved in some type of fraud and feel entitled to it. The program at Taino provides rent and utilities for one monthly fee, which is based on your income. You HAVE to have at least a minimum income to cover the minim rent of $217/month (at last I knew in 2015).Fraud Methods:Work off the books. Report weekly income of $50 for “babysitting”. This covers the minimum rent and entitles you to the EIC when you file your false tax return.Typically, the woman would have the lease. Move a boyfriend in. He is NOT on the lease and his income not included in the subsidy calculation. (My ex used to call it “Musical apartments”). A guy finds a girl with a job and benefits and moves in with her. When he gets tired of her, he starts cheating with someone else with an Section 8 lease in the building. He either gets caught, or dumps her and moves in with the next woman. All the while sponging off the woman and Section 8.Rent out your couch or a spare bedroom for cash to cover your rent and don’t declare it.Use fake w-2’s and 1040’s to keep your rent lowMove people in that are not on the lease and so not included in the subsidy calculation (Such as a boyfriend/girlfriend.Put people on the lease (A grandchild) who does not live there to get an extra bedroom to rent out.Management: Take bribes ($5k-10k depending on the size of the apartment) to move people up the list. If you have 50 open apartments, print out the letters to people on the waiting list to let them know they have an apartment available. Print the envelopes and postage meter the letters and shred/dispose of 30 or so. This get’s no response and everyone moves up the list. Keep this up until the person who bribed you is next in line. Takes 6–12 month.Go to a local bodega that accepts SNAP/Food Stamps and does not have a POS system, just a regular register. They will sell you anything, including alcohol, cigarettes and blunt wrappers on your card.Sell your SNAP dollars for $0.50 on the dollar. I can’t even count the number of times I was on line at Pathmark and people were using multiple SNAP cards to pay for groceries.If this is indicative of all the 650,706 subsidized apartments in NYC, then there are millions being defrauded and people stuck in shelters waiting while lifetime, lifestyle criminals have big apartments that should not.EDIT: This is my personal ANECDOTAL experience of EXAMPLE within the circle my ex moved in. It included people in Taino and other complexes and “Walking Section 8”.

It is generally impossible to build brand-new lower income apartments.The cost of development will be roughly the same no matter which segment of the market is targeted.Since we are considering three different uses (low, middle, high income apartments) for the same plot of land, the price of land will be the same. To an approximation, the labor, materials, and entitlement will in the same ballpark too.The land is appraised according to its “highest and best use”, which effectively means that if the parcel is zoned only for apartments then the land is priced assuming the nicest apartment building the market supports will be built upon it.So the cost of development for each scenario builds in the assumption that the developer will build the nicest apartments possible. If the developer chooses to build lower-end apartments, the value of the completed development is at risk of ending up lower than the cost of the development itself. This would mean that the developer has lost money for themselves and their investors.No developer who has investors and wants to remain in the business would choose a path that does not maximize returns and chance of success. So the low-income housing will not get build.So how does low-income housing get built?By fiat. Some municipalities have developed programs whereby developers are required to allocate a portion of their market rate / luxury building to tenants at lower income levels.By changing the economics. Various programs and incentives are available to make it possible to build affordable housing. They may take the form of tax credits, lower cost of capital, contributed land, etc and can tilt the pendulum in favor of building for the affordable segment.By building high-end apartment buildings. Over time, what was high-end becomes low-end. Think about an old, low-income apartment community. It was top-of-the-line when it was built, but now it’s just … old.Luxury apartment renters today want larger rooms, more open floor plans, common areas lush with amenities like fitness centers, etc. This older apartment community no longer meets the needs of the luxury segment. But at the end of the day, it provides a perfectly fine roof over one’s head.This is how high-end becomes low-end over time, and this is why if we want low-income housing in 2048 we might consider building luxury apartments today.

I bought a one way ticket to Hawaii and arrived on January 9th, 2015. I knew one person, and I only had $3,300 to my name. I did not have a car. I did not have a job. To top that off, the friend that let me stay with him told me I had to figure it out and stay somewhere else after only 2 weeks of living with him.Since I had moved to Oahu, there were plenty of job opportunities and public transportation available. I rented and shared a room with another person in a low income housing situation in a bad area. I went on job interview after job interview with no success for 2 months; mainly because employers here are afraid that somebody new to the island won’t be around in 6 months to a year. I finally met a person who got me into a construction gig. It was hard work, and my living situation was a little rough.At one point, I wondered why I made the move. But I felt like it was the universe asking me what I was willing to do to stay. I kept my head up and kept a good attitude. I got down to my last $50 by the time I received my first paycheck. With my first paycheck, I bought a moped and got off of the bus system. With my next check I moved into my own apartment.Eventually, I landed a pretty decent job with an amazing company and I bought a car. Then I moved to Big Island with my company. I literally grew into the next version of myself while living and operating on the beautiful Big Island of Hawaii. I spent over two years on Big Island, and now I’m back on Oahu and my life is better than it has ever been. I couldn’t have ever planned it this well.I am leaving out thousands of amazing circumstances, experiences, life connections, and spiritual events that shaped the person I am becoming because I live and operate in Hawaii. My experience(s) here has baffled me to the point that I still swell up with an overwhelming sense of gratitude for this part of my life. The bottom line is that I leaped with faith, put in the work, I dealt with some really uncomfortable circumstances and powered through… and ultimately it worked out and I have supported myself as a single person in Hawaii, and I am living a life I never dreamed I could live.They say the islands either accept you or reject you. I agree with that. Check your ego at the door. Come in with an open mind and an open heart. Remember that even though you live here, you will always be a visitor to the locals. Be honest, keep your integrity, look people in the eyes, remember to smile, donate your time and energy in the spirit of service, and never, NEVER burn your bridges.Aloha!