The Elizabethton Housing and Development Agency amended an administrative plan to limits the eligibility of applicants who have already had a lease for a federally funded house program terminated.
The EHDA board of directors unanimously approved an amendment for the Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher/Moderate Rehabilitation Program. The amendment makes anyone who has had a lease for a federally funded EHDA housing program terminated in the past three years from the application date ineligible for admittance.
In the EHDA, the public housing, Section 8 and mod-rehab housing programs are all federally funded.
EHDA Director Kelly Geagley said in the past applicants would have their lease terminated would apply for another program and again be receiving federally funded housing benefits.
“We can’t stop them from applying, but if the applicant, or anyone in the family that will be living there, has had a lease terminated in the past three years, they will not be eligible for the other programs,” Geagley said. “The lease termination would be a reason for the denial of the application.”
Geagley said the three-year time limit was the suggested time from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.
The board also approved giving the EHDA employees an additional day off during the upcoming holidays. Board member Larry Gobble made the motion to give the employees Jan. 2 in addition to the already scheduled Christmas and New Year’s days with the director’s approval.
“This is because of the outstanding work they do and many put in extra time beyond what it required of them,” Gobble said.