Housing vouchers can save people from homelessness. But landlords may not accept them
LOS ANGELES - When Kimberly Dominique received her Section 8 voucher in September, she thought it was the ticket to move out of the Ford Focus she and her 29-year-old son called home.
But Dominique, a 66-year-old stroke survivor, spent months contacting one apartment complex after another in Oceanside, Calif., only to have landlords reject the voucher, which can provide hundreds of dollars toward a rent payment.
One day, Dominique estimated, she called more than 70 landlords. Those who answered or bothered to call back all had the same answer: No.
"It's taken its toll," Dominique said late last year, noting that she'd lost weight and grown increasingly depressed as her voucher neared expiration.
"Sometimes, I feel like I'm losing hope," said Dominique's son, Dion.
In California, more than half of tenants struggle with unaffordable rent. Tens of thousands bed down on the streets at night. Vouchers are one of the federal government's most powerful weapons to fight both problems, but low-income households can wait more than 10 years just to get one - and, increasingly, they can't find a landlord willing to take it.
Experts say landlords
