Ben Carson Wants To Raise Rent For Americans Receiving Federal Housing

Ben Carson Proposes Tripling Rent For Low Income Housing Recipients

Ben Carson is trying to push a new Trump administration proposal that could leave millions in public housing with higher rent payments and fewer income deductions in an effort to “improve” the current system.

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The Department of Housing and Urban Development is requesting a five percent increase in rent paid by public housing residents. Instead of the current 30 percent, the department and its secretary Ben Carson wants to increase to 35 percent in an attempt to revamp an “archaic system that discourages its residents from trying to help themselves.”

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If successful, Carson’s plan would affect about half of the 4.7 million families on housing benefits and leave families being forced to hand over 35 percent of their gross income for rent or 35 percent of their earnings working 15 hours a week at minimum wage. With this, the cap on rent would go from the monthly payment of $50 to about $150.

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“The system we currently use to calculate a family’s rental assistance is broken and holds back the very people we’re supposed to be helping,” Carson said on Wednesday. “HUD-assisted households are now required to surrender a long list of personal information, and any new income they earn is ‘taxed’ every year in the form of a rent increase. Today, we begin a necessary conversation about how we can provide meaningful, dignified assistance to those we serve without hurting them at the same time.”

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