Housing Board Oks Rejection

At the request of Mayor Robert J. Harris, the Housing Commission held a special meeting last night for the purpose of considering whether public housing should be provided for an applicant whose income reportedly exceeds the limit set by the federal Housing Assistance Administrr.tion (HAA) for admission to public housing in Ann Arbor. Commissioners upheld a decisión by Housing Director M r s. Joseph D. Mhoon rejecting the a-pplication and assigning the next vacancy in local public housing to another applicant. Neither the rejected nor the accepted applicant was present. Commission V i c e Chairman Mrs. Flora L. Cherot voiced dissatisfaction with Mrs.. Mhoon's investigation of the case and with the commission's endorsement of Mrs. Mhoon's decisión. Commission Chairman Lyndon Weich replied that if Mrs. Cherot wishes preference for the rejected applicant, she is in effect seeking "a new policy" reg a r d i n g admission to public housing. The case that was reviewed last night has several complexities. Mrs. Mhoon said the rejected applicant is a former tenant of a privately owned house that was leased until recently by the Housing Commission, but was cvicted because the owner èxercised his option of not renew-l ing the lease. She added that if the owner had continued the lease, the tenant would have been given six months notice to vacate to provide room for an applicant qualified for public housing according to HAA in-j come limits, aññ aíter six months would have received rent raises to reflect her income. Mrs. Mhoon also said uncertainty exists as to whether the rejected applicant wishes to claim three or five children. However, she added, the applicant's c u r r e n t income exceeds HAA limits for public housing in either case. HAA's income limits for admission to public housing in Ann Arbor are $5,700 for a family of six and $5,100 for a family of four, Mrs. Mhoon explained. She said the rejected applicant's employer reports paying an income of $7,720, not counting possible overtime. She added that the applicant she has accepted is a woman with three children and an income of $4,280. ín endorsing Mrs. Mhoon's decisión, commissioners instructed her to ' inform the rejected applicant of the pending availability of an apartment in a house at 611 Gott owned by Ann Arbor Independent Housing Inc., an agency of the Council of Churches. That private agency owns several houses in Ann Arbor, and has leased some units to the Housing Commission in cases where occupants' income feil within HAA limits.