MILWAUKEE, Wis. — The Housing Authority of the City of Milwaukee (HACM) is in hot water again. This time, for not paying its portion of rent for hundreds of tenants in the Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher Program, leaving both renters and landlords in financial limbo.
TMJ4's Jenna Rae has been investigating HACM for years. A tenant on a Section 8 voucher, Crystal Brame, called our newsroom asking for help after she said HACM hadn't paid its portion of rent in months.
Brame's been on a voucher for a little over a year now. Her lease was set to be renewed in June.
"I had did the recertification way back in March. Got the confirmation that it's completed, got another confirmation email, everything was good on my end, but then it went dormant," Brame said.
After waiting months for her new lease and contract, Brame discovered HACM was not paying its portion of the rent.
HACM is responsible for the city's Section 8 housing voucher program. Nearly two years ago, the federal government forced HACM to outsource its Section 8 program due to the agency mismanaging funds and deemed the program "troubled."
In January, CVR Associates took over Section 8 operations. Ten months later, residents, landlords and HACM employees say the situation has worsened.
Scott Cimbalnik, owner of SAC Investments, has owned and operated properties across the region for three decades and has had hundreds of tenants on Section 8 vouchers.
"This is the most delinquent I've ever seen the Section 8 program," Cimbalnik said.
HACM currently owes Cimbalnik about $10,000 in unpaid rent.
"We still have utilities, we still have mortgages, it's basically unacceptable. This extent of inefficiency and delay is simply unacceptable," Cimbalnik explained.
Watch: Milwaukee's Housing Authority failing to pay rent for 500 'Section 8' tenants
Tenants and landlords are not only waiting on rent payments, but also on lease renewals that are months behind schedule.
"The common story that we hear from the residents, which we believe is, 'don't worry, you just pay your portion of the rent, the owner cannot evict you, and we're processing the file'," Cimbalnik said.
Over the phone, HACM's chief operating officer confirmed there are 500 individual households that are behind on rent, meaning the city hasn't paid their portion of rent for 500 people on Section 8 vouchers.
In a statement, HACM said during its review of the Section 8 program as required by the federal government, the condition of the program's files were found to be "significantly worse than anticipated" and "required corrections to address multi-year errors."
Here's HACM's statement in full:
As CVR began conducting the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD)-required 100% participant file review, the condition of the program’s files was found to be significantly worse than anticipated. This required extensive corrections to address multi-year errors, resulting in delays in processing recertifications. To mitigate these delays and ensure continuity of rent assistance payments, HACM and CVR have revised their processes for managing both late and current recertifications. Earlier this year, a three-month grace period was added to the standard recertification deadline to help accommodate the review process. Following extensive cleanup work and careful planning, the grace period has now been extended to six months after the recertification deadline. This extension is designed to protect both landlords and families receiving vouchers from being adversely affected by prior errors, while providing additional time to bring all past-due recertifications current. HACM remains committed to restoring timely service, maintaining landlord participation, and ensuring that families receiving rental assistance do not face disruptions to their housing. These efforts reflect HACM’s accountability to voucher holders, landlords, and the community as we work to stabilize HACM’s Section 8 program.
"We're tired of being patient," Cimbalnik said.
"Crystal, why was it important for you to talk with me," Rae asked.
"Because it was falling upon deaf ears to me. If I don't help myself, perhaps some other progress will come out of this for someone else," Brame responded.
This story was reported on-air by Jenna Rae and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
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