The previous CEO of the Mesa Glen Housing Authority and its board were concerned about the growing wait-list for the voucher program. To
help increase the number of vouchers available, the Authority dropped the payment standard to 85 percent of the HUD Fair Market value. As a
result, the Authority could afford more vouchers because the subsidy cost per unit dropped. However, over time, the Authority found that
they had fewer landlords willing to participate in the program, and more and more of the units were in high-crime neighborhoods of Mesa
Glen. The Authority was also failing more Housing Quality Standard inspections. The wait-lists decreased, but they found that more families
weren’t actually being housed.