maintenance for those who need it most for growing families. Empty and boarded-up homes contribute to the early deterioration of any neighborhood or area regardless of the type of housing located in that area or neighborhood.

Abandoned houses provide places for criminal elements to meet, to store stolen property, and to execute the sale of dangerous drugs. They provide an open invitation to street prostitution, an invitation to firebugs, and always an open invitation to vandals and all aspects of vandalism. In addition, they present safety hazards for small children as well as health hazards as a result of their being breeding grounds for rodents and other pests. Usually houses which are abandoned are on weed-infested property which is extremely susceptable to fire which could cause widespread damage.

According to the 1970 Census, the vacancy rate in Compton was 5.3 percent. With the vacancy factor on the increase within the past 24 months, a large percentage of those vacancies have been boarded up. Many others have been abandoned by absentee landlords, because bringing them up to code and making them liveable has proven to be very costly. The factors surrounding this situation are not accidental. They stem from several causes:

First: Inadequate floor-space for the previous occupants.
Second: Inability to meet current mortgage payments.
Third: Desire to relocate in a new community.

Economics has play a part in all three of the above factors. The suggestions in S. 1988 dealing with economic factors seem to be workable ones. They have merit in several areas. Most greatly, in regard to the fact that they provide:

One: A vehicle through which adequate housing can be provided

for those who desire it.

Two: Educational value through the proposed corporate structure. Three: Ample provisions for lay input.

Four: A viable mechanism by which Government redtape can be

cut.

Five: Meaningful employment of the skilled trades that is very necessary to facilitate and bring about a change in the housing situation as it exists in Compton and other southern California communities.

Six: Not only remodeling, but also suggests and includes the demolition of housing that would be too costly to remodel (i.e., one- and two-bedroom frame and stucco cottages and one- and two-bedroom bachelor-type apartments). There is additional merit in the plan, as proposed, in that it permits and encourages new land use.

It is generally known that where there is an adequate standard of housing, the vacancy factor is always low, and the investor is almost always guaranteed returns on his investment. The corporate structure, as proposed, seems to be sound, workable, as well as within the grasp of lay people.

With the present backlog of vacant houses now held by HUD, the VA, and FHA, which now meet present construction codes, and with these Government entities finding it very difficult to dispose of these large inventories that they now hold, the Abandonment Disaster

Demonstration Relief Act, if enacted as proposed, will restore adequate housing to the housing market. The proposed financial arrangements are good, seemingly sound and within the reach of those who need housing most and who have the least amount of money with which to purchase such housing.

In summary, special attention is drawn to paragraphs 2, 4, and 6. We feel confident that the bodies that must approve S. 1988 will find no reason to delay or disapprove S. 1988.

Thank you.

Senator CRANSTON. Thank you very, very much, and that explanation of the length of time between abandonment and crime is particularly helpful to us. I'm grateful to you for that.

I will ask these questions of whomever chooses to answer; and if somebody wants to supplement or contradict the answer of whomever speaks first, please don't hesitate to do so.

What do you think of the "as-is sales program"? How does that work out when homes are turned over to people without any repairs being done?

Mr. DOTSON. What do we think of it?

Senator CRANSTON. Yes. What do you think of the HUD "as-is sale program" where a home is not renovated at all but disposed of and somebody takes it over in the vandalized condition?

Mr. DOTSON. I think this only has merit in that the person it is turned over to is financially able to bring it up to code. It doesn't mean much just to turn over an abandoned house to someone who may not be able to bring it up to code, nor is interested in living there, other than to enjoy the benefits of maybe what loans might be acquired from it.

Senator CRANSTON. Isn't that just a way of reducing inventory without really exercising any responsibility?

Mr. DOTSON. That is one way of reducing inventory, yes.

Mr. SALZMAN. Mr. Dotson is accurate, because if you turned over a home, you'll find in many abandoned areas that the people that may move in do not have the financial capacity to bring it up to codes; and, therefore, they might be residing in housing that was neither decent, safe, nor sanitary.

Senator CRANSTON. Do you think that the "as-is program" ought to be abolished, or should it be revised, or what should we do about it?

Mr. SALZMAN. I think it depends on the location. In some areas the "as-is program" could work because you find people with higher incomes that might buy it and live where they are living and not move right in until it has been fixed up.

Mr. DOTSON, I would like to respond to that, also.

The "as-is program" is attractive only to those who wish to renovate property, but those who wish to just occupy for a short length of time, then the "as-is program" has very little value from my point of view.

Senator CRANSTON. Have you found any programs that work in terms of finding out about a home that is abandoned and taking care of it until it's reoccupied?

Mr. DOTSON. We have in Compton recently begun what we call the "block club" situation, which is a part of NEA's protection, and it's just new in its efforts.

One of the things that the block club has taken into consideration is the fact that aside from reporting crime, it is to do something about the abandoned houses that suddenly turn up in certain neighborhoods.

Senator CRANSTON. Do they report the moment a house is empty? Mr. DOTSON. In most cases, yes.

Senator CRANSTON. Then what happens when you find out that is the case?

Mr. DOTSON. Well, one of the things so that the house will not be vandalized, it is required that the owner board the house up, and this all the time does not make it attractive to the neighborhood, but it's required so that they are not a place for vandalism so the house is required to be boarded up.

Senator CRANSTON. Wouldn't it be possible to get somebody in there immediately as a caretaker instead of boarding it up?

Mr. DOTSON. Yes.

Mr. SALZMAN. Actually, we have been experimenting with kind of a screen and lexan that would prevent entry into the building and still would not reduce the appearance of the building to where people knew it was empty and could try to break in some other way, and it would not detract from the appearance of the neighborhood.

Senator CRANSTON. What kind of preventive measure is this? Mr. SALZMAN. It's a screening device with an unbreakable kind of glass behind it known as lexan. This, of course, is much more attractive so it doesn't deter from the expense of the neighborhood. Senator CRANSTON. How expensive are those?

Mr. SALZMAN. It's less expensive than board-up, because the boarding up has the labor problem involved in that.

Senator CRANSTON. What is the problem in its implementation? Mr. SALZMAN. We are experimenting with it now in terms of using it in some of the public housing projects.

Senator CRANSTON. What is the cost of installing one?

Mr. SALZMAN. We don't know yet. We are going out to bid now; and the way it shapes up, it looks like it's a lot cheaper than having a carpenter go out and put together a boarding-up system.

Senator CRANSTON. Could you find out the cost to use this system on a house and submit it for the record within 3 weeks?

Mr. SALZMAN. Yes, definitely.

Senator CRANSTON. Could you tell me the average cost to board up a home?

Mr. SALZMAN. No, because we know in our own experience that it's the labor and time you take. When you get a carpenter, his wages are fairly high, and they have got to go out there. Unless it's a standard window, then, it's easier because you have everything prepared, and you can have screens made up in advance, also, for a standard window.

Senator CRANSTON. Well, could you also submit for the record your estimate of the cost of actually boarding up a home?

Mr. SALZMAN. Yes.

71-509-7611

Senator CRANSTON. Mr. Fertig, please join us.

Mr. FERTIG. Thank you, Senator. I apologize for being late; I was tied up elsewhere.

I do have some testimony that I don't want to dwell on because I can submit that for the record.

Senator CRANSTON. If you could summarize, it would be greatly appreciated.

Mr. FERTIG. I can summarize quickly.

Senator CRANSTON. You can then submit for the record your formal

statement.

Mr. FERTIG. Thank you.

Senator CRANSTON. Go right ahead.

STATEMENT OF RALPH D. FERTIG, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, LOS ANGLES COMMUNITY ACTION AGENCY

Mr. FERTIG. In quick summary, our major thrust, as the Greater Los Angeles Community Action Agency, would draw upon the fact that the abandoned housing about which you're concerned, really draws upon a heritage of government policies and private real estate policies that have left the poor-and particularly those in the structures to which you refer in situations without the infrastructure, without the services or the support of the community entities that make for a good neighborhood living and a good life; but for the most part, if people had any choices at all, they would not live in the housing that was encouraged through some of these programs.

To a very large extent, again summarizing from this testimony, the private real estate market has not responded to the needs of the poor. The poor have no effective market demand on housing, as of course you well know, neither in the development of it nor in the maintenance of it, and government programs and subsidies have been the only thing that put any kind of capital investment into the private sector into the housing for the poor.

Other programs have discouraged the maintenance of those properties-accelerated depreciation, renewal efforts, the fact that most of this housing is constructed in the center of the city and to a very large extent the land value quickly increased over the value of the properties themselves, leading to a discouragement to the maintenance of some of these properties; that and the private real estate ventures-you know full well, Senator, the ripoff of buying up houses, making cosmetic improvements, and selling them at profits to the poor have led much to the current nightmare.

We felt in your legislation, sir, some ray of hope and some opportunity to begin to deal with some of those concerns, but we wanted to suggest a couple of amendments for your consideration.

One of these draws from the fact that because neither the government nor the private real estate industry have been in the position to do more than the government's part has been really to focus on determining eligibility, staying in the black, housing managers have to weed out those among the residents who are in fact most able to take care of themselves and are most mobile-I mean, in favor of those who are most mobile, and we now know are least able to pay; those who are most poor; those who are most in need of help.

The private real estate, as I have stated, could only respond in terms of profit incentives. There is no profit to be made from the housing of the poor.

We would argue very strongly that there is a need, rather than turning to either government or the private real estate market, to intergrate more fully the agencies of the community action fabric that would work together in the residents that would relate them to the larger community, social and economic needs, that would try to build some of that infrastructure that would take more and fuller responsibility.

We would urge that three of the additional directors of the board of the National Protection Corp. be nominated for appointment by the President of the United States by the community action agencies, which have the largest blocks of properties that would be affected by this legislation.

We would also urge that you establish a community-based body to oversee the operations of the field offices to protect the interest of the poor; that body could encourage the development of community firms. It would be giving investments to the communities themselves to manage the properties, and we would urge that actual ownership of the land be maintained by the government entities to guarantee the maintenance of the properties be consistent with the appropriate standards and to discourage speculators who have in the past victimized both the government and the poor. We would think that such a body could thwart abuses by realtors, developers, and investment firms that have resulted in the 5,871 units reverting from private ownership to HUD, and the 2,588 to the Veterans' Administration.

A third suggestion, Senator, would be that the community action agencies in the target areas should review local plans submitted for the rehabilitation and disposition of housing units to see how they could be intergrated into this larger fabric of day care services, manpower services, development services, senior citizen services-the whole gamut of what goes into making an area a viable community. We would especially stress that extra weight should be given to plans which have been developed by groups whose working members and constituents include those who would be affected by the program, whether you'd draw upon a community action agency or local government. It is less important, I think, than the concept of the participation of those who are to be affected by the programs.

Having said that-that's part of the written testimony or a summary of it-Senator, I wanted to add another very, very urgent note. You know of almost 9,000 abandoned units here in Los Angeles, and we would urge that you would use your influence, sir, to provide some immediate shelter in those units.

I listened with some real horror at the notion that we can board up these units, when I know that there are thousands and thousands and thousands of people being held in institutions and in camps and in detention centers because they have no other place to go.

[The statement of Mr. Fertig follows:]

STATEMENT OF RALPH D. FERTIG, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, GREATER LOS ANGELES COMMUNITY ACTION AGENCY

One needs the basics for sheer survival-food, clothing, shelter-but it is housing above all which determines one's choices and changes. And it is hous