Santa Clara County housing assistance hard to get; vouchers a ‘dead end street’

When the city evicted a group of tenants from a cluster of mobile homes in south San Jose, Santa Clara County put them up in a hotel within a day. Getting this treatment doesn’t come easy, though—you pretty much need to have your house condemned.

That’s what happened to several individuals who lost their homes overnight after inspectors from San Jose’s code enforcement department deemed their units uninhabitable and dangerous because of exposed electrical wires, extension cords used as permanent wiring and propane tanks feeding gas into the homes. After the eviction, the county put two families in a hotel where they have housing for the next month.