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Old 06-08-2015, 11:21 PM
 
135 posts, read 257,320 times
Reputation: 158

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Quote:
I don't even see the point if asking about late payment history because they will lie about it too. I doubt they will say great tenant but late with rent. But I also pretty much ignore the current LL reference and personal references. But a credit/background check is more than calling a past LL. I do call them just as a formality. Still that doesn't mean I won't run BG/credit checks. I also call for employment reference by calling the receptionist and HR.
In this economy, bad credit does not necessarily mean a bad tenant. I lost my job in 2008 because the place I was working decided to fire all the FT people and replace them with PT people who didn't get benefits. Being over 50, I couldn't find another job (this story is all to common). I spent all my savings trying to hold onto my house, but failed. So I was left with bad credit, no house, no car, nothing but headache after headache. I haven't changed. I'm still the same person I was when I had a FT job with benefits, owned a home and had savings. How on earth do I prove that to people when all they see is something from my past that I had very little control over?

Now that I'm on my feet as far as income goes, I still can't get past that. Now that I'm forced to live in a bad neighborhood, that's another strike against me, because landlords treat me like I'm going to steal the fixtures out of the apartment or something.

I have one excellent housing reference where I lived for 2-1/2 years, but that doesn't count because my landlord chooses to say nasty things about me out of revenge for forcing him to repair code violations.

The thing about landlords is that they don't see people anymore, they see credit scores and former addresses and that is all in the PAST. I feel like I just got out of prison and nobody wants me in their back yard, only, I don't even HAVE a criminal record. They just make me feel like I do. They make me feel like scum because some greedy corporation decided to ruin my life by firing me and replacing me with two 20-year-old part-time employees.
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Old 06-08-2015, 11:26 PM
 
8,093 posts, read 3,417,773 times
Reputation: 5609
Quote:
Originally Posted by kassie99 View Post
It's not the apartment itself, it's the rejection and being made to feel like crap after fighting so hard to hold it together for the worst 5 years of my life. And no, another one might not come along, especially not in that location, and not that I can afford. I just get so tired of being made to feel unworthy and having to live in crappy places. I'm a good tenant, but I refuse to live in filth and unsanitary/unhealthy conditions or have a landlord who takes 4 months to make repairs just to get a good reference. No one should have to do that.

Last year a woman turned me down for an apartment because I didn't own a car. I kid you not. What kind of person does that?
I totally understand. I've been homeless many times. I have low income because I'm disabled. SSI only pays $733/mo. and most landlords want you to make 3x the rent. The places that do rent to me know I am desperate and that they can treat me like garbage all they want. The place I lived before here had something messed up with the tub/shower where the water was going into the wall and the tub had shifted to where it couldn't even drain. The water shorted out electric outlets in the bedroom where it was up near the wall nearest the bathroom and the light bulbs would continuously blow out. The a/c worked, but the outlet was along the wall so it would throw a breaker every time you turned it on. And the place was completely infested with roaches. They were everywhere. But when I'd moved in the place the wiring wasn't so noticeable and I'd been homeless for several months so I wanted a roof over my head in time for winter. No one else was willing to rent to me.

Landlord did nothing to fix any of it, and I started mentioning it few weeks after I moved in.

Before then I was in a basement apartment that flooded every time it rained because the landlord wouldn't fix the sump pump. The first time it flooded really bad and the water kept rising. The whole downtown area had flooding and a guy in a basement apartment few blocks away almost drowned. The windows on my apartment were made so you couldn't even get out of them. A neighbor across the street saw me struggle with the door and came over to help me. Then after all my stuff got destroyed after first time the landlord was going to evict me because my place was messy from it flooding. Seriously! I didn't want to be there anyway since it flooded twice more after that in just a month, so I moved my stuff I could salvage to a shed and was homeless. I had even paid rent before it flooded, so I didn't have money for another place anyway.

Low income renters are treated like scum much of the time. The landlords just look at my income and not my rental history where I paid my rent all the time on time and refused to rent to me. And you feel so powerless because you have no means to change your situation, especially when you're disabled and your life and health is unlikely to change. You do all you can with what you have and it's never good enough for anyone except for bad landlords that see you coming. Unless someone is in such a situation they can never truly understand what it's like.
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Old 06-09-2015, 02:40 AM
 
Location: West Virginia
13,916 posts, read 39,191,951 times
Reputation: 10254
You 2 need to re-locate. I don't know where you live but I never been treated like you describe. I too lost my house & so has my son we both disabled but only have my SSD to live off of.

You need also to look into apts that go by your income.
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Old 06-09-2015, 06:06 AM
 
135 posts, read 257,320 times
Reputation: 158
Quote:
Originally Posted by Katie1 View Post
You 2 need to re-locate. I don't know where you live but I never been treated like you describe. I too lost my house & so has my son we both disabled but only have my SSD to live off of.

You need also to look into apts that go by your income.
The low-income, Section 8 housing lists are closed here. Have been since 2009. It's the same in most parts of the country after the recession. So many people applied for assistance that they still don't have enough housing for them. I have a friend who has been waiting for a 3 BR for her and her kids since 2008, because there just aren't that many, and once someone gets one, they don't move. The lists open up shortly in some areas, but even if you get on the waiting list, it's a 3-5 year wait. Around here, no decent places take Section 8. Most of the Section 8 housing is infested with drugs and violence. Landlords won't take it because they've had too much trouble with Section 8 people. There are two places that are based on income, but only so much as you have to be below a certain income to qualify, but the rent doesn't get cheaper, and both of those are newer places with higher rent than I can pay.
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Old 06-09-2015, 06:45 AM
 
8,093 posts, read 3,417,773 times
Reputation: 5609
Quote:
Originally Posted by kassie99 View Post
The low-income, Section 8 housing lists are closed here. Have been since 2009. It's the same in most parts of the country after the recession. So many people applied for assistance that they still don't have enough housing for them. I have a friend who has been waiting for a 3 BR for her and her kids since 2008, because there just aren't that many, and once someone gets one, they don't move. The lists open up shortly in some areas, but even if you get on the waiting list, it's a 3-5 year wait. Around here, no decent places take Section 8. Most of the Section 8 housing is infested with drugs and violence. Landlords won't take it because they've had too much trouble with Section 8 people. There are two places that are based on income, but only so much as you have to be below a certain income to qualify, but the rent doesn't get cheaper, and both of those are newer places with higher rent than I can pay.
The waiting list around here is so long for subsidized housing that they started going by your credit scores/history. Of course mine really tanked after I lost my job and couldn't afford the bills anymore. They act like it's a sign of your character.
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Old 06-09-2015, 07:09 AM
 
Location: NC
6,032 posts, read 9,189,893 times
Reputation: 6378
To be honest you do sound like a high maintenance fussy tenant.... Complaining about the landlord moving a tree onto his property... WTH.

Maybe you need to find some other things to occupy your time?
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Old 06-09-2015, 07:41 AM
 
16,235 posts, read 25,147,660 times
Reputation: 27047
Contact your Senior Services Agency...Also call 211...Ask for Legal Services for Seniors and Disabled. There should be a state run agency....free legal aid for folks who are seniors and disabled......And if there is a State run Housing Authority....call all of them....Get connected to the right agency that will advocate for you....at other properties. Thanks for updating. These programs likely have websites usually if you can find a Senior Resources webpage for your county there will be links.....Or, often from your State home page.....
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Old 06-09-2015, 10:33 AM
 
16,235 posts, read 25,147,660 times
Reputation: 27047
I just saw this advertised on TV...HUD Fair Housing a place to possibly file a complaint...Evidently you might try to find help there for your situation....you should check it out. Fair Housing And Equal Opportunity
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Old 06-09-2015, 11:02 AM
 
Location: West Virginia
13,916 posts, read 39,191,951 times
Reputation: 10254
Don't get hung up on Section 8. There are Apts out there that have in-house HUD that go by your income. Sec 8 is NOT what you folks think it is! Sec 8 is for renting apts that are NOT low income. 90% of my neighbors pay Full Rent! Only a Few 10% of the apts are for low income & Sec 8 helps the tenant Pay for the rent. When they reach that 10% on tenants they Can turn Sec 8 folks away. Most likely you can get a apt geared towards h/c & elderly. Or apply for 1 bedroom apts in places that are HUD. Contact your Local HUD office & ask for the List of Places that except Section 8 THEN go thru the list ASK If they go by income. BUT watch out IF they are Tax Cr that's different than them having HUD. Pass them by. Go apply to places that Will go by your income.
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Old 06-09-2015, 01:39 PM
 
8,093 posts, read 3,417,773 times
Reputation: 5609
Quote:
Originally Posted by Katie1 View Post
Don't get hung up on Section 8. There are Apts out there that have in-house HUD that go by your income. Sec 8 is NOT what you folks think it is! Sec 8 is for renting apts that are NOT low income. 90% of my neighbors pay Full Rent! Only a Few 10% of the apts are for low income & Sec 8 helps the tenant Pay for the rent. When they reach that 10% on tenants they Can turn Sec 8 folks away. Most likely you can get a apt geared towards h/c & elderly. Or apply for 1 bedroom apts in places that are HUD. Contact your Local HUD office & ask for the List of Places that except Section 8 THEN go thru the list ASK If they go by income. BUT watch out IF they are Tax Cr that's different than them having HUD. Pass them by. Go apply to places that Will go by your income.
Oh yes, I meant HUD. I keep getting the two confused.
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