Why Landlords refuse rental housing to tenants on programs. (Wantagh: apartment, rentals)

[loribell38]

Since this similar topic on rental properties was being discussed in another thread that got off topic & this story came out today I will post this.

This is one MAJOR reason why no one wants a rooming house that houses lots of mentally ill people under the same one roof in their neighborhood.And they fight it. Especially on their block or next door. These homes are put in less desirable areas for a reason. And also why landlords often refuse to take someone on a program where the agency itself is responsible for housing these citizens. Have to keep other residents SAFE from others. As it becomes a LEGAL LIABILITY to them if a client that is Mentally Ill does something. So these agencies have their hands tied. As we well know it is documented that people with Schizophrenia can lose control of their mind & actions at any given time.

When people live in that type of housing they do for a REASON. These types of people can not just pick an apt like your average person can. These programs pretty much do not allow their clients to take any apt. They have to PLACE them from what we know.

We had a person inquire about one of our rentals this week. He was on one of these programs. He had to give US &the LL the contact info for his program for them to consider it. When we contacted his program that is when it was FULLY explained to us how it worked.And the lady there even told us she was sorry he wasted our time that they can not allow him to live in that type of rental. Legal liability was mentioned. And Insurance restrictions as well as many other obstacles.

The guy lived in one of those Group Homes for the Mentally Disabled & his lawyer even said (probably for his defense) that he has Schizophrenia. They did show the home & it is in Inwood.They said he was unemployed & on SS & probably needed the money. No surprise there as we know SS never pays much. But recipients should realize that little money is better than nothing.

Sad to see those homes with all those mentally disabled people unrelated to each other living under the same roof.I can see a few & having their own private bath & kitchen. But a bunch? They must drive each other mentally insane (no pun intended). Making themselves in worse Mental health than they were before. Probably in horrible conditions with no privacy in a SHARED space. How can anyone with these types of illnesses be mentally stable living like that?

I know for a fact there are a few homes similar to this one is N. Bellmore as well as in Wantagh. I do hear problems often from people we know that live near these homes. The residents are not as well Supervised as they are SUPPOSE to be 24/7. And the people that live in the area are constantly dealing with them roaming the streets at all hours. Complaints are always filed. It gets better in the short term for maybe a few days or weeks. Then the person or agency responsible for monitoring them slack off again. And the trouble starts up again.


Inwood man charged after allegedly stealing wallet in church

[nightcrawler]

I rad this post and it caught my interest. I live in Bath Beach Brooklyn, and been here for 30 years, give or take. I have seen "people" in the neighborhood, that seemed "off". For years, would just kid around and say it must be the water, ha ha ha...

Until one day me and my partner were in a different laundromat and one of these "people" came walking by, clearly, not "there", and we of course talked about it. The woman working at the laundromat told us there is a mental hospital only 6 blocks away.

It all made sense now, I never knew it. I found the block where she told me, and we later on drove by. Sad, horrifically sad......

But now they wander thru the neighborhood, mostly to them selves, ok fine....but every once and while one becomes irate, need I say more???....

A few year later my next door neighbor was pounding om my door, as we live on the top floor and said some woman is going up to the roof. I went up to the roof, stood near the door, and clear as day, she was there. I asked, what are doing up here?, she stated she was looking for an apartment, I said there are none, everyone here owns their apartment.

I left her standing there, and closed the door. (I wasn't taking any chances, or wanted any trouble.) She couldn't open if from the outside as there are no door knobs and can only be opened from inside. (for safety and fire escape)

I went down to my apartment, called police and in minutes, miraculously enough they came, found her climbing down the fire escape in the back of the building, as the front apts the fire escapes stop at the fourth floor.

This is why people don't want these facilities in their neighborhood, I have more stories, but you get the idea.

I did realize that the doors to our roof that say "alarm will sound", and obviously , it didn't............................................ .............


it does now.

[loribell38]

Oh I have our share of stories too. Once you experience living near (especially next to) residences like this you get to see everything up front & close. My friends in the area are trying to get place used for this purpose near to them finally shut down once a for all.

Every time they file a report (very often more so when weather is warmer) they fix everything & it is quiet. But only for a few days or sometimes if they are lucky a week or 2. Then the workers slack off. Vicious cycle.

But now they all put up great surveillance cameras & are gathering enough evidence to get it shut down once & for all. And they are close to success as they got a few politicians involved that are helping speed the process up & shut it down.

These types of residences do NOT belong in residential areas.We need MORE mental inpatient facilities to ease the burden for these people to live & be monitored 24/7. The way they are doing it is a waste of money as these people have no one watching them at all. Especially with kids around. They need to monitor these people 24/7 many times as you never know when they will fly off the handle.And hurt an innocent person. These people belong in areas where they are not permitted to just wander around free. Why keep waiting for something horrible to happen before they do something?


In a hospital type of surrounding at least they might have more staff actually there & forced to be on duty instead of slacking off. The workers need bosses & higher ups making sure they are actually doing job they are paid to do. In the SFH settings usually they have one main house manager that is suppose to live on site & monitor them 24/7. They seem to never be there.

It is a legal liability on their part if something happens. I know not ALL mentally ill people fall in the category of needing 24/7 supervision. But if they do & they live in places that are PAID to monitor them then they should be doing their jobs properly.

The people we know that have homes near them being used like this to house the mentally ill are saying they wander around at all hours. Completely unsupervised. Meanwhile it is more than likely our tax dollars that are paying for not just their care. But for their housing as well. So they don't like (no one would) their tax dollars paying to house & take care of people living in a home right near them. While those same people are destroying their quality of life. And keep them & their kids from being able to enjoy their properties they PAY for themselves. Ironic huh? Many times they have had residents walk up to them or even their kids & asked them for money or a "smoke". So they have had it.

That is where lawsuits are coming in next. As many said they are filing one if action is not taken & the home is not shut down & returned back into its normal SFH type. They have 2 lawyers on retainer from what we were told the other day. One person on the block was trying to sell her home. Buyers saw the house across the street & asked when they saw people wandering around strangely. Buyers keep noticing the home being used to house the mentally ill on the block & are walking away.

[nuts2uiam]

The issue of those suffering with a mental illness living "in community" came about as a direct result of Geraldo Rivera's exposé on Willowbrook. Once the atrocities of that type of institution were revealed a new plan needed to be put in place. The those in charge of the system then determined those they felt could live "in community" as opposed to the more unstable or violent individuals and thus group homes were born.

A neighborhood can fight them but will not win. Once can agree the need is great but NIMBY and now the hamster cage begins all over again. The other part of the equation is that Medicaid dollars are largely spent on the mentally ill and the money needed to properly supervise a group home is not available.

The combination of opioids and mentally ill are reaching critical mass.

[nightcrawler]

Originally Posted by nuts2uiam

The issue of those suffering with a mental illness living "in community" came about as a direct result of Geraldo Rivera's exposé on Willowbrook. Once the atrocities of that type of institution were revealed a new plan needed to be put in place. The those in charge of the system then determined those they felt could live "in community" as opposed to the more unstable or violent individuals and thus group homes were born.

A neighborhood can fight them but will not win. Once can agree the need is great but NIMBY and now the hamster cage begins all over again. The other part of the equation is that Medicaid dollars are largely spent on the mentally ill and the money needed to properly supervise a group home is not available.

The combination of opioids and mentally ill are reaching critical mass.

I was a kid living in staten island when geraldo rivera exposed willowbrook, but much further away.

I get it.......

[loribell38]

Originally Posted by nuts2uiam

The issue of those suffering with a mental illness living "in community" came about as a direct result of Geraldo Rivera's exposé on Willowbrook. Once the atrocities of that type of institution were revealed a new plan needed to be put in place. The those in charge of the system then determined those they felt could live "in community" as opposed to the more unstable or violent individuals and thus group homes were born.

A neighborhood can fight them but will not win. Once can agree the need is great but NIMBY and now the hamster cage begins all over again. The other part of the equation is that Medicaid dollars are largely spent on the mentally ill and the money needed to properly supervise a group home is not available.

The combination of opioids and mentally ill are reaching critical mass.

Oh they are getting paid & fully funded with Medicaid & Tax dollars. The people that are paid are just slacking off & not doing the job they are already being paid to do. The people that are suppose to supervise at the group home I mentioned are never there! I was told by friends & other locals that live on that block that they show up a few times a day to check up on the residents. Someone according to documents is suppose to live on site in the home & is paid to do so. People that live on the block are saying when they complain the workers come for a few days. Then disappear again. So much freaking fraud & waste. That is where the problem is. Too many people that have Medicaid are not getting the services Medicaid is already paying for.

You must see all the Fraud that has been busted lately? These people are billing for services they are not even rendering to these Medicaid recipients. Then those same Medicaid recipients. If they knew the money paid towards their housing & all the other care their providers bill for they would see it too. These providers live the high life off the backs of these poor people that are forced to live in very poor living conditions. While Medicaid fraud using their names is rampant.

One thing that needs to change with Medicaid is they have to start sending EOB's (Explanation Of Benefits) for every claim received & processed.So Medicaid recipients can see for their own eyes how much their providers are paid. Then report as fraud. As far as I know they only send out letter if your claim is denied. So much abuse.

If the fraud & abuse is curtailed. Billions of dollars will be saved. Then there can be more money for the actual people in need. Instead of paying all these greedy fraud loving providers that love living the high life off the backs of taxpayers.

As well as taking advantage of some of our most vulnerable citizens.Like the elderly & the Disabled. Who they know usually do not have a voice of their own.So they figure they can get away with it. Sometimes they are the ones that sweeten the pot. By saying come visit me or give me your info & I will make sure you get all the drugs you need. During my years of Disability Advocacy we saw so many Disabled people have their name being used for fraudulent reasons. Most never realized to degree of the problem until they saw it all on paper for themselves. They lived in crappy subsidized apts. While their providers lived in Multi-Million dollar mansions. Because they used their name to bill for services...NOT rendered to them. Pisses me off. As you can clearly see.