Lindsay, an old friend and fellow single mommy, details the runaround she’s gone through this month in regards to trying to find affordable housing for herself and her son. These numbers and locations are in the Lafayette, Indiana area, but similar programs exist in nearly every area of the U.S. So do the difficulties.
For about three scattered years I lived in various apartments and houses that Lindsey would run into here with the housing agencies. Drugs are a problem in these areas of town — lots of meth, primarily, and small-time pot dealers. If you’ve ever lived near a meth house you know how ridiculously scary it is.
I removed her son’s name to maintain her privacy.
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I am pissed. To find affordable housing for my family I have to jeopardize our health, safety, and security.
Over the last few months I have called several places for information on tenant rights. I have dug…and dug…and eaten a fistful of dirt. Here is what I came up with, individually not very helpful but collectively you may get part of the answer you are looking for.
Head Start - (449-0487) My son is in this wonderful program and the pre-school supervisor is WONDERFUL. She will go to great links to help you with anything you may need, from child disciple, acquiring home furniture, legal issues, arranging for dentist trips, housing, etc. They even help me set up counseling for [my son].
(if your child is in this program don’t forget to utilize it’s resources!)
Legal Aid- 742-1068 Asked if I called Legal Services. They told me: They will help with some landlord/tenant cases but not all. You have to make an appointment, fill out an application, and bring in last 4 months of income & proof of residence. They are located at 212 N. 5th street. It seemed that every time I called to speak to someone I would get a different answer. I believe you have to live in Tippecanoe County to qualify for their services. I also asked what guidelines and criteria they go by for the applications and the receptionist said it “depends”. *ahem*. I called back one other time to talk about my landlord issue and they said they wouldn’t make an appointment unless I had a piece of paper documenting an eviction - no listening to my story - nothing, unless I was getting evicted. It seems that every time I called I received different information.
All I wanted was to be informed of me rights and no one seemed to be able to do this!
Legal Services - Asked if I called Legal Aid. Told me to call them back if legal aid could not help me.
Lafayette Neighborhood Housing - 423-1284 There is a nice man there named Joe Kellogg, (Jkellogg@nhslaf.org). He works in the rental department, I’m not sure exactly what he does but he gave me his opinion on my situation which turned out to be very helpful, ultimately told me to get a lawyer. LNH also has rentals and a home buying program, that is supposed to be very good. I’ve looked at the rentals before, they are usually clean and remodeled. They only thing you have to watch out for is the neighborhood and the other tenants. Typically, both are less than desirable. They are located at 19 N. Street, St. 150 (the old Ivy Tech Building).
Lafayette Housing Authority - (771-1300) Didn’t know what to tell me. Get a Lawyer was the best advice.
Yahoo Answers Listed some websites for tenant/landlord acts/laws…which vary from state to state. Indiana’s is not very clear and vague.
I ended up calling a lawyer out of the phone book who gave me some wishy-washy answers that were no more helpful than anyone else.
As far as finding an affordable place to move to: I have a list of affordable landlords that I am supposed to pick up today when I pick [my son] up from school.
LNH (lafayette neighborhood housing) - quite affordable but the neighborhoods are scary as well as some of the tenants already living in those properties.
Coopergate - Supposed to be based on your income, I found rent was still too expensive for me, the apartments were decent, large. I pick up [my son] from the headstart center located at this complex. Everyday there are number of kids (of all ages) running around unattended, this would be my major problem with the place. They allow dogs & cats but have very strict rules about the dogs. Perk: All-day HeadStart (the one and only all-day head start location available for Tippecanoe county) is located on site.
Area IV Agency (HUD) You must meet income requirements (and even then you might not be able to get vouchers), fill out applications - bring in a lot of verifications (work, school, place of residence, etc) you are then put on a waiting list (they will tell you it’s a year but it really won’t take that long), and you have to find a place that will accept these vouchers. You can’t just move anywhere.
I called back one other time to talk about my landlord issue and they said they wouldn’t make an appointment unless I had a piece of paper documenting an eviction - no listening to my story - nothing, unless I was getting evicted. It seems that every time I called I received different information.
That’s pretty typical for Legal Aid/Legal Services. I worked one summer at the LS office in Ann Arbor, and there was a priority system for assistance, because they just can’t do it all. Because Michigan has a summary eviction procedure, in which you can be served, go into court, and be out on your ass in about a month, they really only dealt with people who had court dates.
Though I’m a little surprised they didn’t give you a referral to an agency that can help you with this stuff.
All I wanted was to be informed of me rights and no one seemed to be able to do this!
What you’re looking for is a Tenant’s Union or similar Tenant’s Rights organization, since they handle landlord/tenant issues before they get to the eviction stage. It’s very likely that the university housing office has some kind of resource listing available or can refer you to a tenant organization. Pose as a student on the phone if you need to, or ask a friend who’s a student to help you out.
Another resource you might want to check out is law school student clinics. Even if you don’t have a law school very close by, you might be able to get one that’s reasonably close if you’re able to travel. It’s usually free (sometimes, if you get a reward in a suit, they may collect a fee to cover costs) and the students are always happy to get the experience. They’re supervised, by the way, so it’s not like you’re getting crap representation.
Oh, and whatever your issue, DOCUMENT, DOCUMENT, DOCUMENT. Write letters and keep photocopies. Log phone calls. Take pictures. Log repair visits and conversations with the landlord. Keep records of your payments and your lease.
It’s just too bad that communal housing is not practiced in this country. It’s financially killing to have to pay for housing on one small income. Is there any way the friend can move in with somebody else for a while and just pay them the rent she can afford? It just seems like if she can avoid this fight, she should.
Though Coppergate is relatively new, it is pretty rough. There are a lot of police calls to the complex. Be cautious.
What price range is she looking at?
WM, probably HUD.
I know several people who urged* HUD to give them access to one apartment complex or another, so I know if you push hard enough you can get your way, in this area at least. Ever thought about downtown? Lahr? They\’re EOH.
I found a modest town house that is in a “better” neighborhood with Omni Property Management. I am honestly very happy with this property and the rent is (by far) the most reasonable I could find - and believe me I looked.
I am on HUD and I live in Coppergate. I hate it and I want to move! i have a family here and it is a really rough place. Lots of police calls. Kids throwing rocks at my car cracking my windshield, scratching my fenders with sticks and someone syphened my gasoline. Nice place huh? There is a trade involved in the discounted rental (HUD). You get a cheaper apartment and live in a ghetto. I`m a good ole boy from the country and I`m going nuts here. Oh, and my car was 2 days old when that stuff happened. Any ideas of where I should move my family? Stone Crest? Brampton?
I have no specific suggestions–just try to stay out of a large development like Coppergate and others.
Oh, and last night I had my CD player stolen out of my VW NewBeetle. Coppergate, don`t move out here, its ridiculous.
Toady is Saturday May 5th, 2007. We have new nieghbors. They just moved in and had a mattress sitting outside among other things. Someone stole the mattress they had sitting outside! How steals a mattress? I can`t wait to move out of here!
Lindsay Dec 6th, 2006 at 10:33 am
I found a modest town house that is in a “better” neighborhood with Omni Property Management. I am honestly very happy with this property and the rent is (by far) the most reasonable I could find - and believe me I looked.
I went out and looked at a place run by Omni Property Management called Lauren Lakes. Is this what you are talking about? The Town House? They are very nice! I`m going to call Omni tomorrow to see about looking at a town house. We are at Coppergate and disliking every minute of it. We are ready to get out of here.