Re: Homeless as apartments won't rent to us
Posted: Mon Jan 04, 2016 4:58 am
Not sure where to begin. But here goes....
We are a homeless family of 5. My spouse and son receive social security monthly and this is our only family income. My daughter is pending disability as well as myself. I had to quit my job due to increasing health issues with the children as well as myself.
We have had terrible rental situations with the last 2 homes we rented in Tecumseh, Michigan. Before that we lived in a 2 bedroom apartment for almost 5 years with no problems. The house we rented first was a 3 bedroom that cost us 950$ a month. The garbage disposal backed up into the dishwasher and basement for months causing a rancid odor, mold etc. which the landlord still hadn't fixed when we moved out. The bathroom sink had no base and was suspended in the air and screwed to the wall and not anchored to the wall properly and fell on our daughter. She ended up with fractured ribs and bruised knees. And it took them two weeks to fix it and they put it back in the same way! Not safe.
We refused to pay rent until he fixed them and we went to court. Judge agreed with us and asked if we wanted to sue. We declined because we just wanted out of the rest of the 18 month lease. We agreed to pay the last 2 months of the apartment and setup payments prior to leaving court for $100/month. To date we only owe $500. The most recent home was agreed prior to leasing that the home would be taken off the market so we wouldn’t be constantly interrupted with showings. She agreed with witnesses to this and then a month later called and said her old realtor had passed and the new one just wanted to view the home. We agreed under the circumstances she could. While she was there the realtor informed us the property was on the market, a sign would be put in our yard and to bake something and do a thorough spring cleaning prior to every showing!!! We were taken off guard.
We had already explained prior to leasing, we have 3 kids with mental and emotional disabilities. Contact changes in routine and strangers showing up caused emotional stress and behavior issues. She said, I own the house but if you'd like to buy it then you can make the rules! Things just spiraled from then on.
We had people peeping in our windows, walking through our yard, people walking in ouare door without appointments! And the first showing was the day after Christmas and all 3 kids were home with the flu! We had also purchased several things to fix and gave her the receipts to take off the price for rent. These things were totaled to $1700 and she threw the receipts away. The 30' pool that she said would be cleaned in the spring sat full of water that smelled like a sewer. This was like this before we moved in. Never touched it because we had never had a pool and didn't want to ruin anything.
We again went to court. We explained to the judge and he said we could either pay the rent due for 2 months or move out it was our choice because she refused to follow the lease we had agreed to. We were not evicted from either place but because we withheld rent and agreed to pay them what we owed for living in their houses, they ended up as civil judgments. So after having a 5 year long great rental history, we now have zero rental creditworthiness, because people were not willing to do the right thing and follow the terms they had originally agreed to. Oh and to top it all off, the last landlord refused to let my husband's pickup the leased washer/ dryer and kept it, so that screwed me too!
So now that my credit is shot and my health is failing me, spouse and kids are not well off mental/ emotionally, and our income is $1445 a month for the 5 of us. We have been trying to stay with family for a week here and there but they live in apartments that only allow visitors for 1-2 weeks at a time. We are currently at our last family option and need an apartment ASAP so we are no longer homeless. We have no money to move until September 3. But can't find any places affordable, 3-4 bedrooms and that will allow pets because we need service animals. We have a cat for our daughter. She has depression, anxiety, and terrets disorders and the cat helps calm him dowand. We can supply letter of medical necessity for the pets from doctor.
As you can tell we are in dire need of a home. The kids will be starting school soon and we still have no home. We have been looking since June. That is over 3 months. Still nothing. We have used our money for gas, application fees, food, phone bill, van insurance, and to pay for a place to stay here and there. We need help. Praying for a home and a much needed break. Our unsteady home life is causing even more issues for the kids and our health. If you or someone you know can help us get a home in Lenawee County, please contact me by phone or email. I have copies of our kids birth certificates from the Tecumseh School as ours ate buried in our storage unit, along with our social security cards (I do have all our ss#'s).
Thank you in advance for your time God Bless,
We are a homeless family of 5. My spouse and son receive social security monthly and this is our only family income. My daughter is pending disability as well as myself. I had to quit my job due to increasing health issues with the children as well as myself.
We have had terrible rental situations with the last 2 homes we rented in Tecumseh, Michigan. Before that we lived in a 2 bedroom apartment for almost 5 years with no problems. The house we rented first was a 3 bedroom that cost us 950$ a month. The garbage disposal backed up into the dishwasher and basement for months causing a rancid odor, mold etc. which the landlord still hadn't fixed when we moved out. The bathroom sink had no base and was suspended in the air and screwed to the wall and not anchored to the wall properly and fell on our daughter. She ended up with fractured ribs and bruised knees. And it took them two weeks to fix it and they put it back in the same way! Not safe.
We refused to pay rent until he fixed them and we went to court. Judge agreed with us and asked if we wanted to sue. We declined because we just wanted out of the rest of the 18 month lease. We agreed to pay the last 2 months of the apartment and setup payments prior to leaving court for $100/month. To date we only owe $500. The most recent home was agreed prior to leasing that the home would be taken off the market so we wouldn’t be constantly interrupted with showings. She agreed with witnesses to this and then a month later called and said her old realtor had passed and the new one just wanted to view the home. We agreed under the circumstances she could. While she was there the realtor informed us the property was on the market, a sign would be put in our yard and to bake something and do a thorough spring cleaning prior to every showing!!! We were taken off guard.
We had already explained prior to leasing, we have 3 kids with mental and emotional disabilities. Contact changes in routine and strangers showing up caused emotional stress and behavior issues. She said, I own the house but if you'd like to buy it then you can make the rules! Things just spiraled from then on.
We had people peeping in our windows, walking through our yard, people walking in ouare door without appointments! And the first showing was the day after Christmas and all 3 kids were home with the flu! We had also purchased several things to fix and gave her the receipts to take off the price for rent. These things were totaled to $1700 and she threw the receipts away. The 30' pool that she said would be cleaned in the spring sat full of water that smelled like a sewer. This was like this before we moved in. Never touched it because we had never had a pool and didn't want to ruin anything.
We again went to court. We explained to the judge and he said we could either pay the rent due for 2 months or move out it was our choice because she refused to follow the lease we had agreed to. We were not evicted from either place but because we withheld rent and agreed to pay them what we owed for living in their houses, they ended up as civil judgments. So after having a 5 year long great rental history, we now have zero rental creditworthiness, because people were not willing to do the right thing and follow the terms they had originally agreed to. Oh and to top it all off, the last landlord refused to let my husband's pickup the leased washer/ dryer and kept it, so that screwed me too!
So now that my credit is shot and my health is failing me, spouse and kids are not well off mental/ emotionally, and our income is $1445 a month for the 5 of us. We have been trying to stay with family for a week here and there but they live in apartments that only allow visitors for 1-2 weeks at a time. We are currently at our last family option and need an apartment ASAP so we are no longer homeless. We have no money to move until September 3. But can't find any places affordable, 3-4 bedrooms and that will allow pets because we need service animals. We have a cat for our daughter. She has depression, anxiety, and terrets disorders and the cat helps calm him dowand. We can supply letter of medical necessity for the pets from doctor.
As you can tell we are in dire need of a home. The kids will be starting school soon and we still have no home. We have been looking since June. That is over 3 months. Still nothing. We have used our money for gas, application fees, food, phone bill, van insurance, and to pay for a place to stay here and there. We need help. Praying for a home and a much needed break. Our unsteady home life is causing even more issues for the kids and our health. If you or someone you know can help us get a home in Lenawee County, please contact me by phone or email. I have copies of our kids birth certificates from the Tecumseh School as ours ate buried in our storage unit, along with our social security cards (I do have all our ss#'s).
Thank you in advance for your time God Bless,