Low Income Housing and discrimination

[jd9363]

How can a LIHTC providers not renew my lease being a disabled senior on SSDI for no reason and leave me homeless with severe medical conditions. How can this be all right with the state of Tennessee and allow this to happen to a woman that had to live in her car for months and ruined my health even more than what it was and then you can't get an attorney to fight on your behalf

[njsherman]

Tennessee, like most other states, has a free helpline you can reach by dialing 2-1-1. They should be able to refer you to free legal help (tell them your age and that you need landlord-tenant advice). This service will also have info on Food Banks, Shelters (sleep in a bed!), free meals, help with utility bills and gas/bus fare, etc.

Tennessee Housing Development Agency (https://thda.org/) administers LIHTC for the state. Try contacting them about what happened. It is possible the buildings 10 yr Tax Credit contract was coming to an end and the owner planned to sell, convert to condos, or raise the rent sky high and was trying to eliminate lower-income renters...just a guess. If they did something illegal, the THDC should crack down on them.

I hope you find another Tax Credit or subsidized rental ASAP. Here is a list of TN Housing Authorities that should have subsidized housing and may know about LIHTC properties or other providers as well: https://www.affordablehousing.com/housing-authority-tn/

Being homeless sucks, especially for disabled, seniors, "medically frail", etc. Do not rely on "case managers", social workers, etc; advocate for yourself, learn the system and your options. Consider going (temporarily) to a more rural area with an open Section 8 list*--you may be able to get a Sec 8 voucher in a matter of months (I helped a former neighbor do this in rural Iowa when his partner died suddenly--they were both on SSI). If you do this, you would have to use your voucher there for one year, but then you could take it anywhere in the U.S.! With a Section 8 aka Housing Choice Voucher (HCV), you will only ever pay 30% of your income.

Get on every housing wait list you can, immediately. Check in with them regularly. Good luck!

P.S. It looks like Dickson, Crossville, Dayton, Etowah, Oak Ridge, Knoxville, La Follette, Morristown, Kingsport, and Johnson City all have open Sec 8 wait lists! Get on them ASAP if you can. Tell them you are homeless--they may be prioritizing homeless and you will go to the top of the list. If you find you don't need or want their voucher when your name comes up, you can always say "no thank you".