11/16/2007
On the 14th, I went to Housing Coiurt to file an Order to Show Cause; I'd gotten advice from a friendly lawyer who suggested that I remnd the court that the landlords were keeping my security deposit anyway, and it could theoretically be applied to the November rent - and that since the Marshal's Notice was mailed to me via regular mail (rather than being sent certified or pasted to the wall) it was improperly served. The Order to Show Cause was denied because I didn't have the November rent available; it's likely that I'd have been given the Order if I'd had the rent money together when I went in.
On the 15th, I had my HRA review for the emergency loan benefits I'd applied for in October in an attempt to get a "one shot deal". The one shot deal was denied for two reasons: I still don't have a job (and the one shot deal is essentially a loan), and they don't give emergency assistance when people are leaving their apartments anyway. In addition, I found out that the assistance they offer people moving into new apartments is based on some really bizarre calculations: they'll cover the first month's rent and security along with a broker's fee (and again, this is a loan) - and possibly moving expenses, but ONLY if as a single person your monthly income is $815 a month. $815 a month doesn't even cover rent in this city, let alone rent and living expenses - and the loan has to be repaid on top of that. So I don't see how it's possible for that equation to work on a practical level. The amount of income for a two person household is only slightly higher - I can't recall the exact amount, but it's barely $1000. The one good piece of advice I was given at the time was that I should withdraw the application for the emergency loan that day, because otherwise I'd be left with a pending application and that would prevent me from applying for other HRA assistance like food stamps for 45 days. I'll need the food stamps - and probably welfare as well, so I took care of withdrawing the application at that point.
Meanwhile, every other agency I've spoken to so far has told me that they can't help me unless I go to HRA first. My soon-to-be-ex won't let me stay with him temporarily - he's adamant about this - and my mother lives 3 hours away and isn't wild about the idea of me staying with her temporarily either (and I don't really want to be that far away from my son, either). I don't know where else to turn; it's frightening, and I'll probably end up using the shelter system for a while unless something else comes through in the meantime.
--
Check out my digital photography at http://picasaweb.google.com/emilyholiday/EmilyBrown; I also have a short slideshow video at http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=4527071836788208173
No comments:
Post a Comment