DeafEskie’s Portability Experience: Part 2

My concerns and worries mounted, as my mother made the decision to come up to Oklahoma City in July. She was insisting that everything needed to be completed by the end of July. To help maintain my “sanity”, I invited my best friend to come down for a week to help. She had been going through some difficult times herself – she and I both suffer from major depression, so the visit was needed by both of us.

Finally, at the end of June, I received word that the failed inspection was not such a major thing after all – at least, not in my case. Since I needed to move, all my landlord had to do was release me from my lease, which was due for renewal in July. My mother arrived the second week of July.

Approximately two weeks after her arrival, we ***finally*** got my voucher to move. Talk about working frantically! Part of all the concern was the fact that Mom had already found me a unit in Houston, and we were already paying regular rent on the unit. This is something that many people are not aware of – if you plan to port your voucher to another location – you need to be financially prepared to “foot the bill” of regular rent for anywhere between a month to a few months, because, there is no guarantee on how long the entire portability will take.

On July 21, Mom and I loaded up her SUV, and began the long drive down to Houston from Oklahoma City. By sheer miracle, we made it to Houston by 4PM – despite the fact that we left Oklahoma City around 9AM. Hurriedly we dropped stuff and my girls – I have two dogs – a Hearing Dog and a little Deaf-Blind mix – and drove out to the duplex. And what a neat place this is! I truly thank my Mom for her exhaustive search for the “just right place”. I am now residing in my old stomping grounds – the very same neighborhood I grew up in as a little girl.

The portability process is a complicated task. First we met with my worker, received the changeover voucher, etc. In Texas, the tenant has to give the landlord the “Landlord Packet”. At least in Houston they do. If the landlord never accepted Section 8 before, as in my case, they are required to fill out paperwork, provide specific documentation, etc. My landlord was a tad slow in this – I had been in my unit a month before we finally had inspection. We failed! Fortunately, it was only one thing that really needed fixing right away. My landlord thankfully took care of it, and this time, we passed inspection with flying colors. I would like to make a notation here, especially for those of you that are Deaf – always inquire with housing how inspections are done when you port your voucher because each housing agency does it differently. I was not given the choice to ask for an interpreter at all, due to the fact that I was not informed that the housing agency communicates mostly with the landlord instead of the tenant. Fortunately the second inspection passed.

Now it is October. I am still waiting for the HAP agreement to be completed. I will be following up on this again today – there is a small problem that needs to be rectified – some misunderstanding that I had a live-in aide full time – when I only have someone here part-time as my conditions tend to wax and wane. The best advice I have for portability? Plan, plan, and plan some more. Prepare financially as well. Be prepared for anything that comes up. Portability cannot be just a “spontaneous decision” to move. The HCV program and portability varies from area to area and state to state – it may not be easy, ut the experience is very worth it for those who need it.

DeafEskie’s Port Experience….

Today I would like to share with you my own personal experience moving from Oklahoma City, OK to my native Houston, TX utilizing the portability feature available with the HCV program. I discovered porting your voucher is nowhere as easy as it looks! In fact, it can be almost impossible. And most of all – it does not happen as quickly or as easily as it should.

For a long time, I had been considering returning back home to Houston due to health issues and missing my mom, and a couple of close friends. In April of this year, I received some very shocking and upsetting news – one of my best friends, who was my personal driver in Oklahoma City, decided to move to Nashville, TN, in order to be with his family. When they decided that he would be moving in June, I realized, the time has come for me to move, and I needed to act fast. Little did I know what was going to be up ahead!

At the end of April, my driver and I went to my local agency Oklahoma Housing and Financing Agency (OHFA) to turn in my request to port my voucher. My driver turned in a move-out notice at the same time. A couple weeks later, I received a letter from the team my case had been assigned to. I was so excited when I saw the OHFA return address that I ripped it open – only to discover that I had not been granted permission to move, because OHFA needed to complete annual inspection and  recertification of my HCV unit. When I saw that “rejection” letter I had no choice other than sit back, and wait for housing to get around to scheduling the annual inspection/recertification.

In mid-June, another letter arrived, giving me the date and time of my annual inspection – approximately a week and a half from the day I received the notice. Not much time, that’s for sure. So I hurriedly spent the following week cleaning the house and having the landlord do some necessary repairs. Inspection day arrives, sunny and hot, with very little breeze. To my utter surprise, this was the most complicated  inspection I ever experienced! The inspector really grilled me – asking each question no less than three times! After almost an hour of questioning, she then inspected the property – a two bedroom home, which I qualified for due to medical & disability reasons. She asked me to walk around with her as she inspected the unit. To my shock, and yes horror, she began to find faults with the home. Approximately 7 things needed to be fixed—most very minor – such as a stove burner not entirely functioning properly, a fan pull was tangled up, to one major issue – a brand new smoke alarm that decided to malfunction! Needless to say, the unit failed inspection. Inspections are a very important part of the HCV program, and I began to wonder if I would ever get to
Houston…..

Will be continued with Part 2

Your PHA and You: Public Meetings

Have you ever received in the mail— a notice of a public meeting being held at your local PHA? Have you often wondered what these letters/meetings were, perhaps  wondered on them, then said to yourself…”I am way too busy to bother with these minuscule things!” and then you toss the notice? Maybe you have, maybe you haven’t. Well, I am a tad ashamed to admit— I am one of those “have done it” HCV program tenants. My reasons are numerous—due to my multiple health issues, and then, the concerns for transportation to/from the venue as well as needing an interpreter at the meetings.

But what are these meetings? These meetings are public meetings your PHA holds every so often – sometimes once a month, sometimes quarterly, depending on the PHA. In these meetings, the tenants, landlords, and certain PHA staff are given the opportunity to voice their opinions and make suggestions and simply talk with each other. This is your chance to voice concerns regarding the HCV program, your PHA, and even policy & procedure concerns. As more tenants and landlords choose to go to these meetings, we’ll have open dialogue with each other and changes will be made.

I strongly encourage you to go to these meetings at your PHA. We want everyone involved in the PHA programs to voice their thoughts and recommendations for better housing, more funding for all PHA’s and their programs, blending multiracial communities together, and the option of having a HCV and residing wherever we choose.

I hope to see the day come where everything is equal—no matter what your race or income status – so, how about it? Let’s help this become a reality—by going to your local PHA public meetings and advocating changes system-wide (i.e., nation-wide).  The HCV and public housing has come a long way from the housing of yesteryear. Remember, it is our job to educate, and help spread the word so that the stigma of  living in subsidized housing can come to an end, once and for all.

How to verify military pay information?

I found the following quick guideline to military pay. ALWAYS try to contact their command to verify any information given. First SGT or Company Commander will have the info. This works for officers also since they are probably assigned to Headquarters Company for admin purposes, even if they outrank the company commander by several grades.

 1) First, determine if they are Active or Reserve. Most, but certainly not all, active duty members will live around military bases; the main exceptions are for recruiters and Recruiting Command support/command personnel.

2) Ask to see a copy of their ID card, (AKA Common Access Card or CAC). It will show their rank and an expiration date on the front and their social security number and birth date on back.

3) For Active duty members, ask for an LES (Leave and Earnings Statement). This can be downloaded so it can easily be altered. With a copy of their ID Card you can more or less verify the LES by going to the following two websites:

www.dfas.mil/army2/militarypaycharts/2007MilPaycharts-cc.pdf

www.perdiem.hqda.pentagon.mil/perdiem/bah.html

Both sites are fairly easy to use. For years in service, assume they joined at about 20 for enlisted and age 22 for officers. Everyone is different, but this will put you in the ballpark. Also try to verify rank with their command.

4) For Reserve members, this is a lot different. For most it is a part time job, effectively working out to about 1 day a week of pay. However, many Reservists are on various types of active duty. To make it easy, simply request a copy of their orders and verify them with their command personnel. Orders will be for a certain number of days and have a start date which indicates how long they will be on active duty – it could range from one day or two years. For Reservists on active duty use the above two websites to verify their LES.

Annual rent increase dilemma?

Boy, there’s a lot of controversy swirling around this topic. Increase rent by a little bit each year or by a painful amount every five years or so? Is it gonna be a $10 increase per month or $50 increase per month. Are these long term tenants that you want to keep or recent arrivals that are good tenants but could be gone at lease’s end? Some landlords increase their rent by 10% with each turnover and 3-5% with each renewal. A lot depends upon the reputation of the landlord and the quality property & maintenance – if you have a reasonable and responsive landlord who diligently maintains the property, tenants are inclined to renew regardless of the increase (remember ‘reasonable’ is the operative word here as well). We all know that maintenance costs increase and we presume that ‘everyone’ gets a ‘raise’ once a year…just remember that your ‘good’ tenants are working hard for their money too – and whopping increase in rent, that may be as little as 3%, could be unaffordable for them. I’m definitely in this business for the profit, but sometimes you have to weigh the pros with the cons…and there are times when 3% provides your tenant with a lot more than the same 3% will provide you as the landlord.

Pets or no pets…Pets or vacant units…is the question

A friend of mine says, “It’s either pets or the poor house, so take your pick.” Compare a vacancy to carpet replacement costs and the case becomes moot. I had much prefer to have a long-term quality tenant with a pet, than a series of short-termers beating up the walls and flooring with each move in & out. I always get vet paperwork on the pet, integrate the pet into the lease, continue to be selective about the types of pets I’ll allow resident in my units, and depending upon the state (restrictions vary from state to state) I’ll include a monthly pet add-on fee or non-refundable maintenance deposit specifically for the pet.

Should you clean the carpet between tenants?

YUCK. Any landlord who asks this question should be forced to live in their own rental property resplendent with wall-to-wall nastiness. Let’s see, can we guess what my answer is? OF COURSE!!! I don’t want to live with someone else’s dirt – why would I expect a tenant to be interested in renting a property that is poorly maintained? This is a particular peeve of mine…I can remember moving into a SFH in California and hearing my 5 year-old daughter ask about the Rice Krispies in the carpet…it wasn’t cereal – it was filthy, vile carpet embedded with decades of ???. The carpet was gone the next morning. So, yes, clean the carpet. I always have it cleaned professionally and tenants can cover the cost of the cleaning…but as a landlord, make sure that you replace the carpet within a reasonable amount of time – nothing lasts forever.

Tenants give notice to vacate

Landlords seem fully prepared to give their tenants ‘notice to vacate’ but are mystified when a good tenant decides to move out (or on) without any help from the landlord. Landlords aren’t quite sure what their next step should be. My approach is to send a letter explaining how sorry I am that they are leaving (and if they were good tenants offering to be a referral in the future); how the ‘move out’ condition of the unit can affect their security deposit refund; how soon after vacating they can expect a deposit refund accounting statement (most states require deposits to be refunded within a finite time period); and, finally, wishing them well. I always include a copy of the walk-through list so the tenant will know what I’ll be checking.

Landlords and Credit Reports

As most of you know as of January 1, 2007, credit bureaus now require landlords or businesses requesting credit reports must have an on-site inspection, a publicly listed business telephone number and a business license. In order to guarantee that you pass your inspection (these are usually 20 minutes or less), you should have a locked filing cabinet, shredder, locked desk, and have your computer password protected. If you have an office set up in a spare bedroom, it’s a good idea to have lock on the door. These inspections are painless and just might force you into a little housecleaning!

Receipt Requested

The reality of receipts for rent payment is pretty simple – typically a cancelled check will serve as your tenant’s rent receipt. If they pay cash (or request a receipt), then the landlord is required to provide a dated receipt showing amount received. And, of course, you all know that the receipt should be written from a carbon receipt book (I use a spiral bound carbon-less receipt notebook, that way I always know where to find copies of receipts if any questions arise) rather than on a cocktail napkin or toilet paper roll.