Limited options exist for people who need help paying for their home. Some government programs that help tenants include:
Housing Choice Voucher Program (also known as Section 8)
Subsidies attached to specific buildings
Low Income Housing Tax Credits
HUD subsidized building
FAQs
How Do I Apply for Subsidized Housing?
Rental housing where a tenant pays a portion of the rent and a government subsidy covers the rest of the rent is known as “subsidized housing.” There are many types of subsidized programs. A common example is housing subsidized by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) but owned and managed by a private company. Subsidized housing is enormously helpful to people with low income because it allows them to pay less for rent and have more money for other living expenses. As a result, many subsidized buildings have waiting lists. When applying for subsidized housing, tenants should apply to several different places to improve their chances of getting into a unit as quickly as possible.
Identify the neighborhoods where you want to live and apply at the subsidized developments in those communities. You can get a list of federally subsidized housing developments by calling the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) at: 800.955.2232 or visiting HUD’s Subsidized Apartment Search at https://apps.hud.gov/apps/section8/index.cfm.
Request an application from each housing development separately. You may have to pick up the application at the building.
Collect birth certificates, Social Security cards, and income information for all household members. You will need to submit this documentation with your application. Return your completed application with supporting documents to the same place where you got it. Be sure to keep a copy and ask for a receipt that shows the date you delivered it.
Complete the application truthfully. For example, if you have a criminal record that has not been sealed, you must say so if asked on your application. Housing providers cannot automatically deny your application based on having a criminal record. However, they can deny your application if you provide false information. In addition, be honest about the last 3-5 places you have lived, even if you did not get along with a prior landlord. Landlords are not allowed to tell another potential landlord their opinion of you as a tenant; rather, the prior landlord should just confirm you rented from them in the past.
Keep track of all the places you apply, the dates you apply, and any additional steps required to complete their application process. You can also ask the housing provider to notify another person who is helping you (e.g. friend, family, case worker) about your application.
If your application for subsidized housing is denied, read the notice carefully. You will usually have the option to appeal the decision, but must do so by the deadline given in the notice. If your application for subsidized housing is denied because of past criminal history, you may apply for help from Legal Aid by calling 1.888.817.3777.
This article was written by Dani Lachina and appeared in The Alert: Volume 35, Issue 1.
Self Help
CMHA to Open Housing Voucher Wait List Lottery in November
CMHA is taking a completely innovative and new direction with its waiting list process:
CMHA will be accepting pre-applications on a rolling basis and the waiting list itself will not close.
A pre-application is valid for 18 months. If it expires, the applicant may reapply immediately to stay in the selection pool.
Applicants will also be able to access a web-based system to update their contact information at any time.
The pre-application will be made available on the CMHA website, though it has not yet been released.
The HCVP provides rental subsidy to low-income families through vouchers, which are utilized with private landlords throughout Cuyahoga County. CMHA is currently subsidizing approximately 15,000 families who enjoy the flexibility of a voucher in locating housing that addresses their family’s particular needs. CMHA will be hosting a Zoom Community Partner Meeting next week to discuss the wait list opening. Additional information and instruction about the process will be forthcoming.
Do you need to file papers in court but cannot afford the fees?
You might be able to reduce or avoid paying the filing fees up front with a “poverty affidavit” (or “affidavit of indigency”). Courts generally require a fee whenever a person files a new case or asks the court to do something by filing a “motion” in a pending case or files a “counterclaim” in a pending case.
But if you have a low income, you might be able to file your documents in court without the payment or with a lower payment if you first file a “poverty affidavit.” A poverty affidavit is a written, sworn statement that you have a low income and do not have enough money to pay fees.
To see a sample poverty affidavit and instructions on how to fill it out, click here.
Once you fill out the poverty affidavit, you must have your signature notarized and file the completed affidavit in the court where your case is being heard.
After you file a poverty affidavit in a case, the clerk will either not charge you any money or will charge you much less to file other documents in the same case. Even though you do not have to pay the fees up front, you may still be responsible for the fees at the end of the case.
Most Ohio courts have their own affidavit forms for you to fill out. You can request these from the clerk at your local court. Here are links to poverty affidavits forms for the courts that post the form online:
This information and the information provided on any court’s website cannot take the place of individual advice from a lawyer. Each person’s situation is different. You should contact a lawyer if you need legal representation or if you have questions about your legal rights and responsibilities.
If you need further help, and plan to visit a Legal Aid Brief Advice Clinic – click here for upcoming clinic dates. Remember to bring all the documents with you. Attorneys will need the documents in order to advise you.
Success Stories
Legal Aid addresses need for affordable housing on four fronts
Making safe, affordable housing available to all families has long been a pillar in Legal Aid’s strategic work. In the past several months, Legal Aid has been stepping up to address housing inequity on four major fronts.
Desmond’s Evicted sparks community housing conversations
One Community Reads is a collaboration among the City Club of Cleveland, Playhouse Square, the Western Reserve Area Agency on Aging and all nine local public library systems to create a shared reading experience for the Greater Cleveland community. This year’s selection, the Pulitzer Prize-winning Evicted: Poverty and Profit in the American City by Dr. Matthew Desmond, has transformed Northeast Ohio’s understanding of poverty and the centrality of home. It has also made people more aware of Legal Aid’s necessary role to ensure housing stability.
Carrying on Cleveland Tenants Organization’s legacy
After long-time Legal Aid partner, Cleveland Tenants Organization (CTO), suspended operations in February 2017, Legal Aid hired veteran Tenant Information Line intake specialist Valerie Holley-Staten to continue service to Northeast Ohio renters who call 216.861.5955 (Cuyahoga County) or 440.210.4533 (Ashtabula, Lake, Geauga and Lorain Counties) with questions about conditions, rent deposit and notice requirements. Legal Aid recognizes this as an important community resource: more than 350 calls were fielded in the first four weeks. Legal Aid also agreed to carry on the work of CTO’s eviction diversion program to help tenants fight improper evictions.
Fighting for renters’ right to counsel
“You have the right to speak to an attorney… If you cannot afford a lawyer, one will be provided for you at government expense,” reads the standard warning of the Miranda Rights to those accused of a crime. But to those facing unlawful eviction, there is no such provision. Hazel Remesch thinks this should change. The Legal Aid supervising attorney was selected as a Sisters of Charity Innovation Fellow for her proposal to establish the right to free legal counsel for the 10,000-plus Cleveland tenants facing eviction each year. Remesch hopes to make Cleveland the first city in Ohio to pilot a program like successful “Right to Counsel” initiatives in New York and California, which have dramatically reduced improper evictions.
Leading the fight on childhood lead poisoning
The Mt. Sinai Health Care Foundation has partnered with Legal Aid in advocating for healthy homes with a $175,000 grant over two years. Mt. Sinai funding will support Legal Aid’s direct representation, community legal education, and advocacy with the government to craft laws that will hold landlords responsible for remediating lead hazards before children suffer the irreversible damage of lead poisoning. In addition to helping Legal Aid provide direct representation to low-income renters in landlord-tenant cases, the grant supports Legal Aid’s work to illuminate the disparate impact of household lead hazards on minority families.
One Client Looks Forward to Holidays in her Home
Ms. Glover smiles on the front porch of home
Josie Glover thought, “Never in my wildest dreams” she could someday own her own home. She saved and saved, then took a series of classes through Lorain Metropolitan Housing Authority to guide her through the process.
When she found the perfect home, she signed up for automatic withdrawal so her payment would never be late. Her loan was sold to another lender, but somehow, the direct withdrawal information was not. Suddenly, she was behind in her payments.
She had the money in her account and wrote a letter to the bank, but they wouldn’t accept payments
they considered “late.” The bank also refused to consider the incomes of the other members of the household, her son, who gets SSI, and daughter who works as a phlebotomist.
She applied for a loan modification in 2013, but was turned down for the same reason. She was facing foreclosure and turned to Legal Aid for help.
Ms. Glover’s mortgage loan was insured by the Federal Housing Administration (FHA). Her Legal Aid attorney, Phil Althouse, knew that federal regulations related to FHA loans required Ms.Glover’s lender consider the other household
income. He also identified other violations of Ms. Glover’s legal rights by the lender and promptly filed motions that prevented a foreclosure judgment from being finalized. Mr. Althouse knew that there was more to be done for Ms.
Glover and advised her to file a charge of discrimination against the mortgage lender with the Ohio Civil Rights Commission. Ms. Glover’s mortgage lender signed a settlement agreement with Ms. Glover and the Commission. As part of the settlement Ms. Glover obtained a loan modification. The settlement also resulted in the monitoring of FHA lenders services in Ohio.
But the lender failed to adhere to the terms of the agreement so Mr. Althouse requested that the case be re-opened by the Commission. The Commission referred the matter to the Ohio Attorney General’s office for further action which helped resolve all issues to Ms. Glover’s satisfaction.
“Ms. Glover had the benefit of legal counsel. Other borrowers may not be as fortunate,” states attorney Althouse. As a result of the Ms. Glover’s case, the Civil Rights Section of the Ohio Attorney General’s office now closely collaborates with legal aid programs around the state to better protect the civil rights of low-income clients.
Ms. Glover was able to secure a fair loan modification agreement and hold the mortgage servicer accountable for acting in bad faith. More importantly, the support of Legal Aid allowed Ms. Glover to keep her home. “It was scary and frustrating,” recalls Ms. Glover. “I didn’t know who to turn to, but Mr. Althouse was great. He put his all into helping me.” She is looking forward to celebrating the holidays in her home.
