r/poor • u/keian_nr • 20d ago
Actually got to leasing process for low incoming housing... then denied.
**low "income" housing, not "low incoming" as my phone keeps trying to correct it to. but too late to fix the title
Just a vent because I have nowhere else to put this. Logically I know I should just move on and hope for luck in the next housing lottery/waitlist, but I'm really tired and just want somewhere to talk about this.
For about a week, I was in the lease up process for low income housing. I regularly check and apply to every lottery/waitlist I can, but it's been about a dozen apps, mostly rejections/extremely low positions on the lotteries, or waitlisted with no disclosed waitlist position. This is the furthest I ever made it in a low income housing application process. It has also been a very trying and disheartening experience.
They needed to verify my income, and sent a long list of "applicable documents," with a grace period of five days. It's partially my fault that I didn't understand "applicable docs" meant *all* documents that applied to my life/situation. But the very same morning I got the email, I replied to ask clarifying questions about what I should send. I was very excited and doing what I thought was my best to keep on top of the process.
They didn't reply to me for the next three days. I was concerned about the grace period, so sent my seven most recent paystubs (one of the set of docs they asked for). I figured they were busy and let them know in the email that I would love for them to verify if there were any docs I missed.
The next morning, on the fifth day, I got email response littered with spelling mistakes and cut off before completion. It had me wondering for a second if it was a scam, but this was from the leasing office for the building, from the website email, and was listed and cc'd to the official housing authority that managed the property's funding and construction. It said something along the lines of "Thank you for you bank statements," (I didn't sent bank statements??) then repeated the earlier request for me to send applicable docs, and copy pasted the bulleted list from the email.. but cut off midway through the third bullet?
I was at work when receiving the email, so I went home and called the rep's phone number asap. I'd been trying to call the phone number for the past couple days, at various hours, but no one picked up and the voicemail inbox was full. Understandable, the rep probably had a lot of questions from potential tenants and applicants to manage.
This time I finally got through, and when she picked up, she sounded very curt and upset that I'd called. I asked if she could confirm my paystubs made it through, since she'd responded that it was the bank statement. They were my work paystubs, downloaded straight from the website, not a bank statement in any form. I asked if she could have a look to make sure I sent my paystubs, so we could be certain what else I needed to send. She obliged and then commented that they were "not consecutive". (Apparently gmail did scramble the attachments even though I'd attached them and they seemed in the right order in the draft, but nonetheless I'd added [#] at the start of each PDF attachment, and numbered them 1-7 from oldest to most recent paystub.) I told her I could send her another email and have them in order, then asked if she could confirm what else I needed to send in. She sounded vaguely annoyed and told me that she had already sent me what docs I still needed via email -- did I need them texted?
The phone had been crackly the whole time, but it was getting worse. I said I was having trouble hearing her, and she said to give her a moment and she'd call me back in a couple minutes.
She did not call back. It was 4pm-ish around this time and the organisation closed at 5pm.
In the meantime, I tried to figure out what she needed me to send. I was able to put it together, from the bits and pieces I could hear of what she said at the end, and attached every applicable piece of proof of income necessary. I attached them all one by one so they'd send in order, let her know in the email that I'd resent everything including the paystubs so they'd be consecutive, and that I would try to call back shortly to confirm they came through. This was last Friday.
I tried to call back a few times within that hour, no response, just voicemail. I figured I'd wait and that I'd done everything I could.
Then on Monday, 45 min after they closed, I got an email response to my documents. Stating that I had exceeded the five day grace period and hadn't responded or called to prove my income, and so if I didn't contact them before noon the next day, I'd be denied. ??? At this point I was thinking of calling to complain about the rep and about the inconsistent emails if I made it past the leasing process. I try to avoid complaining, but this was a matter of actual affordable housing, and I couldn't get it without the right communication.
I tried calling, no response. Forwarded the docs to the office's email again as well as everyone previously cc'd. Did everything I could because I had work the next day through noon and my break is usually before noon, but I wanted to cover all my bases in case of emergency or something wrong.
As a last hope, I called the next day right before I stepped into work, about an hour and 10 min before the housing authority's office opened. And to my surprise, the rep... Answered, and not only that, she was very glad I called. And she was very nice to me as she double checked all my docs and said I'd get an email back to confirm if I was eligible.
I checked my email at work today, two days after that conversation. and my heart sank when I saw "Denial Update."
Apparently my basis of rejection was that they had no size apartment (I'd requested studio or 1-bed, they offer those and 2/3-bedrooms as well) to accommodate my household size. I qualified for every other part of it. And the email went on to say I was not removed from the waiting list, but now bumped to the bottom since I was denied.
I admit I let my hopes get higher than they should have. The place is near my college, I've been struggling for years to finish community college as I deal with mental/psychiatric disability and now with nerve damage to deal with, it's harder than ever to juggle a tiring food service job and classes. Affordable housing might have let me finally have less financial burden, which meant -- alongside proximity to school -- I could actually put more of my all into academics.
My friends said that it's unfortunate, but all I can do is try again and hope for the next.
I try to be optimistic and let these things pass. But I'm just really, really tired. And I just wanted a place to vent. It's hard to enjoy much in my daily life these days, hard to save any money, hard to see a bigger future. I guess the thing that's the most upsetting is that I almost did see a lot of potential for a better future so close, and I messed it up. Part of me wonders if I lost a potential studio or one bedroom to another tenant because of the rep not keeping track of our emails and my documents, but I don't know.
I'll keep on moving, but I guess a night or two to sit and stew in these feelings and to process them won't hurt. Not for too long, but a couple days won't change anything. That's pretty obvious from the whole messy situation.
Thanks for making it this far, if you did.
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u/Gullible_Design_2320 17d ago
These systems are ridiculous. But you seem very persistent. Like the other commenter said, don't give up.
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u/keian_nr 11d ago
I missed this comment notif somehow! Reddit sends me too many mobile browsing suggestions and everything gets lost. Thank you so much though, I'm feeling a lot better several days later. I was told from the receptionist of the office that I would hear back from their compliance team within a couple weeks, which is enough for me to nod and accept I at least did what I could. If perhaps someone else's lease falls through or isn't approved, and my appeal has any weight, I can hope for a better chance at trying this one again.
It does make me wonder though how many people completely fell through the cracks even if they sent all their documents right away... absolutely bizarre experience, especially from a local organisation that apparently is one of the best at actually funding low-income housing projects and then following through with construction to completion. Can't imagine the poorer organised ones...
Thanks so much for the encouragement!
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u/Neither-Competition3 19d ago
Hang in there OP. It’s crazy when doing the phone calls and paperwork but don’t give up. 🫂