Hello,
I am in a serious situation or at least i FEEL so. I am almost 50 and married with one child age 10. My Husband of age 50 has just applyed for disability and has been accepted but it doesnt start untill April 1st.
I have always been self sufficent but do to a back injery many years go it limits my ability to do certain types of work. I resently had a good job paying about 15.00 a hour with total benifits. In the mean time we had some close family, needing help and in the big house we rent in ,9 rooms we took them in, her and 3 children .She got a job we pooled our money was suriving but with a family of 7 now.
Our lease didnot forbid us from taking people in. She is evicting us for the children moving in not for rent being unpaided....but as for now we are passed duefor we stopped pain when we got the eviction.
Since then We are being evicted of 8 years of living here, with a upper town person so we have not much change of winning anything she almost founded the town.
Our 32 year old friend, as we felt we had found a place to move to, put in a 2 week notice to help move and they let her go on the spot........the same day we found out the place we were moving to the APA put a halt on, so its been on again and off again its just been put off again now till the 23th, also i have got let go at my job. They will not tell me the reason..I know how small towns work and feel there is undercurent from the landlord who is evicting usand the big Boss also lives in our town
In 50 years of my life i have never been here so helpless. We have tryed all avenues DSS ,charitiesany thing we can figure out .one thing or another keeps us from getting help . At this time we have no cooking fuel, no heat, no hot water for it broke (and she will blame us im sure) and its been over a month since we applyed with DSS so far nothing.
We go to court for the eviction on the 19th of this month and have no place to go we have 80.00 left to our name to try and move to a place we found for gas and food plus much more problems... is there any one with a heart any more to help or does every one just think people are out to rip them off. I have paid in the US. System all my life and where are they........... if you know of any thing new i can try...we have looked for work and applyed many many places............ im more concern with the children really and keeping us as a family there ages are 9,10,10,12 2 boys and 2 girls....................thank- you for your time..............Lupus

This post was last modified: 11-16-2008 08:39 PM by lupus.

Hi,
What city and state are you in? I can look for services for you based on that information. I do not know what you have tried as far as assistance programs go, but have you looked at www.Hud.gov and looked in the homeless section by state. Not saying you are homeless yet, but there are numerous numbers for you and people to contact for help.

Other resources include craigslist.com for jobs in your area along with temp work agencies in your area.

You can also read many of the posts on this forum as some really smart people came up with some clever ideas to find work and places to stay.

Good luck,
Mike

Thank You Mike for your respond.
I live in Upper New York state in the mountains a place called Olmstedville.
We dont have any temporary agencies in the area at all.The closest is about 1 hour away Maybe.
I will check out the HUD and the craigslist which ive never heard of.
Thank You lupus

This post was last modified: 11-16-2008 07:45 PM by lupus.

Lupus, I'm so sorry that you're going through this. My heart goes out to you and your sweet family. DO NOT FORSAKE. If you are living in such difficult conditions discuss this with your priest or with the children's teachers or the school nurse. One thing is that we as adults are in this situation another is that our kids are. If you have to go to the hospital, go and ask for help. But you can also visit your closest children's home. I know that you can leave them there for a while until you get a job and get settled. It will take some time and it will be the hardest thing you'll do but you can move faster this way.
Make sure that you read all documents carefully so that you get your kids back. Remember, there is a solution to all problems except death. So cheer up all you can and get strong for your children. Reassure them that you will be back. Leave them with positive thoughts and a positive attitude. If you do not want to do this you can try to look for your relatives to take them in or divide them up in groups to be taken in. I know this sounds harsh but look, you are lucky to still have them and they you. We were all separated into group homes when my parents died but because of the caring people that took us in, they made sure we always kept in touch. I was 8 years old when my second parent died. Now and to this day my brother and sisters still keep in touch and we always talk about what we went through but it made us stronger and now because of that I know what its like and I can help others. Please don't give up. Think carefully what you want to do and do what feels good as a mother. Keep a notebook of your feelings and keep all your documents in a safe place. Tell your children the same. Tell them that no matter where they are, to keep a daily journal as a record of what they do. Who knows if someday one or more of your children will be advising someone else about this situation and they will know exactly what to say to make a difference. Take care. I'll check back with you. Cari

This post was last modified: 11-17-2008 02:37 AM by caridad cisneros.

I honestly think I know where you live - I may have been thru there in the past when I went up to Lake Placid. Small towns are nice, and knowing that area - you have a small one! But do not leave your home before you HAVE to. (of course start looking for your other options) The court system is fair, (most of the time) and if you have nothing in your lease that forbids the amount of people living in your home, that is a point you can make with the judge. If your home is as large as you say, 7 people isn't outrageous.Plus you have a history of living there 8 years. That also should count for something. Judges will sometimes grant tenants more time to get their finances together. If you did not pay the rent when you received the eviction notice, you should have held on to it to show the judge you were holding it pending the outcome. Meanwhile, see if you can sell something to get the cash for the rent before court. If you can show the judge you are unfairly being evicted, and money was not the issue, you may have a point. Don't let the fact the lady is a big wig in town intimidate you. Obviously if you've lived there 8 yrs you show you paid the rent in the past and have only run into this one roadblock due to family problems. Usually in most states, a landlord needs to give 30 days written notice to the tenant to pay up or vacate. Then they go to court and obtain a judgment. If you didn't get 30 days notice, then also bring that up to the judge. Does the landlady have security? I would try and negotiate as much as possible. Don't just run out and become homeless if there is a chance to stay. Another thing, if your heat or hot water is broken and you have told the landlord to fix and she won't, tell the judge. Landlords have obligations to provide maintenance to their property. What you do have to be careful of is the fact you have no hot water or heat. Your kids can be taken away from you if living conditions are bad. So be careful how you tell this to the judge. But I would tell your landlord now about the heater and no fuel, because the pipes will freeze with no heat. Then you will be a target of a lawsuit for neglecting the property. The landlord will not want to have pipes frozen and should fix that immediately. Do you have electric? There are programs for people having problems with utilities. If you let me know who you tried for help, maybe I can find the right place to call. Utility companies cannot turn off your electric from Dec 1 to April 1st. Call your local public utilities commission - they will have info on assistance for heat and electric. (their phone number is somewhere on your bill) If you have no oil or propane, there are grants for that. There should be some kind of local agency that will know the names of the programs. If you have no income you should also qualify for Section 8 housing assistance, food stamps and anything else you can get on a limited income. If you were recently laid off, can you collect unemployment?
I would go to court - dress up like you are on an interview - and ask the judge for time to get the help you need to pay the rent and utilities. I would find it unusual for a judge to throw out a large family who has run into problems in the winter. You live in a cold area.
Another way to deal with the landlord is to offer her a bit more rent or an extra security deposit to let you stay once you are on your feet.

If your landlord is really evicting you due to children in the home, and there is nothing in the lease limiting the amount of tenants, that also could be a discrimination case. When speaking to the judge, if this is the case as you say, use that word-discrimination- regarding the children. But I will be surprised if she is going to tell the judge that she is throwing you out ONLY due to the kids. I bet she will have in her papers that you didn't pay the rent, or you damaged the property, or something like that. You should have received a copy of the court summons that will state why you are being taken to court. Read your lease to make sure you know what it says. But I would say with an 8 yr history in the house, you may be able to negotiate - to stay or at least have more time. I have negotiated with my landlord before and gotten to stay in the home. It is not always a lost cause to try!
Let me know what agencies you tried - here is a place that may have info on heating fuel or electric assistance:
Community Power Network of NYS, Inc.
1401 County Route 29, Suite #5
PO Box 46
Olmstedville, NY 12857
518/251-2525 (phone) 518/251-2524 (fax)
suemc@capital.net

The only social services contact I can find for your area is this:
John O'neill 7551 Court Street Elizabethtown, NY 12932
518-873-3441 or 518-873-6321
The description said this was to provide temporary help to people in a timely manner in a needy situation.

Well Just read all the replays.
Just came back frome Social Services after 5 hours there. going over the same as we have for a little over a month now. looks very bleek.
have meetings to attend, little gas money and no food help from them yet........ cant bring children and cant pay babysitter its a catch 22....have checked out all people have sujested...........My heart gets bitter for i have supported the system all my life..............What has America come too its a far cry from freedom.........

What does Social Services say to you? Do they offer any type of help whatsoever?

Mike

Hello Im back and hello to Mike
to make a very long story short
Social service never did help us and all got worse veryyyyyyyyyyy we were allowed food stampssssss ,and allow the run around by social service. We were in crises then..So my opionon has changed greatly of the US..see i worked all my life and paid in to the system so many suck off of .and now im very bitter because of them...........but thats my problem.........but a thank you to all those who tryed to help and showed some compassion for people in need who has helped them selfs all there life ....Lupus