Judge asks housing board to put action on hold
BY ROGER SMITH
MOUNTAIN CITIZEN
WARFIELD — Despite receiving rent and utility funding through HUD, the Martin County Housing Authority is preparing to evict elderly, disabled and low-income residents from Riverside Apartments if residents cannot come up with deposit money to have electric, water and sewer services switched into their names by June 15. However, Martin County Judge/Executive Lon Lafferty said he would ask the housing authority board and its management contractor, Winterwood of Lexington, to put the action on hold.
“I have been made aware of talk about the additional costs,” Lafferty said. “I am very concerned about the condition of the facility and the resolution that could result in residents at Riverside becoming homeless. I would ask that this be put on hold until we can have a fully constituted board. Then we can look at all needs and options.”
Residents learned of their predicament via an April 23 letter from Winterwood. The letter stated that “due to excess utility consumption by the tenants,” they had until June 15 to get the services in their names. “For those who do not comply, the full amount of water/sewer/electricity will be charged to the resident’s ledger and a 30-day notice to vacate will be issued.”
The letter also contained a “notice of public hearing” telling tenants they could voice their concerns to the housing authority board in a meeting May 10. The notice told tenants to remain outside during the meeting and wait to be called in individually.
Riverside Apartments at 2600 Hode Road receives Section 8 low-income housing money from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. Residents have been paying a flat rental rate that includes a utility allowance from HUD.
All of the residents who spoke with the Mountain Citizen said they did not know the cost of their utilities as they had never seen a bill.
“They show us a ‘projection’ and say we’re over and highlight a number their accountant has put down,” one resident stated. “We got two overages. The first was around $12, and the second was $1.50.”
Several residents said they either have no income or that their low income would not permit them the extra money to pay the utility deposits before the June 15 deadline.
One tenant, a single mother with three children, pays $50 monthly rent and has no income.
“There’s no way I can get the utilities in my name,” she said. “And I have nowhere to go with my three kids.”
Other residents echoed that statement.
“I ain’t got no place to go. I’ll stay in my car, I guess,” a 56-year-old disabled resident said.
A mother of two young children said she owes no prior utility bill and would qualify for the accounts but could not find the money before June 15.
“I guess I’ll sleep in my car,” she said.
Residents expressed outrage the day before the scheduled public meeting when they received notices of apartment inspections on the same day as the meeting.
“The meeting is tomorrow, but as of this evening at 4:30, we got a notice that they will be doing inspections tomorrow,” a tenant said. “If we don’t comply, it could result in an eviction. So, basically, they’re forcing us to choose between the meeting or the inspection. They say they’ll enter anyway if no one is home, but I’ve watched them knock and walk away, then write that person up before for noncompliance.”
The tenant claimed residents “barely get a 15-hour notice before management enters the apartments.”
The Mountain Citizen heard from residents about the condition of apartments in which they have been forced to live and witnessed some of those conditions. One apartment did not have cooling upstairs, which the tenant said was a condition that had existed for over four years. Another had one baseboard heater and, according to the resident, “you could see your breath in the winter.” Another apartment had a leak dripping from a bathroom on the second floor through the ceiling into the living area on the first floor. Some apartments had cracked ceilings, exposed electrical wiring, cracked and peeling paint, and windows and doors with gaps that allowed heating and cooling to escape.
“They’ve been sucking money out of the county and residents for years, then kicking people out the second they get a chance, or someone points out their actions,” a resident said. “There isn’t a single apartment down here that isn’t in desperate need of repairs, but they say they don’t have the money to fix any of it. They should be required to show their financial statements publicly. At the very least, they should show it to someone who could prove they’re making more than they say they are and just leaving people down here with no heat or air conditioning, and some residents went months with toilets that didn’t work.”
Eric Mills, who participated in the board meeting May 10 at the request of Judge Lafferty, said utilities for April were $14,554. He also pointed out that utilities for the first four months of the year totaled around $115,000. According to Mills, Riverside’s net income for April was $1,405 and year-to-date $58,752.
“But we’re still running at a loss for the year, so that’s part of why we’re having this conversation today,” Mills said, adding that the delinquent rent balance was $5,265.
“Our goal here is not to kick anyone out,” said Mills.
According to Mills, HUD utility allotments are $221 for a 2-bedroom apartment, $268 for a 3-bedroom and $303 for a 4-bedroom unit. Under the new plan, tenants will receive their approved amount as a discount on their rent. If the tenant pays $50 rent for a 2-bedroom apartment, they will receive a check for $171 to pay their utility bills. A tenant paying $400 for a 2-bedroom unit will pay $179 after the utility credit.
Winterwood requires residents to provide proof of the utility being fully moved to their name to receive the credit.
“The discount doesn’t hit your rent until the month following the transfer to your name,” said a tenant who transferred the utilities last month. “After we put the utilities in our name, they wouldn’t adjust the rent until after we paid it.”
The tenant was still waiting for a refund on the rent.
“They are breaking HUD regulations and relying on intimidation to keep the residents where they want them, in debt and desperate,” said the resident.
According to the tenants, the property management just required them to sign new short-term leases that put them on a month-to-month basis.
The Mountain Citizen reached out to Winterwood about the number of 2-bedroom, 3-bedroom and 4-bedroom units for which HUD pays monthly utility allotments of $221, $268 or $303 but did not receive an answer before press time.
According to HUD records, MCHA qualified for $260,810 in Public Housing operating funding for 2023.