Housing, etc.
I’m still hibernating. I’m working on getting internet at home, but it’s not going so well. I’ll be around more once I get that fixed up. I’m going to get a free phone and then use my designated phone money for internet.
I’ve been filling out housing applications, and they are confusing and hard to deal with. I technically don’t have an eviction on my record, but almost having an eviction makes it difficult for me to fill out certain parts of the applications.
They all want rental references. Multiple references over a long period of time. Let’s see…I have homeless shelters, squatting in a foreclosed condo, couch surfing, and an eviction where the charges against me were dropped because I went off the grid. I’d prefer they not contact my former landlords lest they decide to sue me again. I was a perfectly good tenant for almost four years, but that all went to hell.
I get discouraged easily. I don’t have any criminal convictions or anything like that, so that’s a bonus. My credit, however, is even more abysmal than my rental history.
I have to make an appointment with Seattle Housing Authority and explain to them that I don’t have an eviction, but only because the case was dismissed without prejudice. I was upfront about that with my current place, and they were fine with it, but they want me to look for permanent housing, which is more strict. It’s silly that a lot of agencies that find housing for formerly homeless people are so strict about evictions. Isn’t that how a lot of people would end up homeless? They get evicted for financial reasons? I would understand that they wouldn’t want to house someone who got evicted for having a meth lab or for noise complaints or for domestic violence or for being filthy, but jeez, I just wasn’t able to work anymore. I suppose a more responsible person would move before it got to that, but I didn’t have anywhere to go and I had a lot of stuff and nowhere to put it (also, I was physically and mentally ill at the time) so I stuck around almost as long as possible. I was never served with papers, but according to the court record, the first attempt at service was approximately three hours after I moved out. I sold most of my furniture and used the money I made from that to rent a truck and move my stuff into Psycho Roomie’s garage. I’d left a bunch of stuff on my doorstep for Salvation Army pickup, but they didn’t realize that I’d abandoned the property until later.
I had to meet with the apartment case manager today, which means I didn’t really sleep last night. I’m trying harder to get a real case manager/therapist and hopefully I can get an appointment soon. I left a message with the new hire at my agency, but she hasn’t returned my call yet. I really need one by next month or there could be trouble.
