posted on July 20, 2005 08:55:31 AM new
I know this is a stretch but I don't know where to go with this. To make this Ebay related, I cannot manage my auctions while trying to deal with this. I have a little family member that is located in the Salem, Oregon area who was just told she has 30 days to move out of her house. She has 5 kids and is a single mom. I am in California and she's in Oregon. It's really difficult to help her when I am so far away. She needs a fairly inexpensive 3 - 4 bedroom house to rent. There is very little listed in the want ads in her area. If anyone is located in that area and knows of house she might be able to rent or even buy or if you know someone that is in that area, PLEASE let me know. You can contact me at [email protected]
posted on July 20, 2005 09:06:06 AM new
You should put her in touch with her local social services - they can point her in the right direction. Here's a link I found:
http://www.oregon.gov/DHS/aboutdhs/structure/caf.shtml
Sorry can't seem to make it in to a link, you may need to cut & paste in address bar.
[ edited by carolinetyler on Jul 20, 2005 09:07 AM ]
[ edited by carolinetyler on Jul 20, 2005 09:08 AM ]
posted on July 20, 2005 09:16:33 AM new
Thanks Caroline, I will give her the link. I know that she is getting some kind of assistance. she is already on "housing assistance". Poor thing, she is going to school and working as well as being a mom to the kids. I just visited her about 2 weeks ago. She's a great mom. I don't know how she does it.
posted on July 20, 2005 09:33:51 AM new
When I look at the referring page, it's actually Children's Services -- not social services per se -- who deal mostly with child abuse, neglect, etc. Generally those agencies are focused on locating housing for their clients. Perhaps craigslist.org -- post a want maybe?
If you do a google, you will see that the lack of affordable housing is the number one problem in Salem. That probably means that even subsidized housing or government units are difficult to get.
Does she have a network of friends -- work, church, school bulletin boards, etc. who can help? If she is getting housing assistance, perhaps whatever agency is providing this can give some leads. And if she is in school, perhaps they can help?
posted on July 20, 2005 09:47:01 AM new
birgittaw, that's interesting that you said that because that is exactly what she told me too. I couldn't believe it. I don't have too many resources down here to help her. I tried craigslist and a few others but came up with nothing. She said that the housing assistance put her on a list for a place to live. It could be months or years until they find one. She said that normally what happens is that the family has to find the housing and then they help pay for it.
I don't know if this helps but she is in the Independence area right outside Salem. (Independence being a city)
posted on July 20, 2005 09:58:34 AM new
Difficult situation -- I did find this one, where income guidelines apply. May be a start -- perhaps they have other leads on similar properties?
posted on July 20, 2005 10:04:59 AM new
Worst case scenario could be that she and the kids could stay in a women's shelter for a bit? What a tough problem for a single mother who's trying to make it. She has my sympathy.
posted on July 20, 2005 10:16:34 AM new
She has a job, even got a promotion but raising 5 kids is tough enough. Being a single mom makes it really tough. Thanks so much for the support. I am the only resource she's got. Too bad I am so far away.
posted on July 20, 2005 10:25:42 AM new
Look for a Commercial, industrial building,,,Quiet,,,low profile,,,perhaps a shop type situation. Fancy shops in some towns have upstairs living quarter. MAH on another thread, Ah! my too quiet thread,,,just mentioned he lives in apt inside an industrial all metal building. Ya gotta do ,What ya gotta do....I live in an industrial building myself, would NEVER even consider an APT????? 25 year been doing this...
What about a trailer house?!!!!!!!!
one of us will think up something, time people! we are under the gun,,,TIME!
posted on July 20, 2005 10:31:15 AM new
Jack, you are funny. Can you imagine 7 - 12 year old boys running around a Commercial, industrial building ! ??? Wouldn't be too quiet
posted on July 20, 2005 10:36:35 AM new
A 1200 sqft warehouse is bigger than SOME houses right here in LA with a $300,000.00 price tags on them and the neighbor staring you in the face every night washing dishes,,,hi Helen, Oh. Hi Judy, how was your day, yack, yack, yack,,,,
Ya gotta do, what ya gotta do, and do it quick!
Good luck!
edit,,,,and with this suck economy most likely pretty cheap.....MAH mentioned $350? Me,,,,,$750.00,,,but I rented out part for $300.00 I am ONE happy camper....
posted on July 20, 2005 10:46:00 AM new
And OH!!!!!! if and when you do go the WH,,,,direction just say it's gonna be an ART Studio,,,,, Clean, quiet, sounds sooooooo,,pleasant,,,,, to the landlord.....hahahaha, then a week later move in the Wrecking crew........
posted on July 20, 2005 11:11:53 AM new
The problem with Salem is it is about the size of a pimple on your butt. And it's relatively closeness to Portland, which was just named the third most expensive city to live by Forbes magazine. Would there be a possiblility of her moving towards the Eugene/Springfield area? Although that could be tough there as well. There are many volunteer homeless people live in that area. My thought was it is only an hours drive up the interstate to salem from there. Corvallis could be a realistic shot though.
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Alive in 2005
posted on July 20, 2005 11:40:40 AM new
I live just outside of Portland - While Portland is VERY expensive, one of the suburbs is really a lot less expensive. The housing market is on fire here, but here in East County, we are significantly less expensive that Portland. I know my house transplanted into Portland (I live about 15 miles east of downtown) would increase the value probably by $150,000 - Fortunately we are not like LA yet, but we are getting there.
Because of the urgent nature of this, she may want to consider a 3 bedroom apartment til she can find something that fits her needs. At least in this area, there are a lot of apartment vacancies.
I can relate to being far away to help. We just moved my mother-in-law to the area last week, as she was in LA and it was just too hard to deal with all the problems she has from 1000 miles away.
One more note, if finances are a problem, besides government assistance, she may want to consider something like modestneeds.org
posted on July 20, 2005 12:06:48 PM new
My mom lives in Salem but is not in a position to help your relative. Salem is much larger than a pimple, Stone!! Independence is about the cheapest place to live in the area -certainly cheaper than Eugene. Probably the best way to make her needs known is to contact local churches, social workers and post on community bulletin board..Craig's list is a good idea.
posted on July 20, 2005 12:08:52 PM new
Right Neglus, it is the 3rd largest city in Oregon, 120,000+ - It's small compared to Portland, but it is a decent sized place.
posted on July 20, 2005 12:28:05 PM new
The corporate limits population is 120,00 but Marion county has a population of 262,800. My mom lives in West Salem and isn't even included in Marion county stats. Salem sprawls all over the place - population is much larger than the city population would indicate. Cheap housing is not impossible to find though the cheapest would probably be in the area fondly referred to as "Felon Flats" (near the state prison) - you DON'T want a relative with children living there.
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posted on July 20, 2005 12:41:42 PM new
Worst case scenario is she stays in contact with social services about her situation. If she cannot find a place in time, around here they would give a voucher for a motel for a few nights so they are not in the streets. Also, I've seen ads in the paper under wanted to rent or roommate section along the lines of "Single mom of 4 working & in school looking for similar to share house" I've heard of it working out well - they could try working different schedules and share in childcare responsibilities along with splitting the bills. Kids would have to share rooms, but it would cut the cost of rent. Maybe local churches would get involved in the situation as well. You really need to be creative and aggressive in this type of situation. It is not hopeless. Let us know how she does though!
[ edited by carolinetyler on Jul 20, 2005 12:43 PM ]
posted on July 20, 2005 01:36:06 PM new
Tell her to contact the local red cross - not that she'd necesssarily qualify for help from them, but they usually know of all of the agencies in a given area and may be able to give her some direction.
Does she know any realtors? They sometimes know of rental properties that are about to become available.
posted on July 20, 2005 03:01:54 PM new
Thirty days? Was this a formal eviction or just a notice from the landlord? If it was just a notice, I'd stop with the rent and sit it out until I was formally evicted. That would buy some time.
I was in a similar situation once years ago. Fortunately, I had friends that allowed my children and me to stay with them temporarily. Then again, I only had two children. Many people here gave great advice! The social service agencies would be the place to start. The department of children and family services would be another place if there is one near her. Since she has minor children, she qualifies for a lot of things people without children would never qualify for.
you never want to "stop with the rent" in a situation like this...there's no surer or more tried and true way to get oneself thrown out, if the matter's going to court at all in small claims court or an eviction process, than to have a judge see that the rent wasn't paid...you continue to pay the rent during the time you're there to enhance any possible legal "standing" there might be to remain.
as a former landlord - and someone who'll never own rental property again because of all the headaches involved - i once had to have a family evicted. i filed in small claims court, the case was heard the next week (this is a rural area so not a heavy caseload), the judge heard that the renters were living there without the rent being paid, and gave them one week to get out. i said "thank you" and the renter said "but i have the rent, i can pay it" and the judge said "you should have thought of that first."
not at all unsympathetic to the salem, oregon plight but the rent does need paid to preserve one's legal rights.
You are right, of course. However, 30 days doesn't seem to be a long enough time to save money to move if you are continuing to pay the rent. Don't different states have different laws with regard to how long a landlord has to give a tenant especially one with children? I was never evicted. I left voluntarily when I lost my job many moons ago.
posted on July 20, 2005 03:28:17 PM new
You are all so sweet and kind to try to help me like this. I don't know what to say. You are all so wonderful. Thank you so very very much
ebayvet, I took a look at modestneeds.org . It sounds wonderful. I'll tell her tonight when she gets home from work. That may help with the deposit for a new place. I looked at the link that birgittaw had. On it I found a townhouse in independence. I called them too. They have a house for rent in the area. Don't know if she can afford that or not but it may get her started. She actually lives in a college town, monmouth, that is next to Independence. She said alot of people don't advertise their rentals because it's too expensive for them to do that. They just put up signs and people grab them up very quickly. She said she is going to drive around this weekend to see if she there are any around where she lives.
Please spread the word to anyone you know in that area. Maybe someone knows someone who knows someone (you get the idea) who has a house or apt to rent. BIG HUGS TO EVERYONE!
posted on July 20, 2005 03:41:36 PM new
It seems to me that the first item to be checked is whether the eviction notice (if any) has been properly served. If not, your daughter can not be forced out within 30 days. When the proper notice has been properly served, then, and only then can the court consider the eviction. Also, the landlord does not have to accept the rent. If he has, there are other considerations, which enter into the service and eviction.
Also, what is the reason for the eviction? While we at this board do not need to know, the court would need to know.
As usual, I suggest an attorney. There are services such as legal aid, that your daughter can contact. They will assist her in the legal matter. Otherwise, she may owe money after the eviction, if she does not obtain legal representation.
posted on July 20, 2005 03:49:23 PM new
I am actually dealing with a similar situation. My work hours were cut drastically in June and July and I fell behind in my rent. I received a magistrate court eviction notice (taped to my door) Saturday evening. I have until July 28th to pay what I owe to the housing authority (and they tacked on the magistrate filing fee as well) or I will be evicted.
I have paid over $300 in the past 2 weeks of the rent that was due (which is all of July and $100 of June) and I am still flooding.
My parents told me no help from them, eBay has been VERY slow ~ I'm already working 2 jobs so there isn't much more I can do. I dont' qualify for help from the county assistance office because I make $200 a year too much (I don't even make $12,000 a year between 2 jobs), the Salvation Army has no funding, Community Action has no funding ~ I've run into brick wall after brick wall after brick wall.
My sympathy to your friend because I know exactly how it feels. Only I didn't get 30 days. I got 12 days.
posted on July 20, 2005 05:07:18 PM new
The last two places I rented the same thing happen to me 30 to move,they had sold the place no place to go which is how I ended up here,this place wasn't even finished yet. I have heard if a person has children that even with a court order it can take 90 days to evict the person. My landlady ran into that the last tenant she evicted.
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Two men sit behind bars,one sees mud the other sees stars.
posted on July 20, 2005 05:46:48 PM new
HelgaGPataki, I just spoke to her. She said that if you are on "housing" and have reduced income, your rent that you owe should be reduced within 30 - 60 days. You need to contact housing authority for this to happen. If you don't contact then as soon as you have a reduction in income, nothing gets reduced. I hope this makes sense. Hope this helps.
I'll be thinking good thoughts and prayers for you too.
posted on July 20, 2005 06:18:51 PM new
I wish her luck in finding another apartment. However, I still must emphasize the following: "legal aide, a lawyer, legal aide, a lawyer, legal aide, a lawyer." Have I repeated it enough to be noticed?
