LeaseSleaze2019
from
SituationalAssessmentTemplate2017
Introduction/Definition/etc
PortManteau (sp?)
word play on the names,
being too clever, to remember later,
but LegalSleaze
(bastardized legalese
some specialized jargon that only
lawyers really know,
and not plain language
so that informed consent,
transparency and other trickery
a specialization on FinePrint
which for older adults and those
with visual impairments,
say a drug store sale items
on the bottom shelf /row,
cannot even see to read...
Body
Original Text
Trickery by a basically
all Latino rental office
in the barrio
abusing, exploiting, harassing, attacking,
and just plain lying
VAWA (Violence Against Women's Act)
"We don't kick you out for that",
or very similar,
opposite of what is says in writing,
so how can you do a good faith agreement
with someone(s) who are lying to your face
at the beginning of the interaction?
Random people
(last time an unknown
contractor guy on the computer
at the desk, learn later possibly
teaching how to do access security keys?)
hanging around
during your financial,
personal information,
"interview" for lease signing...
Menacing by the other staff person,
supposedly a manager,
(most times the physically
verbally and emotionally abusive
maintenance guy)
but never introduced herself,
staff names are not in a complex,
door, desk plate, nor site newsletter
coming over like going to take over,
something whispered to her,
in the other room
with the door open
(which would have been a more protected place
for private information like lease signing),
many times it's talking in another language
(Spanish)
No, you can't have a copy of/
take out the papers you need to sign,
they can't leave the office
but i've done it before,
you have x days,
in the heat/ storm/ mysteriously closed office
we are taking a vacay on your time,
not providing service
while huge security holes left open
for days/ weeks, flooding/ etc [
and/or interruptions by unknown people,
"monitored" by unknown people,
pretending to be god/ playing god
barking orders,
telling people what to do,
even you are under arrest,
but no one physically there to perform the arrest,
and if you leave, what happens?
resisting? a fugitive?
half the time you can't even tell
who they are taking to
the language is so vague,
the person talking at the time?
(and/or make somone talk more
so they have to breath whatever vape/
spray/ stuff is going around,
possibly even bug spray/
and/or tear gas like stuff)
or the witness/ victim?
male/ female pronouns sometimes included,
but remote arrest may not be legal,
and without seeing a badge/ ID
uniform/ police cruiser,
a reasonable person would not sure it's legit,
someone pretending/ gang / teen/ others
pranking/ impersonating, etc problems...
So a stranger (white woman, mom like
but unknown and uncommon around here)
walks in lost id/ found id trying to get it back,
someone had stolen her ID?
she thinks she knows who/ where,
accusing me? anyone, unsure how she lost it?
thinks someone went in and stole it?
(a side business of stolen/fake IDs?)
and she's going through ID's & cards like
a deck of playing cards,
i know i've seen it,
JustShutUpAndSign
We don't have time for you to ask questions
about his, the contractor guy is there
supposedly teaching something,
this only takes a few minutes,
your concerns are not important,
you are not important,
dignity and respect are entirely lacking...
Just Shut Up and Sign is the policy
around here...
With threats of eviction,
court action, further harassment, etc
if you don't...
BackDating
According to the nasty gram,
you have to go sign things, or else
Supposedly found things missing from years
previous, the new fiscal year,
and/or new staff, whatever,
goes back a few years,
possibly during the other abusive
staff people's time frame,
but it took them that
long to find problems?
What HUD investigation information
would be found in a place run like that/this?
I'm supposed to use other dates than
today for signing?
That's illegal...
I say so, and interruptions happen,
never responded to
directly, or just laughed,
like we do illegal things all the time...
RoboSigning
Like the housing crisis,
RoboSigning Loans,
and just shut up and sign this
one sided document
while we ridicule and harass you,
snickering about how stupid you are,
By threat of Federal Charges for lying,
and saying in the clauses in the fine print,
too fine to read actually,
probably why they call it fine print,
seniors, limited vision, and interruptions
and you are not really even given time/ quiet,
and can't have a copy to read elsewhere
and come back, no one can answer your questions,
legal advice costs $200-600/ hour,
(+ travel because they would have to come to you...
do you think Legal Aid even does that???)
if you even had the documents to take out
(could get an appointment on short notice,
during the summer/holidays/ with legal aid
not taking cases, very short notice, etc)
and get advice on,
in the first place
(we have done that, but new person,
and this new one says we can't,
we had gone to have lunch,
ask questions amongst ourselves,
create a strategy for dealing with whatever
conflicts, and come back,
but strangers listening in on stuff,
some predatory, (ended up sick
from the food there too)
interrupting and we are too busy,
too important, your concerns don't matter,
you don't matter, lacking dignity and respect)
you have to just shut up and sign,
laughing at that,
no consent in that,
actually under duress,
and not legal,
can't have a copy of what you sign,
copier broken, too busy,
no response to the request/ legal requirement
(Can't be held to a written document you don't even have/
not publicly available, nor given a copy of),
knowing the terms are unfavorable,
and torturous interactions,
all designed to get rid of people/ ethnic cleansing
of non Latinos/ non Muslims,
seniors, disabled,
we don't like you, etc
What you are doing is illegal,
I've told you backdating is illegal,
and yet you are still trying to do that...
Federal documents, while annoying,
one year says you didn't even sign a lease,
and you have to sign a previous year on these,
just sign here,
no clear indication of what even you are signing,
page here, sticky here,
but on what document,
what changes have been made
some "true and correct" as of date
some legal trick,
while bank statement and date dependent
values, still the same days/ months/ years/ later?
so many on the same page that it means what???
What you are told verbally is opposite of
what it says there on the written page
and laughing at you when you point that out,
a hostile environment to say the least,
people coming in behind you,
likely spraying you with something
to make you more compliant,
drugging you to be artificially happy,
for some reason laughing
when were being tortured/
emotionally verbally abused and
threatened at the same time,
we have to have it approved
before we can give you copies,
so if you think of something
during the meantime
that wasn't right,
which of 15 or so pages/ signatures,
years, of back documents some compliance
officer/ person whom you've never even met/
don't have their names,
titles/ locations/ etc
we are going to investigate you,
your information is shared,
including next of kin / emergency contacts,
while gang violence threats, etc
happen, intimidation/ harassment/
people blocking doors, bashing into you,
the average claims of he did something wrong
as ways to create charges against people,
get money /something...
And while you are in the office
someone is going in your place,
"we have the right to go in at any time"
which is illegal entry,
no advance notice,
no written notice
and nothing left saying they were
there, oh, we needed to show a place,
you weren't there...
Claims that they can notify
and/or contact you by phone,
is written into the new lease,
the new person "interviewing"
was not part of collecting the information
on the current lease, so signing with a different
person, who claims it's all the same,
when base template document has changed,
to some landlord association document,
font changed,
etc...
A lawyer i had talked to about the lease(s)
and i got agreement that
you have to be a lawyer to do this correctly,
it is such a catch 22 to say income
Your Section 8 Voucher income?
Not by any plain language sense of the term,
jargon terms are not defined,
One place: TIC: SSI is used,
but if you get SSDI
then it's a different thing,
a whole big federal difference,
and their software says one thing,
SSDI is not even a possible value
on that local/state/ federal software form,
at least with Special Needs Trusts,,
which legally you don't have access to,
an intermediary is between you and the money,
which they approve/ disapprove,
control, not like a checking account,
where you can write a check/ draw on
from a debit card,
even know what the balance is,
by phone systems, etc,
Balance Zero
My balance has been rather negative
and there is no real way to show that on the forms...
What do you owe?
Average balance, is only computed on accounts
that have average daily balance and interest accruing
accounts, if you don't have interest,
no means / methods/ techniques are given for how to
calculate the field, unlike federal tax forms,
specific formulae exist for those,
average by what means?
If my balance is $0.23
and was $121.xx last month,
what is my balance over months?
at the beginning of the month
(say when just get a new amount?)?
end of the month (i.e. after paying bills)
somewhere in the middle of the month,
when checks are outstanding,
verify by phone then,
and looks like more than is there,
only to have things bounce/ overdraft,
and they determine when you are sampled,
not you?
Make an appointment, no only certain bad days
are available...
we are doing the processing of
all the units in the building,
say after the new year,
around tax time,
or building opening / first tenants time,
and then a block of people moved in
all about the same month/ time of year,
and all the renewals are due
about the same time,
staff may get cramping hands on filling out
an application each year,
(do they fill out, and then you are signing what they
did wrong, and can't change it?)
anything they don't like and you are arguing,
call the police, he's a problem,
have the sheriff's office person standing by...
instead of renewal and what has changed,
start over each year,
reapply,
Month To Month
Most _Normal_ people,
after they have lived some place
for say a year, have the option of
going month to month,
but subsidized people do not,
a yearly commitment,
only certain times for a window,
think open season/ re-enrollment of
MediCare time windows
breaking the lease and risking money
low income people
don't really have to risk,
Military exceptions exist,
someone ordered to move
to a different base, for instance,
being deployed
and can break the lease that way,
but few actually are military and subsidized
like that, as incomes higher, live on base,
etc...
No Signing Bonus
Some places, commercially, you might get
a toaster or something (rugs cleaned/changed?)
for signing a lease,
and the "leasing consultant: might be paid/
bonuses/ incentives
on the number of leases signed,
applications processed, etc...
No such toaster, incentive to subsidized...
Only harassment to try to make a space
for someone else, likely Latino, Muslim
someone who they like and doesn't
complain, cause a fuss,
(i.e. make things better), etc...
Basically subservient to the new paid staff
when the staff exists to serve the current
residents not try to replace al l the people
with their friends,
Rent Control vs. WhatEverVirginia Does
So with Amazon
see AmazonVille2018
and others from other locations
(NYC, etc)
Rent Control is a unit based think
afaict, finding a Rent Controlled unit
is like finding gold, they can not increase
the rent (beyond cola like stuff),
people died/ likely killed and people
want that space...
It is, however, illegal to help people with
subsidized housing... Only certain government
people are allowed to help,
that supposedly eliminates the black market
of getting people into a reduced rent situation,
and predatory people dealing in spaces/ units,
for others...
In reality, with a voucher, only certain times
open season, moving into a jurisdiction,
background check, extensions,
finding a market rate place,
and getting an inspection to approve
a voucher, only certain places take a voucher,
on certain units, likely lower floors,
unrentable to market rate people,
under the guise of wheelchair people
need to be on the first floor,
what if the fire alarm went off,
no elevator service, and
need to get out quickly...
Where say someone with autism,
a nervous disorder, abuse/ trauma
victims, paranoia, PTSD, etc
would not want to be
so accessible to the general public,
noises, say street noises, etc...
So, like homeless shelters,
the appearance and public opinion
that there are spaces for everyone
that they are supposedly safe,
healthy, non criminal,
non gang, non drug infested,
prostitution, basically hell holes
like the ghettos created by public
housing projects, non mixed use,
etc, big towers of yesteryears,
scatter housing and supports are
difficult, bus lines vs. rail lines,
transit corridors, and other limited
access places (say Western Fairfax county,
Loudoun (horsey country, can probably have
some , Prince William County, not everyone
there is rich, so some housing likely,
but too far out to get by public transit,
reliably, safely, without hours of commuting,
only rush our in and rush hour out timing
typical of VRE, Metro along some bus lines,
etc... Basically requiring a car, license and driver,
for even the most limited of things...
Modified Text
What's Missing?
What Can Be Found?
What Can Not Be Found?
How To Analyze?
Lenses
Assumptions
Time Limits
Short time frame demands
threats of legal action, etc
for non compliance
when most are on vacation,
have other things to do,
and directly in conflict with reasonable
seasonal demands....
Links
SlumLords2013
RetailDiscrimination2012
HousingCompared2011
ArlingtonHousingCommissionMeeting2011
GamesPublicHousingPlays2010
ArlingtonHousingFirstEvent
Conclusion
Summary of experience or similar
New fiscal year, county and state?
and reviewing records,
trying to make spaces,
likely kicking people out to make room
for AmazonVille2018
mid range income Housing initiatives
and just plain nastiness,
get a nastigram of have to sign by a certain date,
most are likely on vacation,like
August is a big time for many to be out of town,
and in the projects when you are required to
do something to keep a roof over your head,
no matter how much of a hell hole
they have made it, by graft, corruption,
incompetence, etc...
One fairly recent issue was
the sherriff's office
came to a door to do an eviction,
and the guy shot himself, in response,
evictions were on hold for a bit,
the governor may have even gotten involved
but the abuses still happen,
and lives are at risk,
especially in the seasonal and temperature
risks of a Heat Wave, etc...
While lauded at model places,
the administration and feet on the ground
don't match the face value of the housing
ideals portrayed as award winning...
Unlike Montgomery County Renters Alliance
no real organizations seem to exist
to protect the rights of tenants,
like the Bill of Rights which made
George Mason so famous,
so long ago, and in a state with a Law
School at George Mason University,
even in Arlington,
a shame to say the least...
Discussion
A place for feedback on the page presented
What's the worst situations you have had?
what pressures have you had to sign stuff?
Did you have a lawyer look at ti?
Were you told it is standard boiler plate stuff,
only to discover, later, that it's
unfair, unjust, one sided, usuary,
treatury (sp?), exploitive
and not what you were told verbally??
License
Creative Commons Share and Share Alike,
Non Commercial, Non Derivative,
for the whole site's contents
unless otherwise explicitly stated
Page History
20190720 Jerry
- Jerry created this page to
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- Using TempSitUpdating
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