Estate and mortgageEvicted With Nowhere to Go
You couldn"t afford to pay the rent this month, but you were too scared to approach your landlord. Now you"ve come home to find a bright yellow Eviction notice taped to your front door. A million things zoom through your mind. What are you going to do? You can"t afford to make the rent payment on your own.
You can"t afford your rent... but you can"t afford to ignore the situation either. You should seek assistance immediately after receiving an Eviction notice. Waiting and worrying will only intensify the negative situation. If you"re lucky, you have friends, family members, or a local church that can all pitch in and help you out... but sometimes this simply isn"t possible.
If, for some reason you can"t find help through family or friends, and you are unemployed or didn"t make enough money this month, you will need to investigate some government assistance programs to find out whether or not you qualify for financial aid.
The Department of Human Services emergency assistance program may be able to provide you with some relief. If your family has not received an emergency assistance check within the past 12 months, and you do not receive worker"s compensation (ADC or GR), you may be eligible for a special payment equal to one month"s regular welfare check. This check can take care of the missed rent and utility bill.
Otherwise, you should visit your local welfare department. If you qualify, a representative will become your case worker. This person will work the details out with your landlord--taking some of the pressure off of you. If you wish to stay in the apartment and the landlord wants you there, too, welfare will have him sign an agreement saying they can send him a check for the rent.
If you want to move, or your landlord won"t agree to let you stay, welfare can help by paying for a security deposit, utility deposit and the moving costs for your new apartment.
For more information on local outreach programs, visit the Emergency Food and Shelter National Board Program"s web page.. There you will find a box where you can type in your zip code and find the program nearest to you.