This afternoon, a small group of protesters showed up outside the Old Town office of Home Forward, (formerly known as the Housing Authority of Portland), to protest an elderly couple’s eviction from a housing complex on North Vancouver Avenue.
The 11 or so protesters came from the Portland Solidarity Network, an activist group that focuses on housing issues. They said Home Forward unfairly booted Gary and Julie Frost from their apartment in the 74-unit Humboldt Gardens complex and accused Home Forward of punishing the Frosts for raising hell over wheelchair accommodations that were at first not delivered and then delayed.
The Portland Solidarity Network’s Gerald Lunn said his group got involved in the Frost’s plight two weeks ago in January, and later presented a formal protest letter to Home Forward. He said other residents of the complex have complained about similar treatment and that “a lot of people have a lot of fear about making requests.”
A message to Home Forward late this afternoon wasn’t immediately returned; we’ll update if we hear from them. Update: Home Forward spokeswoman Shelley Marchesi told the Mercury she was unable to comment on the Frosts’ eviction saying, “We don’t talk about residents’ situations because of privacy laws.”
Beyond contacting the Portland Solidarity Network, the Frosts have also reportedly filed a complaint with the state Bureau of Labor and Industries, which handles housing discrimination complaints.
The eviction date itself, according to Lunn, is set for end of April. Lunn says he and the other members of the Portland Solidarity Network hope to get the Frosts into Section 8 housing vouchers by then.
Doesn’t sound like an eviction if the date isn’t until April. It sounds like a no cause notice to terminate tenancy. Which is legal, unless it is discriminatory or retaliatory.
I hope that Home Forward provides the Frosts with Section 8 housing. Thanks to the Mercury for shining light on the vulnerability of low income residents in public housing. Many people suffer from the negligence of Home Forward and do not complain for fear of losing their housing.
@Around – I imagine that if this was an illegal eviction, these people would be fighting in the courts instead of protesting on the streets, right? They’ve making an appeal over and above the letter of the law.
The picture shows how hard they’re fighting
But, aren’t the apartments REQUIRED to have wheel chair accessability? Isn’t handicapped accessability always required for a certain number of all units in a building? The Persons with Disabilities act or something passed in the what the 70’s? Am I in an alternate universe?
@Firemonkey – I’m no lawyer, – I’ve only taken the city’s landlord training class, so I may be way off. But I think the key phrase is “required to allow reasonable accommodation.” Something like installing a ramp up the front porch would be considered reasonable, but retrofitting the building with an elevator probably wouldn’t. And in either case, the cost of the installation is born by the disabled tenant, not the landlord, and the tenant can be required to return the building to normal when they vacate.
So the law is a lot less rosy than I’d expected! Their point was that tenants who required accommodation can be GREAT tenants to have, because after they pay to install that ramp they’re likely to stay for years and years.
That’s for existing structures. There may be new building requirements for new construction, but I’ve got no idea. When were these apartments built?
@Reymont – You’re right with regard to private landlords and tenants with disabilities. However, the rules are different for public housing, and the provider receiving federal funding (in this case Home Forward) bears the cost. This FAQ is a good overview:
http://portal.hud.gov/hudportal/HUD?src=/p…
Here’s one relevant part:
“When an applicant or tenant requires an accessible feature or policy modification to accommodate a disability, a federally assisted housing provider must provide the feature or policy modification unless doing so would result in a fundamental alteration in the nature of its program or an undue financial and administrative burden. See 24 CFR 8.4, 8.24, and 8.33 for further requirements and guidance.”
Next picket is March 21st
Come to our picket in solidarity with Gary and Julie Frost
We hope to see you there, we need as many people as possible!
Where: Home Forward Office (135 SW Ash)
When: 3:00pm this Monday the 12th
Why: Gary and Julie Frost, disabled residents at the Humboldt Gardens apartments, repeatedly requested that Home Forward install handrails in their unit. The reasonable request was denied then delayed, and as a result Gary was seriously injured in a fall. After filing several complaints, and standing up for the rights of other residents, Home Forward has retaliated by evicting Gary and Julie. Home Forward’s Director of Real Estate Dianne Quast must provide Gary and Julie with Section 8 vouchers and permit them to remain in their home until they obtain suitable housing. Until these demands are met, Gary and Julie, along with the Portland Solidarity Network, will take further actions.
I am struggling with similar issues in public housing here in Portland.
People should understand that *all* process and determinations are internal to Home Forward; the laws and policies regarding tenants in the State of Oregon and Multnomah County are stripped from tenants in Home Forward public housing. What is more, this is not apparent in the leases. Somehow, policies and rules that can be interpreted to the preferences for HF and changed on a whim by them are all administrated, audited, and adjudicated by HF, with their decisions as standing as final, with no outside redress.
The only areas that have some sort of external oversight are public health and safety. Bedbugs infestations for example.
really, these guys could possibly take legal actions. i hope they do so with private attorneys since the state seems like it has a conflict- some programs are partly funded by the state or financed by them…. and why aren’t you talking to the HUD federal Inspector General, Auditor or whatever their prosecutorial arm is called? they do investigate and prosecute abuses. Portland’s housing authority is ripe for some HUD investigations on more than one front anyway. Their p*ss-poor policies and misuse of funding are far from what it should be and out of line with appropriate purposes and goals. These are instead serving to cause long term homelessness on a record scale in portland, even though the funding is there and also some policy changes alone could help house many more and get more fed funding. PDX Home Forward is being seriously mismanaged by their oversight personnel and key top decisionmakers imo.