Atlanta - Foreclosure Epidemic Ensnares AHA Voucher Holders
ATLANTA – Voucher holder Tamika “Cookie” Brewer, 38, received a phone call from AHA just hours after Atlanta Progressive News did a story on her pending eviction, she said. AHA advised Brewer to show up at AHA for an appointment the next day, she said.
When Brewer got there, instead of an individual appointment, she was brought into a group meeting, she said. When it was over, “That man said, everyone here for foreclosure remain seated… There was a lot of women in there, a lot of them, some of them were old, some of them were young. There was probably 25 of us [remaining].”
Brewer was surprised to learn she was far from the only AHA voucher recipient to be evicted because their landlord didn’t pay their mortgage to the bank.
AHA issued Brewer a voucher for a new two bedroom apartment, meaning for a lesser amount, she said. “I have to come up with my own deposit,” she says, even though her previous landlord seems to have disappeared with Brewer’s and AHA’s money. She also needs to find the new apartment and move there herself somehow.
Moreover, Brewer says AHA knew about the possible foreclosure even before she received the letter from the mortgage company, but AHA has never come to her with an explanation of what was going on–even to this day.
“Housing Authority ain’t offered me nothing. They really did me nasty. They should be responsible for making sure I get moved into a decent location. They should be responsible for relocating me physically. I feel they should [help with a new deposit] with all this stuff coming at me, with me only getting SSI and they know that,” Brewer said.
Brewer said the man she met with, Jeffrey Blunt at AHA, said she could call him at the AHA “call center,” and if he wasn’t there, a receptionist could answer her questions. Brewer says neither of these things are true. “You can’t ever get through, really.”