Bad luck turned into fair housing discrimination!

BIG UPDATE:

WE ARE MOVING INTO OUR APARTMENT, thank you everyone!

We spent the last 3+ months in a local hotel, and lost about $8000, plus application fees and extra costs that came from not being able to cook, wash laundry, or exist normally due to living in a hotel.

The appeal being made led to the eviction judgement being withdrawn and dismissed.

The settlement agreement required us to move out at the end of January, and we left with no savings, having just fought all the drama previous. We didn't get our security deposit back until the full 45 days had passed, and by that point it was basically all spent in hotel costs and bills.

We have some updates to make for offline donations to show, but this devastated us financially.

Update! Thank you SO SO MUCH for the outpouring of support, we are in the final less than 24 hours to appeal the eviction decision. GFM donations from this point won't reach us in time for the appeal bond, but they will help with the other costs mentioned. If you want to get us support for the appeal by 2PM EST Dec 12, please use our account links that we can hopefully transfer faster. Appeal bond is only allowed to be cash in VA.

CashApp: $guylinerandwhisky

Venmo: Melissa-Lipscomb09

Paypal: [email redacted]

Hey guys! It's that nerdy couple you keep seeing all over your Facebook! We've both been struggling a lot more than most of you may realize, and things have piled up enough that we are against a wall and asking for help. October came together with all your help, and we have both gotten jobs, just not quite enough hours! The road continues, but we have an immediate need which forced us to raise the goal.

We went to court on the 30th of November, prepared to fight false claims that I was not an authorized occupant, and also that we hadn’t paid October’s rent. We went in prepared that we would see victory by telling the truth and showing meticulous records that continue to shed light on the false claims that were made in the summons we receieved. Due to a technicality, the case was lost, and we must raise $2000 by Dec 11 (ten days from the hearing) just for the right for appeal. Virginia has something called an appeal bond, which must be paid similar to releasing a prisoner on bail. This practice is up for repeal, but sadly it binds our hands. If that money is not raised and paid to the court, all rights to appeal are surrendered.

Melissa (Kate to some of you) and I both left our towns in search of new opportunities, fueled by the power that a new love relationship can bring. She was rebuilding her life after leaving an abusive marriage and then being hurt by several friends who originally claimed to be safe resources. She'd moved several times in the span of just months. Instability like that costs a lot of money and wreaks havoc on one's mental health while juggling the added complication of healing from multiple major eye surgeries and procedures associated from Retinal Detachments in both eyes.

When we came to Virginia, we expected a few things:

*She had alimony projected to come in.

*I would be able to continue delivery work and streaming under the Snack Ops Unit brand that I built in Philadelphia.

*We had freelance work for a few people that would soften our landing and pay the initial costs of getting settled.

Suffice it to say, when we landed, things didn't go as planned.

Mel's back alimony took several months to come in, and we struggled to find work in our new town after the work we were initally promised did not come to a gainful situation. She's landed an awesome new job as a clinician working with autistic kids, but hasn’t gotten clients assigned yet, and had to divert countless, stress filled hours to trying to pay the landlord and now mounting a legal defense against discrimination. Meanwhile, the bills keep coming. She will need to keep the car to drive the kids around town and go back and forth to the office. As well as attending training, gathering materials for and visiting the children she'll be working with.

While I am able to make deliveries, I can only do so with my partner driving. Snack Ops I remains in Philadelphia with the rest of my possessions, and Snack Ops II suffered a broken tail light, fuel pump, carburetor, and dead battery shortly after purchase. Once I can do this, I'll be able to make a similar rate to what I did in Philly, keep streaming the deliveries, and build the Snack Ops brand. I have pivoted back to my technical roots and have two jobs: A Tech Expert at the local T-Mobile store, and a Patient Services Coordinator at ivee, a small company that provides IV drip therapy to patients in their homes.

We've been fortunate that local food banks have been able to keep us fed, coupled with the help from some very dear friends in private. But the curveballs just kept coming a little faster than we could dodge. We are doing Doordash outside Mel's normal hours when her delicate eyes can handle it, and I am continuing to stream at times when that isn't possible to keep the momentum going while doing gig work, since Twitch just started paying me out for streaming.

Our plans for the funds are:

*Back rent/utilities. (Nov/Dec) November’s rent was pledged by local charities, but was refused by the landlord’s property manager, citing “a fairly firm policy against third party payments”. This is considered discrimination on the basis of source of funding by Virginia Fair Housing, and we have opened up a complaint with the DPOR of Virginia.

*$2000 appeal bond, which will be returned to her on winning the case, or disbursed to the landlord if the appeal is lost. This must be raised by Dec 11th.

*Credit card debt that we floated on while moving and settling.

*Phone plans. (required for all of our work)

*Vehicle insurance for both of us.

*Overdue car payment for Mel.

*Attorney fees for the pending appeal, if we can find someone who will take the case. This has proven to be hard, as all but one attorney in town that we spoke to has either stated they represented the landlord in some manner, or has no interest in helping us.

*Repairs and registration for the Snack Ops bikes.

*Payment arrears for expenses accumulated during the transition to VA.

*Certification expenses for our new day jobs.

*Moving my belongings from Philadelphia.

*Winter clothing for us both.

Thank you for reading all this. With your support, we should be able to recover and thrive again. While our goal won't get us out of the woods completely, we should be able to make a pretty good dent that means we won't lose our home and transportation. We just want to get back on our feet.

Thank you for reading, with all our Love!

-Jesse, Melissa and Lita (woof woof!)