Desperately Seeking Help in Ky.
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WHEN HOMELESSNESS SEEMS TO BE THE ONLY CHOICE - PLEASE HELP IF YOU CAN
2/21/2017 UPDATE: Hi, everyone. Just wanted to let you know that we have already saved $550 of our goal, so now we are only needing around $450 and we will be in the clear for this, we are looking to get a place by the weekend, so any hep would be amazing, thank you all ,so much! And remember, if you live in or have relatives in Kentucky, please call or email your local Congressman about URLTA. Kentucky needs safe, habitable homes.
Asking for help is never an easy thing to do, I am used to taking care of my family and now, every day is just one step closer to us being homeless. Yes, there are much "bigger" issues in this world that need attention, but as a family, this is everything, this is the biggest - a home without worry or safety concerns for our children, a home without the cruelty and dominance of a landlord who is not held accountable by law.
I am so overwhelmed right now on how to proceed, so I will try to not let emotions rule me and just keep to the situation we face today. Here is the basics of our story.
We decided to leave Illinois in the Spring of this year, longing for the rural beauty of Kentucky, so we packed up our little old RV and headed for what we thought really was paradise.
Summer went well, we spent a lot of time with or two children, Ana which will be 5 in January and Alex who will be 4, in January also, we spent a lot of time exploring the Kentucky wilderness, camping from border to border, I worked a few summer jobs to keep up with costs, it was a rewarding experience, but winter is not an RVers friend in the Midwest, so we knew we had to find a reasonable place to call home for the winter.
So, we used the last of our savings and found a mobile home to rent until Spring, when I had a job opportunity in Florida, and we would head that way. not worrying about the weather.
We found, what we thought was a good priced place in Hardin, Ky. Yes the place needed some repairs, but the Landlords stated "it would be done" They did replace part of the floors, patchwork, really , but as soon as they got our security deposit and got a carpet rolled back , we could not get them to finish. For the last month, we tried, messaging them over and over, talking to her every time we see her, since then, there have been several issues concerning the floors, the breaker box falling out of the wall, heat ductwork that is rotted out and heating the underneath of the home, hard-wired smoke detectors not working, the bathtub having no floor under it, so it is dangerous to stand in as you wobble like it is a waterbed, no doors on either bathroom and as for the floors, we had to rig the bathroom and kitchen sink to work, still no cold water in the bathroom. The roof is leaking in several places also. We have fallen through three times, in three different rooms, one resulting in me having to see an Orthopedic Surgeon here, for a torn rotator cuff and tendon/nerve damage.
People say to me - "Why didn't you check the place out before you moved in?" That is an easy thing to say - but in Non-URLTA Kentucky, it is not easy to do.
I.E: Our situation, paying a security deposit, and first month's rent AND paying $300 electric deposit, that required a lease to turn it on...just for starters, so how do you see if things work with no utilities - you don't. Sure you can back out of the lease, but Ky. Landlords are not required to give you your money back - there is no law pertaining to such situations in non-URLTA Kentucky. So over a thousand dollars down the tubes just to "check a place out" - who can afford to do this? Not renters that are barely getting by , and so goes the pattern, Landlords don't have to make homes habitable, and the poor have few choices.
I have made a good portion of my living as an artist, for 20 years I have sold art around the world as a supplemental income, now I find that my arm is damaged due to catching myself, and I have to have steroid shots (2 already) and need to see a Neurologist and possible therapy. This is devastating to me, as now I have to limit something I have been used to for so very long. UPDATE - My arm is getting better, thankfully.
Finally, after many times contacting the landlord, her husband shows up, and we immediately start to record him as he walked into the house, he said, as we showed him where we fell through the floors, how there is no floor under the bathtub and it is dangerous, and the breaker box has not been fixed (this is just a few things) He said, and I quote " I got your safety concerns, you got 30 days to get out" We then told him this was not legal, he has to go through the courts and this is a retaliatory eviction, he then said "I am not going to sit here and listen to this b****t, now you got 20 days"
We told him we were concerned with our children's safety and we will see him in court, until then, we are not going anywhere, he said, quoting again "you'll think that when your water gets shut off!" This is just a few thing he said, as we mention his "workers" only did half of what they were supposed to do and we have not seen them in a month. Turns, out, he said he was too busy as they had a house to build and this is not his concern. Well, we found out he has a construction company - here is an example of their handiwork, an appeal they lost for faulty building and repairs in 2008 http://law.justia.com/cases/kentucky/court-of-appeals/2008/2006-ca-001714.html
This is who we are dealing with.
So , the very next day, the Landlord's wife Karen shows up with a written eviction notice, for (as stated on it) non-payment of rent (our rent is not even late yet according to our lease) and we have no other recourse. This is where the truth finally starts to come to light. Kentucky is one of 2 states in the US that has not enacted some sort of Landlord Tenant Laws statewide , that are enforceable. The URLTA, or Uniform Residential Landlord Tentant Act has been made so that each county or city can decide whether or not they want to sign it into law, and only 4 of the 120 counties in Kentucky have, none on our side of the state. So, a landlord in Kentucky can rent a deathtrap and there is no protection for tenants whatsoever, this is a cruel fact, as I have been over all of the Statutes, time and time again, and there is no legal defense for a tenant in 116 counties in this state. Period.
Please feel free to look it up, landlords do not even have to provide you with running water unless they fall in one of 4 counties, it is primitive and brutal, and I have now become a fighter and I will tell our story to anyone who will listen and we can change things and have a statewide implimentation of URLTA in 2017, as it passed the House by one vote this year, but the Senate did not even bother to convene on it. Here is an overview of what URLTA means to Kentuckians - https://www.kftc.org/sites/default/files/docs/resources/more_reasons_to_support_urlta_handout-_rev._2015.11.10.pdf
So now, we are faced with the fact that we spent our last 2 thousand dollars on electric deposit, rent and security deposit and furniture, beds, etc. and have nowhere to go and not nearly enough time to save up the money to go somewhere safe, even if it is temporary, anywhere but here. I currently have basically everything we own of any value for sale on feacebook, as I do not know what else to do.
I am running into political brick walls, as the amount of renters in KY is extremely high, 32% of households. I have researched the statistics, Kentucky is even the leader in the nation in the amount of homeless student-aged children, that fact is telling a horrible story, as evictions are extremely high due to the power that the landlords have here. There are a few rays of hope, but those are nice people at legal aid wanting to help, with the legal aspects, but as we really have no defense as the habitability conditions have no legal affirmed act in the law, there is no fixed definition of "habitability".
So, here we are, I will get Legal Aid if I have to, as I am overwhelmed with the case law I have been reading, and there is so much to interpret and research the appeals, as there is more often than not, appeals.
I have actually heard through some attorneys that they have seen judges in big Ky cities, have 50 evictions a month and let one counterclaim through a year from a tenant,that tenants just really do not win evictions in Ky. courts due to no statutes to protect tenants in non- URLTA counties.
As for our fundraiser, once we reach our goal, the remaining donations will be transferred to the Homeless and Housing Coalition of Kentucky https://www.hhck.org/healthyhomes/ , in hopes that it helps their fight for URLTA in Kentucky, statewide.
I am trying to ask today for some help. Not much, just enough to get our family a security deposit and first month's rent somewhere else and utility deposits. A head start towards recovery. We are going to stay in Ky. for now, as the incident with court will take until the end of January, and we are filing a counter-claim as well. But I will be finding something more secure, URLTA compliant county or one of the 15 towns.
I know I don't know many of you who will read this, you have no reason to believe this is what is and has happened, but I am going to get the press and everyone I can to help change this situation. There are too many people going through this. You will be able to follow our story, my twitter is @NonURLTAinKY, I am going to keep pushing the issue, we need help, a lot of people do.
If you have read all of this, thank you, I know it was a bit long-winded, but I had to tell everything, in a condensed version, honestly. And I understand if you don't want to help, that is ok, just remember if you live in Kentucky or have family who do , try to let a senator or congressman know what is at stake here. Thank you again, we really appreciate your time.
UPDATE:
Went to court for Landlord illegally filing Forcible detainer in Marshall County District Court on Thursday, Jan. 26th. As of now, it seems that Judge Telle is in favor of the Landlord, even though she perjured herself several times in court, he did nothing. After saying " We have a verbal lease starting on Nov. 7th, 2016, and that there was no contract or lease" as stated on her complaint and summons, under oath, then the judge turns to us and asked if this was true, we said no, presented a lease filled out by the Landlord, dated the 13th of November, the judge asked her if this was the lease, and she said "Yes". The judge did nothing. She blatently lied under oath, more than once, (within a minute's time period), this is Perjury in the First Degree under Kentucky law.
So why is she not in jail??? Then the judge proceeds to not throw out her Forcible Detainer, but continue it until we are in default according to the lease. Which is not until Feb. 13th, btw.
This, also, was wrong, as it should have been thrown out and she should have to re-file it, let alone, the false filing of the FD and the Summons is classified as Perjury in the Second degree, but, again, he did nothing.
Then, as I am a co-defendant, the Judge refused to allow me to speak simply because my name was not on the Landlord's complaint, because she lost or threw away the lease, my roommate was the only name she could remember, thus the only name on the FD complaint, EVEN THOUGH I am a lease-holder, as entered into evidence in court.
This is wrong, it is all wrong and something needs to be done. Judge Telle did not do his job correctly, so what are we to do? The #URLTA / Landlord-Tenant Act needs to be enacted statewide in #Kentucky , as this type of abuse of the system should not be tolerated.
We are getting ready to be homeless because a Landlord broke a lease by lying in order to give us an eviction, filing for "non-payment" 27 days before we were in default, we weren't even late on rent, let alone in default according to our lease, but she will still get her way, even though she commited a felony in court. WHERE DOES THIS END............
Organizer
Ant Lee
Organizer
Hardin, KY
