Hello,

My name is Bailey. I and my father, Richard, and our 3 animals are facing homelessness on Sept. 5th, 2025. We currently have a reservation at a hotel for a month, until Oct. 4th, 2025. That will be our "home". We are trying to raise enough money to get a security deposit and first/last months rent for any apartment or rental property we can find. The average rent in our area is anywhere from $1,700-$3,000/mo. We are interested in a couple of apartment units that would be comfortable for our family that are around $1,700-$1,900/mo.

We are facing sudden homelessness because of the Homeowner, who is my ex partner.

My father recently moved here in late May as he was living in a rodent infested rental in Minnesota that was making him and his dog extremely sick. Instead of his Landlord fixing the issue when it was first reported a year earlier, he and the upstairs tenant were given illegal eviction notices, which the Landlord tried to bring my father to court for, but since the Landlord had made an amendment to the Lease post eviction notice, the court dismissed the case and anything towards my father has been expunged. With the Homeowner's permission, he was allowed to reside on the property. I currently work delivery, and have also recently gotten a second job care-taking for pets, however because of the events that have been going on, I haven't been able to work that job yet. My father has been applying to various jobs since he has moved here, though it's harder to find work as most of the jobs here are related to the military base and require secret clearance. But he remains determined. He is also in the process of getting Medicaid and speaking with a Disability attorney, as my father has severe Pectus Excavatum (essentially the entirety of the rib cages fold in on the body and collapse, and can lead to heart failure or fatal respiratory issues) and would like to apply for SSDI. (He also joins me when I am working my main job to help me out, which I very much appreciate!)

In late June, the Homeowner asked me for "another shot" at a relationship, I declined. Two weeks later he started dating an attorney, and said things with her were "moving real fast". In late July he promised my father and I that we can enter a rental agreement for the property as he wants to move in with his current partner. One day later he gave me a notice to vacate. He then had his attorney/girlfriend send me a notice of representation in regards to the notice to vacate, she also listed monetary demands from him (that broke two agreements he and I have had previously) and that if I don't meet his demands that court action may be filed. They never filed. One of the demands was to take ownership of my vehicle (which is my job) as he is listed as co-owner on the title. However, I have exclusively used it since the day I bought it. He has his own vehicle that he is the sole owner of.

I replied to his attorney/girlfriend with requests and questions, which went unanswered for 5 days, which is when I sent a follow up. Still no reply. A couple weeks later I got an e-mail from a new attorney representing the Homeowner. When I asked what it was in regards to, he told me the notice to vacate, and demand for my vehicle. I noticed though, it was missing some details that his previous attorney mentioned. I haggled with his new attorney and eventually got to the agreement on Aug. 28th, 2025 that his client will not take possession of my vehicle or ask for money, but I and my father (who had not received a notice to vacate all this time) have to be off of the property on or before Sept. 5th. I asked for more time but was told his client remained firm.

It gave us about a week to pack up all of our possessions (which I am still doing, as we were dating when he bought the house and about 90% of the furnishings and items in the house are things I brought with me from Ohio) and try to find shelter for 2 humans, my father's dog, my special needs senior dog, and my kitten. I have since asked for more time again, but have not received a reply.

During the span of events from early July, my father and I have been spending out of pocket to try to remedy serious issues on the property that the Homeowner has been ignoring since he bought the house in 2021. We've spent about $2,000 in materials over the span of a month and a half, as well as on materials to fix lesser issues, like the broken oven the Homeowner would not fix. We made fixes to a side area of the house that flooded immensely, and made an attractive walking path. We also found mold and rotted structural framing inside of the house in multiple places. We have spent the last 3 or 4 weeks repairing the first floor bathroom, replacing moldy rotted and disintegrated wood framing, moldy and damp drywall, and trying our best to make it more moisture proof and mold resistant. We discovered however that flooding from outside was getting under the floor inside the house in multiple areas, and that structural framing on the outside is also moldy and rotted. We do not have the money to fix that for him, free of labor costs. He has been notified of everything and will not do anything about it. Living in this house is a risk to the health and safety of all living beings inside of it. I am making a report to St. Mary's County Department of Health, as I know he intends to try to rent it to strangers, or try to sell the house "as-is" and it does not meet the livability requirements of the county.

Aside from allowing our free labor to go on for him, and the monetary demands he was making, he was becoming more and more aggressive towards me. He hasn't been on the property too much since early July, but every time he has been on it he has talked down on me, or treated me like I was "lesser". He stopped interacting with my dog and kitten, which he had named himself the "step-dad" of, and has been "co-parenting" with me. He has also installed cameras in the house for "security". However the only cameras installed are in the hallway looking at my bedroom and where I go downstairs. In the living room where I play with my animals and rest on the couch. In the kitchen where I'm at doing chores and making food for myself and the animals. And the front door outside, looking at the spot I usually park my car. That is it. He did not install any at the other front door looking outside to the front lawn, or the entrance room inside of the house from that door, or the laundry room or the side door from the laundry room looking outside, nor any at the back doors looking to the backyard. If it was for "security" he has several blind spots someone could easily break in from. The only cameras he put up are in places that I frequent. His girlfriends also has access to the videos of the cameras, which is even more uncomfortable for me. He also aggressively demanded me to give him the spare keys to "HIS CAR". Which I reminded him was technically "ours", but I used it exclusively. He said it was HIS car, so I need to give him the spare keys so he can get his belongings. When I asked what belongings he got angry and told me two items, one was a check engine error scanner which I had forgot was in there, the other was a dash cam that he kind of forced on me (as I kept telling him I don't want it, I want to get my own, but he insisted and kept handing it to me while we were in the driveway so I just gave up and put it in my car). But the way he mentioned them was so aggressive, it was like he was accusing me of stealing his property. His whole character has changed in the span of 2 months. I've known him for 10 years, I've never seen him this erratic and aggressive and paranoid. He mentioned at one point his girlfriend's house is "basically a pharmacy" so I am wondering if she's got him hooked on drugs, since he has drastically changed as a person.

I don't feel safe in this house. It potentially has imminent collapse due to rotted structural framing, or flooding in the well and potential dangerous bacteria in the drinking water, or the constant exposure to black mold. But I also fear the Homeowner. Even my father feels unsafe around him, and my father hasn't been directly targeted.

I want to get my family out of this place regardless, and I wish we had a little more time so we could secure a more comfortable shelter for us and our animals, but we do not have that. Because we have spent so much money and time on a property that isn't ours, as well as all of the work I have missed trying to deal with his legal demands and doing labor to remedy property issues, I have not been able to accumulate much money. And the money I do have, and the majority that I will be making, will go into costs for the hotel, storage unit, and basic necessities that we need. It will take a while for me to be able to save enough to get us into an apartment, and when the month reservation is up at the hotel, the rates will increase as it will be on a nightly basis.

We have contacted the Salvation Army, family, friends, the County and State Social Services. Housing vouchers for the State are a year long wait currently, and the County has been overwhelmed with applicants so their housing voucher waitlist is currently closed. The Salvation Army can only help tenants who are in a current lease agreement and are at risk of missing rent/utility payments. I have also contacted emergency shelters in the County, however I have not heard back from any of them.

I am working, my father is looking for work, and we are reaching out to every possible avenue we have access to for help. Unfortunately it has not been very successful. So I am creating this as another avenue for potential help to get us into a long-term shelter. Anything at this point would be greatly appreciated, even if it's resources we can look into.

Thank you!!