ARCHIVES

Relocation Rights Contract

by  

The Chicago Housing Authority announced in June that they would meet with former residents who didn’t receive the contract, which gives them the right to return to their old neighborhoods. A number of residents who moved between October 1999 and March 2001 did not receive the Relocation Rights Contract, which gives them the option of returning to a mixed-income community after they are built on the site of old developments.

Under the CHA Resident Relocation Rights contract, all residents who were lease compliant in October 1999 have a right to return to a new or rehabbed unit after redevelopment. Residents who relocated with Housing Choice Vouchers (formerly known as a Section 8 voucher or certificate) in late 1999, 2000 and early 2001 did not receive a Relocation Rights Contract because the contract was not put into effect until March 2001. Read more »

Tags: , , , , , , , , , ,
Categories: Uncategorized

Shocking Electric Bills Update

by  Assistant Editor

In the March/April issue, I wrote about extremely high electric bills that many of the residents in Robert Taylor Homes are faced with.

Some low-income residents have bills from $1,000 to $20,000. Many residents are in shock as if they have been struck by lightning when it comes to these high light bills. The high light bills could make them “lease non-compliant” and then they will not be eligible for replacement housing.

Many Robert Taylor residents can watch the storm of demolition and relocation from their windows; they watch the surrounding buildings falling and being demolished at a rapid pace. Many of the residents don’t know which way to turn or where to run for cover or for help. Many of them are expressing great concerns about where will they live. Read more »

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , ,
Categories: Uncategorized

Shocking Electric Bills

by  Assistant Editor

Many Robert Taylor residents are suddenly finding themselves facing extremely high electric bills, bills in the $10,000 range and higher that can make them non-lease compliant and ineligible for replacement housing.

CHA is going through a $1.6 billion Plan for Transformation that states if a resident is found non-lease compliant, they may not be relocated to another development, a scattered site unit or the same development or receive a Housing Choice Voucher (formerly known as Section 8).

A tenant can be found non-lease compliant if a tenant’s utilities are not paid up. One young single mother of three, Lithia Henderson, said, “My electric bills are sky high. How do they expect for me to pay this $11,000 light bill?” Read more »

Tags: , , , , , , , , , ,
Categories: Uncategorized

A Smooth Transition For Section 8?

by  

When a number of Chicago buildings began opting out of the project-based Section 8 program earlier this year, many people worried it would cause another homelessness crisis like that of the ‘80s, when low-income families witnessed friends, neighbors and even relatives wandering the streets without shelter. But tenants, their advocates and government agencies are reporting that everything is going well so far with respect to the change from project-based Section 8 subsidies to enhanced vouchers.

Holidays are fast approaching and, as a veteran activist since the 1960s, I have been stressed out about this new threat and not just because I am personally affected. I am currently living in the Del Prado in Hyde Park, one of the buildings that chose to opt out of the project-based Section 8 program. These buildings were built or rehabbed with government support and, in return, the government demanded that the building owners keep at least a part of the building as low-income housing. Once the building owners pay off their loan from the government, they can decide whether or not they want to stay in the program. The owner of my building chose to get out of the program. Read more »

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
Categories: Uncategorized