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The senseless government shutdown is wreaking havoc on the lives of low income seniors, people with disabilities, families with children and others throughout the country. THREAD 1/
Patrick and Karen called me two weeks ago, worried about what the government shutdown would mean for their affordable home. They live in senior housing in Montgomery, Alabama, surviving on an income of $1,500 per month. 2/
If landlord raises rent, he & his wife will cut back on food & meds. To save $5 he pays neighbor to drive them to Walmart, they’ll walk the mile instead. Last week, Patrick’s landlord told him he was raising rent b/c of shutdown. cnb.cx/2DjSj2I 3/
After eleven years on a waiting list, Joyce received - just before the shutdown - her much-needed Section 8 voucher. Despite her best efforts, she hasn’t yet found a landlord in San Diego willing to rent to her. 4/
Landlords tell her they won’t rent to voucher holders while gov’t is shutdown, b/c HUD may not pay them what’s needed to cover their costs. Joyce told me she is “sick” about possibly having to return her voucher, unused, back to the housing authority. 5/
Jessica, a S8 voucher-holder in Florida, contacted @NLIHC to tell us her landlord is refusing to renew her lease b/c of shutdown. He put a 3-day “notice to vacate” on her & neighbor’s doors so he can re-rent the unit to a market-rate tenant by Feb 1. 6/
Jessica says, “So now I’m forced to find housing for my child and I with no money. I have never had an eviction on my record, but I will soon because I don’t have the means to move that quickly. Please help!” 7/
Patrick, Karen, Joyce and Jessica are among thousands of the lowest-income seniors, people with disabilities and families with young children in at least six states that have already been threatened with impossible rent hikes and eviction. 8/
Last week in AR, tenants in 40 developments threatened w/ notes on their doors that read: “due to the shutdown . . . you are responsible for ALL of your rental amount. Your complex is not in the business of furnishing free rent.” bit.ly/2W9qaCJ 9/
Another USDA RA property manager told tenants in 28 buildings in MS, LA, AK, MO: “as of Feb 1, all tenants will be responsible for full basic rent.” She told a reporter she is preparing to begin eviction proceedings on her tenants. bit.ly/2S5nCpW 10/
When @NLIHC learned of each threatened eviction, we shared stories w/nat’l press, mobilized on social media, engaged Congress & shone a spotlight too bright for landlords to withstand. Eventually, each backed away from their threats, at least temporarily. 11/
But we know other eviction threats are happening across the country. As a guest on CSPAN’s Washington Journal yesterday, I heard stories of several callers about their threatened evictions from HUD-subsidized housing. c-span.org/video/?457054-… 12/ 
The risks to low-income renters grow by the day. As of this week, 700+ Project Based Rental Assistance (PBRA) contracts, responsible for housing nearly 70,000 deeply poor seniors and people with disabilities, have expired. nlihc.org/issues/budget/… 13/
About 40% of a subset of owners are mission-driven nonprofits that will do all they can to maintain affordability for residents. They’re using available reserve funds to cover costs and contemplating taking loans when their reserves are depleted. 14/
More than half of the expired PBRA contracts are owned by profit-driven companies, whose patience with a prolonged shutdown may wear thin faster. 15/
In all of these properties, lease agreements expire along with the contracts. State and local laws may offer protections for some residents, but their vulnerability to potential eviction grows by the day. 16/
USDA contracts are also expiring, and the Department says it lacks sufficient funding to make payments on 700 USDA RA contracts, impacting about 17,000 households. nbcnews.to/2TXJUXY 17/
Residents of HUD or USDA properties should review @NHLP overview of tenancy rights here and, if threatened with eviction, contact @NLIHC, @NHLP and a local legal aid attorney. nhlp.org/wp-content/upl… 18/
People living in transitional housing funded through HUD Continuum of Care grants – survivors of domestic abuse, people who were formerly homeless - also find their homes at risk due to the shutdown. 19/
Local nonprofits & shelters that manage programs can’t get necessary HUD $ during the shutdown and have little-to-no savings to fall back on. @szabush @HHCKy tells @NLIHC & @GlennThrush she’ll soon have to stop paying landlords nyti.ms/2FFU0d6 20/
Meanwhile, @HUDgov could get the CoC money out to local communities TODAY, but is choosing NOT to. nlihc.org/sites/default/… 21/
And then there are the federal workers and contractors who are not getting paid. The lower on the federal pay-scale they are, the more untenable it becomes to not have cash on hand to pay the rent. 22/
While some fed workers will get back-pay when gov reopens, gov contract workers – who sort mail, clean offices, serve food, do janitorial work - won’t. They are at immediate risk of evictions from missing work and pay for a prolonged period. 23/
An overview of all the latest impacts to low income renters and the HUD and USDA programs that serve them is here, compiled by @NLIHC and CHCDF: nlihc.org/sites/default/… 24/
170 members of Congress have written to @HUDgov and Trump laying out these harmful consequences of the government shutdown to low income renters throughout the country nlihc.org/sites/default/… 25/
The challenges faced by low-income renters were severe prior to the shutdown. Now their housing vulnerabilities, and the country’s housing crisis, are exacerbated. The harm to critical programs, too, will be significant and potentially irreversible. 26/
It is unconscionable for Congress and the Administration to risk the homes of tens of thousands of our country’s lowest-income and most vulnerable renters over a political battle that has nothing to do with the programs that keep them housed. 27/
We must end this disgraceful shutdown before the harm to tens of thousands of low-income people, and to the crucial programs that serve them, becomes irreversible. Stay tuned for @NLIHC nat’l sign-on letter demanding the gov’t be immediately reopened! 28/28
