CHARLOTTE — A Charlotte family that relies on Section 8 says they have to be out of their home by the end of the month even though their landlord acknowledges that they didn’t do anything wrong.
Keyana Chisholm told Action 9′s Jason Stoogenke that things were looking up for her family. They have been living in a northwest Charlotte house for almost a year and she just started a new job.
“My kids, they love being here. I got a big yard in the front and the back,” Chisholm said.
But this month, she says her landlord sent her a letter saying the way the current market conditions are the “rental amount has increased,” so he’s not renewing the lease, and they must be out when it’s up on June 30. The landlord did make a point of saying it was “at no fault of the tenant.”
In other words, this is one more side effect of Charlotte’s hot housing market.
Chisholm says she could stay if Section 8 paid the difference, but she showed Stoogenke emails saying it will not cover it.
“I want to stay … My mindset is not ready to move,” she said. “I actually want to start crying because I work so hard. It’s been a hard road, and I worked so hard to get to where I am.”
Stoogenke searched Mecklenburg County property records and the landlord is right. The value jumped from around $68,000 to roughly $118,000 in just four years. Chisholm says her landlord is worried about the taxes that go along with that.
Stoogenke found a recent federal housing document that recognizes “rents have risen so quickly ... voucher holders are increasingly unable to find units” within Section 8′s price range.
The government sets new rates every year.
Nationally, they went up about 10% for this year, but hot cities such as Charlotte saw extra bumps.
In Chisholm’s zip code, three-bedroom houses (what she rents) went up more than 14%, but nowhere near the nearly 74% her landlord’s property’s value went up.
Stoogenke asked the landlord if he wanted to weigh in on this issue, but he did not respond in time for this report.
Stoogenke asked Section 8 officials if they have any advice for Chisholm’s family. They did not offer any advice. The only comfort they could offer was that this family isn’t alone and that they should be able to transfer their Section 8 money to a new place without starting the process over.
At this point, that’s what the Chisholms think they’ll have to do.
(VIDEO: Gaston County woman struggles to stay off streets, find affordable rent)
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