Community Corner

Displaced by Sandy, Some Renters Face 'A Nightmare'

Limited local options have resulted in people waiting or moving out of county to find secure housing.

Two weeks ago Tia Savoy had her first meltdown.

Nearly six months of moving from place to place, calling family and friends looking for a place to sleep for a month, a week, a night, finding a bed for her daughter — she'd take a couch — had taken its toll. 

Her Seaside Heights apartment had been destroyed by Hurricane Sandy. As a renter she had few options immediately after the storm, the only certain one being to leave it all behind. She made calls that were not returned. She answered ads for new apartments, only to find that listed rents had magically gone up a few hundred dollars when she arrived in person.

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She was turned away when landlords found out she had a Section 8 voucher, making up excuses almost on the spot as to why they suddenly no longer needed to rent their apartment.

So, nearly six months after Sandy arrived on New Jersey's shore she sat on the middle of the floor in a friends house and began to rock back and forth.

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"It's been a nightmare, an absolute nightmare," she said.

Many New Jersey residents are still attempting to reach normal following Sandy with varying degrees of success. Their homes are still toppled. First floors still gutted. Insurance checks have been delayed and flood maps have lead to even more unanswered questions.

Count them among the lucky ones.

Some residents have fallen through the cracks. Section 8 and low-income renters have struggled to find adequate housing solutions following the late-October storm. Apartments are too small and have too few rooms. They're too far far from public transportation, too far from family and friends. Too far from home.  

Steps have been taken to lend these people a hand, including the state's issuance of 1,000 new Sandy-specific Section 8 vouchers called Special Admissions vouchers and the Federal Emergency Management Agency's Transitional Shelter Assistance program, which has housed families in hotels and motels throughout the state, but time is running out and frustration has become the new normal.

On Saturday, the Department of Community Affairs hosted a Sandy Relief Rental Fair aimed at helping displaced renters find a new home. Held at the intermediate school in Toms River, the fair included state officials and representatives from about 40 different properties scattered around New Jersey. 

Even before doors opened to the fair at 10 a.m. a line of expectant renters had formed, hoping to get first crack at the best available properties. Among the first 100 or so who entered the cafeteria, organized and color coded based on the number of available bedrooms, about 25 had found a new apartment, according to Greg Vida, acting director of the DCA's Division of Housing and Community Resources.

It's a good percentage, especially considering the immediacy of it all, but it means there's still a remaining 75 percent left looking for the right fit.

There are a number of hurdles for perspective renters, Vida said, but perhaps the most significant is understanding that finding a new place to call home could mean leaving a number of things behind, including family and a job. 

"The location is the big issue," he said. "People have grown up in a community and they feel very comfortable there, that's where their family lives, that's where their support system is. They're hopeful that they can still return.

"We have to tell them, perhaps they need to expand their search."

Savoy settled down at one of the lunch tables with an application for an apartment in Barnegat. It's more than half an hour from her previous apartment in Seaside — half an hour without traffic — but it's what's available right now. 

She'll have to wait for someone else's approval now, again, but at least she's got contact numbers and information on other listings, should this one fall through.

The options that remain are limited, however. Several of the properties on display offered beautiful accommodations and amenities not usually available to lower income residents. Just one caveat: most of them were reserved for those 55 and over.

Suitable apartments could be found, one and two bedroom, but the renter had to be willing to travel, in many instances to another county. 

Keila Diaz, on hand representing SNA properties, signed three leases by noon Saturday. The apartments her company has available make a fine option, she said. They've got the size renters need and more importantly they're affordable, just the minor detail that can make all the difference for someone searching for an apartment.

And another thing, the apartments are in Camden County.

"(Renters) say they'll take anything and they're grabbing anything that becomes available," she said. "They say it's so hard to find apartments in this area that meet their needs. They've waited until the last minute and now this is like a last resort.

"It's a long drive (to Camden County), but now they're willing to make it."

It's hard to quantify how many displaced renters find themselves in situation that's similar to Savoy's. According to a recent FEMA report, there are just 219 families that remain in hotels and motels as part of its TSA program, which has been extended for the final time to the end of the month.

While many in the TSA program have transitioned to a more permanent housing solution, some residents have just been recirculated into the couch-surfing circuit. 

And then there are those who don't belong to the TSA program or haven't even applied to FEMA for assistance.

"The fact that someone's not in the TSA does not mean they have stable housing," Vida said.

Leslie Small, like Savoy, is a single mother with a young daughter. She said she was in the transition program but was forced to leave her hotel room when the funding from FEMA stopped coming in. She still has yet to find an apartment, or a landlord who will rent to her. 

"I've found some (apartments), but the landlords always tell me they need different things," she said. 

Ultimately, Vida said the goal is to find displaced renters available housing. Those who weren't able to find suitable apartments at the fair won't be abandoned. Exit surveys were conducted to gauge need.

Individual case management will help place some residents in the upcoming weeks. And partnerships with organizations like FEMA and apartment listing websites like Socialserve.com will make it easier to pair renters with apartments.

Just maybe not where you'd want to be.


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