The woman believed that she was being treated unfairly by a local housing authority. The woman has been on the waiting list for subsidized housing for a couple of years, and her name finally rose toward the top of the list.
Many people do have long waits for subsidized housing because there is not enough available to accommodate the demand. Three days before contacting the Ombudsman Office, the woman received a letter indicating her application was denied because of her landlord-tenant history. However, no details of this alleged negative history were provided.
The woman insisted that her denial was made based on inaccurate information. She had already spoken to a staff person at the agency who maintained the denial.
The Ombudsman contacted the agency and presented the woman’s intent to appeal the denial within the allowed number of days. The Ombudsman assisted the woman to complete the paperwork required for her appeal. Time passed, and the woman became anxious because she had not heard the outcome of her appeal.
The Ombudsman then contacted the agency and learned that the hearing was overturned, and the woman had been placed back on the agency wait list. The staff person explained that the woman had not yet received a notification because the staff person responsible had been out of the office on sick leave.
The Ombudsman gave the woman the good news, and the explanation of why she had not yet been told what had happened. A few weeks later, the woman reported she was getting ready to move into a new apartment.
The Ombudsman column, a production of the Joint Office of Citizens’ Complaints, summarizes selected problems that citizens have had with government and social services, utilities, schools and nursing homes in the Dayton area. Contact the Ombudsman by writing to 11 W. Monument Ave., Suite 606, Dayton, OH 45402, or by calling 937-223-4613, or by emailing ombudsman@dayton-ombudsman.org or go online to www.dayton-ombudsman.org.
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