Nothing ever gets better......

[Crazywulf]

My entire life since I was diagnosed with depression at around 8 or so, I kept getting told the same phrase over and over "Things will get better".   I want to know when it supposed to happen as I am about to turn 40 and things only seem to get worse year after year.   

I just found out after being on the waiting list for nearly a year which was extremely accelerated due to being on SSDI that I was denied for public housing..    The absolute bottom of the barrel for a family to start over and they denied me.     Where does that leave me and my son?    He asks me if we will ever have a home again and I just have to tell him hopefully soon but I don't see any possible way around this.     Public housing was the very last hope we had.   Sure there is section 8 too but that's going to be at least 5yrs before I reach the top of those lists and they are ran by the same people who denied me from public housing sooo yeah can't count on that

How can I ever make my sons life somewhat normal?

[Just Me]

I don't mean to pry. But why were you denied? The rules are pretty much the same for all government based housing. A long waiting list does not mean it will take a long time for your name to get to the top. People move, forget to update their contact info, etc.

[Crazywulf]

I was denied apparently because I was evicted out of another public housing last year.     When that happen I was told I couldn't live in public housing again for 6 months and thought everything was OK.   Even when I first applied they should have known as they told me I still owed like $20 after the eviction and I told them no problem at all to pay that off when I get accepted.     Hell the last I talked to her she even said "I think we have a place open for you" then said I have to wait for letter which showed up a couple. Days later saying I was denied

[Just Me]

You need to call back and ask if you paid the $20 or made arrangements to pay it and kept those arrangements. If they would accept you.  If I remember correctly, you cannot owe a debt to previous government housing without making arrangements to pay the debt and keeping the arrangements. The reason for eviction may or may not matter. In some situations there can be a time frame for waiting before you can apply again. Unfortunately, applying and being accepted are not the same thing. But you do need to find out the facts.

[Helper]

I think you need to pay off the balance from your prior public housing before you will get accepted into new public housing, not just say you will pay it if you are accepted.

I just looked online at some reasons for denial for Federal & state public housing & Section 8 (but I don't know your state obviously)

For federal & state public housing, they will look at rent paying history (so I think they consider a balance owed as an issue). 

It looks like they may (but are not required to ) reject your Section 8 application if you have been evicted in the past 5 years from a public housing program or owe money to any public housing program or ever terminated from the section 8 program (2 separate line items).  So, paying off the balance would remove one of the negatives on your application

[Just Me]

They can reject a applicant if they owe back rent or money for damages. In the past it was years and not months. But I thought the rules might have changed. I agree about it being better tp pay the money you owe instead of making arrangements to pay it out. Especially with it being $20.

[forumposter100]

Crazywulf,  I'll be a realest for you.  If you were evicted from public housing you had to do something pretty egregious or someone in your household did.  Depression is a terrible thing but it doesnt give people the excuse or right to not live or act civilized. 

[Just Me]

Crazywulf,  I'll be a realest for you.  If you were evicted from public housing you had to do something pretty egregious or someone in your household did.  Depression is a terrible thing but it doesnt give people the excuse or right to not live or act civilized. 

Owing money to public housing is enough, by itself, to get a person evicted. It is a Tenant Responsibility and the tenant agrees to it when they are approved.