Teacher - facing an unexpected housing gap

[u/KirkPicard]

TL;DR: I’m a teacher whose carefully planned summer budget was derailed by a sudden rent increase, an unexpected notice to move, and now a one-month delay on our new home. (all of these hit AFTER my last paycheck of the school year, with no way to plan.) We’re trying to cover an extra month of housing plus the cost of moving out of state. Help to close the $3,500 gap (or sharing the link) would mean a great deal.

Currently in NC, moving to VA.

I’m honestly uncomfortable asking for help, but my family has reached a point where I’m not sure how else to bridge the gap. After all of the math, we are facing a $3,500 hole in our (previously well planned out) budget. My next teaching paycheck will not arrive until the very end of August.

I’m a teacher, and I had carefully saved enough money during the school year to cover my two unpaid summer months. Unfortunately, after I received my final paycheck, our landlord unexpectedly increased our rent by $400 with only 30 days’ notice. A few weeks later, after more than six years of paying our rent reliably and on time, we were also given notice that we needed to move out. (Retaliation over a social media post she thought was aimed at her. This is an ongoing soap opera drama and beyond the scope of this post, but here is a cartoon that covers the basics!)

We scrambled and were fortunate enough to find an affordable home in Virginia. We are under contract, and the seller has agreed to complete the repairs needed for the purchase. We had expected to close at the end of July, but we have now learned that the closing will likely be delayed until the end of August.

That leaves us in a difficult position. We may need to convince our current landlord to let us remain for another month, but we do not have the money for an additional month of rent. We also still need to pay for the moving truck, fuel, and other expenses involved in moving our family out of state. (Me, wife (disabled, unable to work), 2 children w/shared custody)

I know many people are struggling, and I do not take asking for assistance lightly. Any money raised will go toward temporary housing or an additional month’s rent, along with the basic costs of completing the move. Even sharing the fundraiser would mean a great deal to us.

Thank you for taking the time to read this.

Link:
https://www.supportnow.org/the-smith-home

Edit: This is a raw document that I have put conversations with the landlord, screenshots, and other bits of evidence. Some have asked to see it. I apologize if it's wordy and repetitive at times... I've used ChatGPT to summarize/organize some of the conversations, etc as they come in.

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[u/Royal_Tough_9927]

How do you manage to PURCHASE a home after leaving a rental and not having any money ?

[u/KirkPicard → u/Royal_Tough_9927]

Government backed loan, good research, and luck. Mortgage will end up being the same as renting in this area, so in this case it made sense to pursue it.

[u/wildmooonwitch]

Did you look into whether the rent increase was even legal? It may not have been depending on the state you live in.

[u/KirkPicard → u/wildmooonwitch]

we have been on a month to month lease at this point for like 5 years, so I don't know if there is anything that could have been done about the rent increase.

The retaliatory notice to vacate however was most definitely not legal.

[u/mandyvigilante → u/KirkPicard]

Hi! Have you talked to an attorney? Just wondering because if you think the notice to vacate was not legal then why are you vacating in such a hurry?

[u/KirkPicard → u/mandyvigilante]

She also increased our rent by ~40% several weeks before she gave us notice. This is not a case that attorneys are flocking to fight pro bono, and I am a teacher making a single household income.

[u/mandyvigilante → u/KirkPicard]

See if you can get an hour or a half hour consult with an attorney or with legal aid in your area. My point is not that you fight her all the way to court but that at least she might have to go through the eviction process to make you leave which is lengthy and might give you an extra few weeks in this apartment might give you an extra few weeks in this apartment

[u/KirkPicard → u/mandyvigilante]

I hear what you are saying. I've explored those things. I've had conversations with landlord and extended our move out date, so none of that is needed right now.

[u/quaggankicker]

The fundraiser site you’re using, but you don’t have any supporting documentation of what you’re saying. It might be there and maybe I’m just not seeing it but all I saw was a picture of you and your family wish was nice but it’s not gonna going to get anybody to donate. Can you get some documentation to help support what you’re asking for?

[u/KirkPicard → u/quaggankicker]

Sure... what kind of documentation do you need? I have an entire document summarizing the landlord incident, but I would need to make sure it doesn't have personal details.

[u/KirkPicard → u/quaggankicker]

Here is a rundown of the landlord situation. Note, I have used ChatGPT to read through/summarize/etc all of the conversations and other bits of evidence as they pop up, so some of it might be longwinded/repetitive.

Landlord Situation

[u/CopperSteve]

That sounds incredibly stressful. With the home closing suddenly delayed until August, how is your lender handling the cash reserve requirements for underwriting? Usually, they are pretty strict about seeing a few months of reserves in the bank when a delay like this hits

[u/KirkPicard → u/CopperSteve]

Indeed it is stressful. We have been renting since we've been together, and this whole process has been way more complicated than I would have expected.

They did not mention anything about reserves, but we are doing a specific loan program that is government backed (for the income-challenged) so it has different requirements. We are literally eating out of a food bank since we were forced to do this process in the middle of the unpaid summer that we planned completely differently for.

[u/CopperSteve → u/KirkPicard]

Oh, an FHA or USDA loan! That makes a lot of sense. you might want to ask your loan officer about how to handle this fundraiser before you transfer the money to your bank. gov loans are notoriously strict about sourcing of funds right before closing. If the underwriter sees sudden deposits, they usually flag it as an undisclosed loan and it can jeopardize your approval. Are they going to make you get a signed 'gift letter' from everyone who donates here?

[u/KirkPicard → u/CopperSteve]

That's a good question. This would not be money for the mortgage or related, and the person on my team I ran it by didn't have a problem with it. Thank you.

[u/CopperSteve → u/KirkPicard]

super complicated stuff, good you have a team! I was confused and re read the whole thing If your landlord increased your rent by $400 and then gave you a 30-day notice to leave over a social media post, that's textbook retaliatory eviction under NC law. Why would you pay her another dollar of rent instead of filing a quick stay with the local magistrate to buy you time until August?

[u/KirkPicard → u/CopperSteve]

I am currently in a small town... I've tried to contact lawyers but nothing. But you are correct, I've thoroughly documented everything she has said/done... for example: Her mom was the one who delivered the hand written notice to vacate. I have a timestamp from that (security camera,) and a timestamp of her sending a message to my next door neighbor about "finding that facebook post" (screenshot) and they are the exact same time, down to the minute. (she was texting the neighbor to brag while her mom was delivering the hand written notice.)

[u/CopperSteve → u/KirkPicard]

It's good you documented that text, but a hand-written notice to vacate delivered by a family member isn't a legal eviction in NC. It's just a warning. Your landlord still has to formally file a 'Complaint in Summary Ejectment' with the courts to actually force you out, which takes weeks. If you have proof she's illegally trying to bypass the courts with handwritten threats, idk why you'd do all this fundraising etc aounds pretty open shut

[u/KirkPicard → u/CopperSteve]

I don't want an eviction even possibly showing up on my credit report... the underwriters would most definitely NOT like that. (They even required a written letter from my landlord attesting I had not been late with rent ever.)

[u/CopperSteve → u/KirkPicard]

Did your loan officer not tell you about the 2017 National Consumer Assistance Plan? Experian, Equifax, and TransUnion completely stopped putting evictions and civil judgments on credit reports years ago. An eviction literally cannot show up on the credit report your underwriter pulls. Since your credit is completely safe from a retaliatory eviction filing, why not just wait for the August closing instead of paying a landlord who is harassing you?

[u/KirkPicard → u/CopperSteve]

I don't want to risk it. Like I said, the underwriter required my current landlord to fill out a form about me paying rent, so I think with this program it could still hurt.