Eye for an Eye
Member
is just gone. I feel so depleted, and the systems that are in place that are designed to help just keep sending me in circles. One phone call after another leads to a phone number I've already called.
For the past two and a half years, we've been fighting workman's comp for a back injury my boyfriend sustained working at Amazon Fulfillment. We're not any closer today than we were 3 months post injury. This is fighting with a lawyer, five unsuccessful court dates so far, a QME, and an AME evaluation.
We have a lawyer at the same office helping to fight to get social security which is damned near impossible at 30. She expects it to take no less than 3 years, and she'll get a max payout of $6,000 from the back pay if we win.
Department of Rehabilitations that works with finding the disabled jobs, said they can't help him with work. They can help with out of pocket school expenses.
I also saw him through weight loss surgery because worker's comp was blaming his injury on his weight, which has only gotten worse as he's lost weight. Which was what three different spine specialists said would be the case. It's a permanent surgery, so every day we still have to follow his eating restrictions. It's increasingly harder the more stress we're under and the non-existent appetite we have.
Just over a month ago we got an eviction notice. We've lived here for five and half years, and never had any problems till one guy's wife finally croaked from smoking. He started complaining our charcoal grill created too much smoke when using the chimney and aggravated him. But him and another neighbor constantly smoke cigars. So the landlord put out a notice that grilling was to be done on concrete patio areas only and we couldn't use the lawn like we have been for 2 summers prior. When they handed out the notice they said "if you don't like, you can leave." Four days after turning in a reasonable accommodation request, we got a 60 day no-cause eviction notice.
On the first they turned the property over to a realtor to be sold. This guy is a jerk as well. We handed him a letter for reasonable accommodations for the grilling and to rescind the eviction notice. He laughed at us, told he doesn't need to give us a reason, and called this bullshit to our faces. I told him I except a written response to the denial by the end of next week.
We've been in contact with rural legal aid - don't qualify because we're not on section 8, living in HUD housing, or in a mobile home.
We've been in contact with HUD discrimination, they turned us over to Fair Housing. Filled out lengthy paperwork with them. Got a phone call back 2 weeks ago and discussed the situation further. She said she'd contact the landlord to rescind the 60 day notice. If they didn't over the phone, then she'd have to mail a certified letter, and they would be forced to give a reason for denying. Never heard back, so I called their office today. Took three hours for their call back service and the lady couldn't even find our case.
We've been in contact with Project Sentinel - the lawyer running the local chapter is quitting next Friday and doesn't have the time to open a case for us. She told us, time and time again, just because it's in black and white on paper (referring to HUD, Fair Housing, and ADA), doesn't mean anyone will listen or follow it. She's seen black and white cases of discrimination and the landlord still win.
We've been given name after name of attorneys in the area. All of them have said they're not taking on new clients or don't deal with the tenant side. We've expanded our search to the larger cities (Sac, San Fran, San Jose), to find a tenant lawyer. We got one call back saying "we can't take your case, but we can give an consult over the phone. 15 mins for $85, but it's not legally binding, just advice."
Then the icing on the cake for me. Last winter I finally went to the student health center at school to find a medication to help with my anxiety and depression. I went through five different medications, most of them caused extreme sleepiness, upset stomach, and jitters. The last one I took finally didn't have any side effects but it also had no affect what so ever. It was Wellbutrin. The one that she was cautious over giving me because it had the most side effects out of all of them. After trying it for two weeks (during which I got the eviction notice), she told me I was beyond her care.
So she told me to call my insurance. They have a direct line for mental health services. I called on a Friday and was told it'd take 24 hours to get a call back for an assessment. I called Tuesday afternoon because I never got a call on Monday. Got told that they did try (bs because I had no missed calls). Finally did an assessment and I was considered severe, and it had to be escalated to county health services. I was told to wait three days, and by Friday I should get a call from them. Again, I had to call them because I never got a call. I was told that they never received my file. Again, I had to wait till the following Monday and called back because they never called me. Told me they could schedule an appointment the following morning. Woke my ass up early in the morning for this appointment. All it was, was another freakin assessment test. I was told my file would be sent off to the insurance for a referral (why was I sent off to county if they're asking the same stupid questions and sending it right back to my insurance???) and I would get a call back for scheduling an appointment. I was also told that there are no psychiatrists in the area that are accepting new patients, so I would have to travel. Fine. Whatever. That was two weeks ago. Called again and went through four different numbers and five different phone transfers to end up back at the same person, who could only take down my information and wait for another phone call back. For a case that's considered severe... they sure don't take any accountability. It seems the only way to get help is to do a 72hr hold. I can't do that. I can't leave my boyfriend alone like that for three days.
Lets add some sprinkles in there.
I managed to trip the breaker tonight trying to make popcorn. I made it before without an issue. I called the realtor guy, he left his phone number for after hours emergencies. Once he found out who it was, his tone completely changed. He said he'd "try tomorrow". I replied back that my boyfriend has a CPAP machine (we're on the CARE program with the electric company as it's considered a life saving medical device). He said "tomorrow". So I called the non-emergency police line. They called him directly and got him to change his tune.
Last week I discovered a huge gash in the side of my shoe. I have water-proof hiking boots from New Balance. My last pair lasted 2 years and only died because the rubber wore out on them. I've only been wearing these for like 8 months and barely a dent in the soles. It's at least two inches on the side, along the crease where it bends at the toes. My aunt bought them for me a long time ago, and I can't afford to replace them. My feet are so bad that I can only wear New Balance or SAS shoes. Both expensive brands.
In the process of trying to find an apartment, we've been told our financial aid packages from school do not qualify as income. Financial Aid packages include the cost of room and board in the total amount that can be qualified for grants and loans. We found one place that would accept it as a source of income. Their smallest unit is a studio (at least it's a couple hundred square feet larger than this place) at $700 more than the rent we're paying now. $1205 for rent. $75 for w/s/t fee. $15 monthly pet fee. Besides the fact that we've been a couple for 7 years, I'm also his primary care giver, so student housing is off the options. Sounds sleezy to me, but we could probably have the cat written as an ESA. There's no way I'd let that cat go.
I'm just done with it all. I keep getting the run around. There's supposed to be support systems in place that lead to no where. I guess this helped a little. At least it's not running circles in my head, until I try to go to sleep tonight. Since it's Friday night, it means another two days dragged out waiting for Monday when phone calls will never get returned and the cycle begins again.
Update: We found a new place. I hope it works.
For the past two and a half years, we've been fighting workman's comp for a back injury my boyfriend sustained working at Amazon Fulfillment. We're not any closer today than we were 3 months post injury. This is fighting with a lawyer, five unsuccessful court dates so far, a QME, and an AME evaluation.
We have a lawyer at the same office helping to fight to get social security which is damned near impossible at 30. She expects it to take no less than 3 years, and she'll get a max payout of $6,000 from the back pay if we win.
Department of Rehabilitations that works with finding the disabled jobs, said they can't help him with work. They can help with out of pocket school expenses.
I also saw him through weight loss surgery because worker's comp was blaming his injury on his weight, which has only gotten worse as he's lost weight. Which was what three different spine specialists said would be the case. It's a permanent surgery, so every day we still have to follow his eating restrictions. It's increasingly harder the more stress we're under and the non-existent appetite we have.
Just over a month ago we got an eviction notice. We've lived here for five and half years, and never had any problems till one guy's wife finally croaked from smoking. He started complaining our charcoal grill created too much smoke when using the chimney and aggravated him. But him and another neighbor constantly smoke cigars. So the landlord put out a notice that grilling was to be done on concrete patio areas only and we couldn't use the lawn like we have been for 2 summers prior. When they handed out the notice they said "if you don't like, you can leave." Four days after turning in a reasonable accommodation request, we got a 60 day no-cause eviction notice.
On the first they turned the property over to a realtor to be sold. This guy is a jerk as well. We handed him a letter for reasonable accommodations for the grilling and to rescind the eviction notice. He laughed at us, told he doesn't need to give us a reason, and called this bullshit to our faces. I told him I except a written response to the denial by the end of next week.
We've been in contact with rural legal aid - don't qualify because we're not on section 8, living in HUD housing, or in a mobile home.
We've been in contact with HUD discrimination, they turned us over to Fair Housing. Filled out lengthy paperwork with them. Got a phone call back 2 weeks ago and discussed the situation further. She said she'd contact the landlord to rescind the 60 day notice. If they didn't over the phone, then she'd have to mail a certified letter, and they would be forced to give a reason for denying. Never heard back, so I called their office today. Took three hours for their call back service and the lady couldn't even find our case.
We've been in contact with Project Sentinel - the lawyer running the local chapter is quitting next Friday and doesn't have the time to open a case for us. She told us, time and time again, just because it's in black and white on paper (referring to HUD, Fair Housing, and ADA), doesn't mean anyone will listen or follow it. She's seen black and white cases of discrimination and the landlord still win.
We've been given name after name of attorneys in the area. All of them have said they're not taking on new clients or don't deal with the tenant side. We've expanded our search to the larger cities (Sac, San Fran, San Jose), to find a tenant lawyer. We got one call back saying "we can't take your case, but we can give an consult over the phone. 15 mins for $85, but it's not legally binding, just advice."
Then the icing on the cake for me. Last winter I finally went to the student health center at school to find a medication to help with my anxiety and depression. I went through five different medications, most of them caused extreme sleepiness, upset stomach, and jitters. The last one I took finally didn't have any side effects but it also had no affect what so ever. It was Wellbutrin. The one that she was cautious over giving me because it had the most side effects out of all of them. After trying it for two weeks (during which I got the eviction notice), she told me I was beyond her care.
So she told me to call my insurance. They have a direct line for mental health services. I called on a Friday and was told it'd take 24 hours to get a call back for an assessment. I called Tuesday afternoon because I never got a call on Monday. Got told that they did try (bs because I had no missed calls). Finally did an assessment and I was considered severe, and it had to be escalated to county health services. I was told to wait three days, and by Friday I should get a call from them. Again, I had to call them because I never got a call. I was told that they never received my file. Again, I had to wait till the following Monday and called back because they never called me. Told me they could schedule an appointment the following morning. Woke my ass up early in the morning for this appointment. All it was, was another freakin assessment test. I was told my file would be sent off to the insurance for a referral (why was I sent off to county if they're asking the same stupid questions and sending it right back to my insurance???) and I would get a call back for scheduling an appointment. I was also told that there are no psychiatrists in the area that are accepting new patients, so I would have to travel. Fine. Whatever. That was two weeks ago. Called again and went through four different numbers and five different phone transfers to end up back at the same person, who could only take down my information and wait for another phone call back. For a case that's considered severe... they sure don't take any accountability. It seems the only way to get help is to do a 72hr hold. I can't do that. I can't leave my boyfriend alone like that for three days.
Lets add some sprinkles in there.
I managed to trip the breaker tonight trying to make popcorn. I made it before without an issue. I called the realtor guy, he left his phone number for after hours emergencies. Once he found out who it was, his tone completely changed. He said he'd "try tomorrow". I replied back that my boyfriend has a CPAP machine (we're on the CARE program with the electric company as it's considered a life saving medical device). He said "tomorrow". So I called the non-emergency police line. They called him directly and got him to change his tune.
Last week I discovered a huge gash in the side of my shoe. I have water-proof hiking boots from New Balance. My last pair lasted 2 years and only died because the rubber wore out on them. I've only been wearing these for like 8 months and barely a dent in the soles. It's at least two inches on the side, along the crease where it bends at the toes. My aunt bought them for me a long time ago, and I can't afford to replace them. My feet are so bad that I can only wear New Balance or SAS shoes. Both expensive brands.
In the process of trying to find an apartment, we've been told our financial aid packages from school do not qualify as income. Financial Aid packages include the cost of room and board in the total amount that can be qualified for grants and loans. We found one place that would accept it as a source of income. Their smallest unit is a studio (at least it's a couple hundred square feet larger than this place) at $700 more than the rent we're paying now. $1205 for rent. $75 for w/s/t fee. $15 monthly pet fee. Besides the fact that we've been a couple for 7 years, I'm also his primary care giver, so student housing is off the options. Sounds sleezy to me, but we could probably have the cat written as an ESA. There's no way I'd let that cat go.
I'm just done with it all. I keep getting the run around. There's supposed to be support systems in place that lead to no where. I guess this helped a little. At least it's not running circles in my head, until I try to go to sleep tonight. Since it's Friday night, it means another two days dragged out waiting for Monday when phone calls will never get returned and the cycle begins again.
Update: We found a new place. I hope it works.
