I feel defeated and just drained😭
I’m not sure if I put the right Flair. I just need to vent because I feel like I’m being completely dismissed by my housing authority after everything I’ve dealt with.
I lived in a unit for about two years with a termite infestation. Termites were actively coming through my bedroom walls, kitchen walls, and laundry room walls. it was visible, ongoing damage inside the home.
An inspector even came out and stated that the walls needed to be replaced.
Despite that, the housing authority is now claiming the unit was still “safe, clean, and habitable,” and they are labeling my relocation as “voluntary,” even though I was moved because of the condition of the unit.
We also had a grievance hearing to address all of this, but the experience made me feel even more unheard. The panel consisted of three people who appeared to personally know the landlord, and I felt there were clear signs of bias during the hearing. They were smiling, smirking, and even chuckling at parts of my response, which made it feel very dismissive and unprofessional.
On top of that, the housing authority presented incorrect facts during the hearing, so I feel like the decision wasn’t even based on the actual situation.
They also kept framing a lot of their arguments around “what if” scenarios that didn’t reflect real life. For example, they suggested that even in the original unit I would have still had to go to a laundromat if I didn’t have a washer and dryer, or even suggested things like carrying wet laundry to the laundromat after washing it, which felt completely disconnected from reality and what I was actually dealing with.
At the very end of the hearing, the landlord also made a comment along the lines of if I don’t like the new unit, I could “move back in” to the old one with the termites. They also mentioned that there were laundry units at other locations I could use, but those were never offered or discussed with me before the hearing.
Because I was relocated, I’ve also been dealing with a lot of unexpected financial strain:
My new unit does not accommodate a standard washer and dryer, so I now have to use laundromats regularly
I had to pay someone to move my furniture because I wasn’t able to move everything myself and my husband works nights, so he wasn’t available during the day
The new unit was not properly cleaned when I moved in
The refrigerator provided didn’t work, and I lost all the food I had stored inside it, and I’m being told I won’t be reimbursed
It’s frustrating because I feel like none of the actual living conditions or my experience are being taken seriously. I didn’t choose to move—I felt like I had no choice because the unit was no longer livable in my experience, even though they are now describing it differently.
Now I’m left dealing with all the financial fallout while also being told the original unit was perfectly fine, and that my relocation was “voluntary.”
I’m just exhausted and feel completely unheard.
Ive tried calling every legal aid out there and most of them claim they only help disabled individuals or eviction cases😭