I am urgently seeking help with my rent, storage unit & my 14 year-old ESA needs medical attention. I am not comfortable with the amount of information I am about to disclose, it is somewhat sensitive, but I want to be transparent & honest because there are people out there ruining these things for folks who really need to utilize this type resource while awaiting callbacks/emails to see if there is any possibility of county/state assistance. This is all I can do currently after the phone call with those helpful people at 211. The woman I spoke to suggested that I fill 1 of these things out until I find assistance from contacting the phone numbers they have given to me.
A forewarning; this contains a lot of details in order to provide answers in advance to anyone who may have any questions. I’ve never in my life asked for this much help. This is embarrassing...
A little about my disability status
I am disabled, recently had a series of botched back surgeries on April 27th, May 18th & June 8th, 2023 that left disfigurement. I was told I would need another revision, along with an SI Joint Fusion. I recently had to pay back a large bank loan & I am now bracing myself for an eviction because I did not have the full rent amount. I do not want to become homeless with the amount of health issues I have & I do not want to have to surrender my 14 year-old senior ESA, Tater. Tater is needing medical attention & I can’t afford anymore out-of-pocket medical for either of us. Im aware there are some mobile vets that can come out to an individual, so if you are one of them & if you would be able to help us, we would be extremely grateful.
I have rare autoimmune diseases & stage 4 Endometriosis. None of which have any cures & make life on a daily basis a very painful experience to have to live through, but I do push back quite a bit. The Endometriosis was found when I had a laparoscopic surgery to remove a tumor from my ovary & the ovary was fused to my intestines. It came back much larger within a few months of the surgery & lately, I have been vomiting a lot (violently) & I can feel it has fused to something else. Being outside in the heat triggers nausea & vomiting even more so.
Aside from pain, nausea & vomiting, I'm constantly dealing with intermittent loss of feeling, pins & needles & functioning of my hands. This was from when a doctor accidentally puncture my spinal cord in 2019. The swelling of my hands, feet, abdomen & sometimes parts of my face interfere with my daily living. The heat makes things much worse since I've developed heat intolerance as well as light sensitivity from some of the medications I need to take. My doctors have been working hard to find out what exactly is going on that is making my body attack itself.
Here is my situation
I receive a little over $900 from SSDI. My rent is now past due & I now owe $1,644.33 with $10 per day added to every day that it is not paid. My storage unit is up to $623.06. On September 20th, if I don't pay that, it'll be $859.69. After that, my storage unit will be auctioned off on October 18th, 2023. I will need to have access to this so I can sell some of my belongings while awaiting for my fiance to get his 1st (& regular) paycheck from a job he was recently offered. If I get evicted, I will definitely need it if I need to remove my belongings from my apartment. I've always been the one to save someone else's storage from being put into this position, now I'm the one on the chopping block.
I recently had to put a massive chunk of money into the new rent hike & to secure something fast last month so I signed a lease out of fear & no notice whatsoever that my bed space was rented out in December of 2022. The kids in the office even looked confused about that, along with why I had no one else as far as roommates. I was wondering why I was put into this particular apartment, especially after being told by office management that there wasn't anything available & getting rushed around on everything. Once you read on, you'll see what I mean by this.
I had found out my bed space was rented out when I went to the office in June to ask about renewing for one more year. I explained the situation to the office management. I thought they knew I was disabled & my main source of income is SSDI. I have been living in this complex since February 2021 after I took a sublet offer.
After I had paid the rent on August 3rd at 4:59AM, I then see a new amount posted on August 30th:
Again, this was after I had already paid the account in full. logged into the resident portal on 9/3/23 & saw the rent posted for the amount of the $1,610.14 with fees from Aug tacked onto it(?):
They’re quick to take money, brag about carbon footprints yet they've placed me in an apartment that has not been weatherproofed & have you sign a lease. When it comes to giving people a heads up about certain important details of that lease & how their community works to new tenants that are not students. I understand the majority of the tenants here are in their 20's, early 30's & college bound, as are the people in the leasing office. This arrangement is still new to me. Everything is documented in the event that anyone, including anyone reading would require proof.
At first, management said they "only had 3rd floor Premium units." I told management I am disabled, I am considered to be a high fall risk due to my physical disabilities & that I would soon be undergoing another spinal surgery revision so 3rd floor would be impossible for me to do. After a few days of waiting for someone to get back to me, I went to the office & was then told they had a 1st floor Premium unit available. They sent me a lease to sign without the disclosure of where my address would be & the rent would be $904 with Renter’s Insurance & utility package. I panicked & signed it. They raised the rent for my bed space from $760 to $904 with some fees. I also asked if they participated in any of the rental assistance agencies as they did last year when I needed it for a few months, I was told to contact the Accounts Manager, which she told me they do not, when I was able to use OurFlorida & R3 in the past when I needed it for 3 months. No reason as to why they do not accept rent assistance now.
They have charged me for things in the past that I went & paid regardless. I was told months afterwards that I could dispute charges. I did not know. I see they charged me again for things that the younger roommates were not charged for. August of 2022, I was charged for renovation fees of over $1900. Earlier this week, my fiancé called the roommate who rented out the room next to me & was literally never there. After they spoke on the phone, I am just now finding this out August 4th, 2023 that he wasn't charged anywhere near that. They only increased his rent by $100... something isn't right here. My rent in the last Premium unit (water & utilities were included) was averaging about $760 with fees....they love their fees. It's very much like renting from a motel, to be honest, but at least that was manageable.
I went to ask about the amount that I was charged other fees after I had already paid, they said I can put in a dispute, in which I sent one this time. I was charged Holdover fees when I sent in pictures that have dates & times on them showing I -had everything out of that place- & I had a 3rd person who was witness to this. I attached a screenshot of the conversation about the person saying he could help us with moving, as well. No response. Usually, they get back within 24-48 business hours. Until my fiance contacted their main office in Texas... then I get a call & later on today (9/6/23) along with a 3-Day Notice that was found on the ground in the hallway.
I logged into the resident portal on 9/4/23 & saw the rent posted for the amount of $1,645.14... with late fee of $35 along with a $10 late fee on top of that... I also see that I'm having to pay for water & sewage as well as electric overages, while there were 3 other tenant/roommates living here prior. From here on out, there will be an additional $10 each day the rent is late. As of now, in order to pay the rent, I would need to go into the office in person to pay with a money order. A new rule they made this year; after the 3rd, they disable payments on the resident portal.
From the way things are ran at this complex, I can say & tell that the office management has been treating me unfairly & the apartment isn't in any type of condition for it to be referred to as a 'Premium' unit. I was put in an apartment that had 3 others living in it until August 8th. It was extremely humid & hot inside. My temperature gage was reading 79F-80F (I have a few pictures of that, a few days apart). The entire unit barely has airflow coming out of the central air vents, gaps all around the doors letting heat & humidity in, while they have nice cold AC, a Starbucks cafe & 3 chandeliers in the leasing office.
Meanwhile, I have tape & towels at the doors to keep the temperature from climbing above 79 degrees. And yes, I have put in maintenance requests for just the ac alone, but I was told by some guy that this trickle of airflow was "normal." Aside from AC, when I was in the last unit it, had actual -airflow- throughout the apartment. A lot of bait & switch tactics with them. My hands are tied. Again, I signed a lease out of fear & no notice, no email, text, etc that my bed space was rented out in December 2022. I have been in the office for a few things, no one brought this up.
I have been trying very hard to save money, but I haven't been able to save anything that I've earned, because the money comes & goes right back out. I have been putting myself out there by offering the services I am able to do from time to time. Hardly any work. I have done so much to promote on social media & stating I needed the business. I can't hold a normal job due to my disabilities & the worsening of my condition. Any normal activities that folks do during a daily basis puts me in bed for days, sometimes weeks. I pay for it for 4-5 days on a typical basis. I wake up in the middle of the night with what I call, "fire hands." Those of you who live with neuropathy know exactly what I am talking about.
My fiancé has been helping me with the 2 gig jobs. He has finally been offered a job position for a security company he used to work for. Tomorrow, he goes in for the physical interview. Those who are familiar with this type of work, his D license will be paid for. Then after a year, he can get his G license. The gigs I found I am able to do are the 2 contracting jobs; Laundress/ Laundry Services, I use Rover to provides pet caregiver services, there's a highlighted link to my bio page below. I have also been trying to promote & sell my artwork.
Services I Offer.
Rover: On weekends, I'm a Special Needs pet caregiver, qualified to administer oral, injection & other medications. I currently work this at Beach House Assisted Living & Memory Care Center, off of SR-54.
Laundry service I work is through a company called Poplin. There is an app you can download for it. I inserted a link for a referral code that will give you $10 in credits. We pick up from your place, we pick it up, wash, dry, fold, iron if needed. Then, we deliver back to the location where we picked it up.
I need a few car repairs that I can't afford. It's left me stranded quite a few times due to a bad fuel control modulator that needs to be replaced. I mainly need simple maintenance things that I know if left unmanaged, can lead to a more costly repairs & obviously, I am in no position to let this happen. The minimum repairs I need:
● I need help with brakes because I'm already hearing the rotors scraping & grinding.
● A simple Oil change;
I used to do these myself, but I cant anymore due to the spinal cord damage & 4 recent botched back surgeries. The pics & imaging have left people just baffled. Going for another soon, to try again...
The major, more costly repairs I need to have done are:
- I need CV joints badly, because at this point, any amount of turning, left or right, all you hear is that VERY LOUD tapping & creaking noise. I know what makes the sound being a mechanic's daughter, I am aware that's a costly repair & I know it is not safe to drive like this after a while. Especially, if I just let it go. I am putting myself in danger by driving like this, but again this is something I'll have to save up for to repair. Hopefully, it'll last a bit longer.
My father, is a 68 year old retired mechanic, is limited to what he can do for me & is the only family I have. We recently found out that he has some sort of tumor on his tongue. Awaiting on what the plan of action is for that. He lives in a very small apartment & my brother just moved to France to be with his mother & my youngest brother. There's no room for me to bunk up with my father, plus, he has a rottie & I have Tater.
My job is 12 miles each way, so I have to ensure I have transportation to get to work. I was hospitalized then bed bound for months because I attempted to keep working through the laundry gig & the Pet Caregiver gig. After my 2nd surgery, I was soon hospitalized. When I was released, my fiance took some days off to be home with me to help me so I'm not getting up & down & not doing things/chores that my doctors advised against.
Then he took 2 days off at the end of July & 1 day at the beginning of August to help me with moving. The manager at the dollar store he was working at said understood how chaotic it was going through all of this, so he approved him to take those 2 days. When my fiance saw he was not on the schedule on the 1st week of Aug, he contacted both managers, no response. He showed up for work, covered people's shifts when they were no-show/no-call & even help an employee out who was threatened by knife point. There was constant theft due to the area he was placed in. He applied for the store location on Bearss Ave, he didn't apply for other location. The manager at the bad area location had taken the job applications from Bearss Ave location & called people so they had coverage at that store instead...
My fiance did a good 90% of that moving, lifting, carrying & he didn't sleep for 38 hours because I only had a small time window to work with. My fiance's friend was able to lend a hand on his days off but it didn't leave much time either. About 3 hours he was able to lend a hand. The office told me I would not be able to move into the new location just yet & I would have to move everything out on August 1st, but we weren't allowed to have anything in the common areas during inspections....
I had to wait until after 7PM when the office closed on July 31st to move everything I had, into the living room/common area. This was another short notice that felt unfair because I needed to use the living room to put things from my bedspace. Also, we had to turn the keys in on August 1st by 12PM. There was only 1 roommate living there, but she wasn't home for the most part. She didn't mind & understood why I had to put my things into the living room. it was the office management that had a problem with it, but "how else was I supposed to move everything out of my bedspace?" I thought. No, I am not a student, but I've always paid my rent & manage to pay storage on time, I do my own maintenance & I keep to myself a lot. Self-sufficient tenant.
There's so much more & I've taken so many screenshots & pictures between this place & the unit prior. I now see why the young man who offered a sublet was trying to get out. It managed to get worse. If anyone would like to see any of this stuff, please feel free to contact me. I don't mind at all. I need to be able to keep living in this place until I either find a person to sublet & pay $300 sublet fee or try to save by May or June of 2024 & get -out- of here. Especially, if I'm going to be paying that much in rent on top of utilities.
I hate that I am having to do one of these beg for funding things because as some may know, being disabled is a challenge as it is. There Is a lot involved. Having to adapt to 5 MPH, coming from 60 MPH. Your life can feel like it has been taken away. can be a burden I like being independent & usually do everything myself, but I am in need. asking for assistance with my rent & my storage. I will be trying my hardest to earn some of it, but I can't do this by myself in time. What I can do right now is;
1. Provide updates on if I find help for anything. If I find assistance with rent or storage, I will post an update on this.
2. If anyone able to help with rent would like to meet with me in person at the leasing office on the day I receive help with this, I will go out of my way in a heartbeat-. I am required to go into the leasing office to pay the full amount in person with a money order. If you'd like to be there with me to verify that the money raised goes to that, I'll go out of my way...I want to keep a roof over my head.
3. For storage payment, same thing. If you want to call the CubeSmart on 1402 E Bearss Ave (on the same side of the street where the new Tampa Family Health Center is) where my storage unit E078 is, the ladies that manage the CubeSmart both know me there & they've seen what my fiance & I've gone through in the past 14 years that I have lived in this area. They know this is not like me to be this far behind.
4. I will continue to offer & promote the services that I can provide if anyone needs laundry, pet care or artwork. This is currently all I have to offer in exchange.
If I can't come up with the payments, I will be evicted, lose my storage & of course, this apartment management will charge fees for disposal, cleaning & if I ask them to store something, you guessed it, I'll be charged for storage. I don't know & I don't want to find out what they charge per day.
I am scared & worried about where I will be, since this move threw everything off track in regards to finding another place to live. I can't bear to even think about having to give up Tater. That itself is heartbreaking to me. Most of the county help is either taken already or I would have to wait for a period of time.
This assistance be a huge help, will get me back on track financially & personally, it will relieve a lot of worry & stress. I do not feel that I can relax at all right now, I live with guilt, thinking that if I stop even thinking about this, everything will fall apart. It's very unsettling that this is happening. We would be so thankful for the help. Even if you could share this on social media or a text, it helps. Anything helps right now. We greatly appreciate you taking the time to read this. I know its a lot, but I just wanted to be up front.
Sincerely,
Carla, Clay & Tater
