Dammit, dammit, dammit

[Droopy]

I was just talking to a friend of mine. He and his mom and dad have lived in the same two bedroom apartment for the past 25 years. It looks like they have gotten behind on the rent and if they don't come up with the money by tomorrow they will be evicted.

It's not really a great deal of money and I've got it, but I've gotten burned so many times on loaning money that I've made it a personal policy not to do it anymore.

Now that I've written it out I see what the right thing to do is. We aren't talking about the phone bill here or the cable. We're talking about getting your ass kicked out on the street. I don't think I need to get this money back.

Do you guys know of any programs that help people like my friends? I don't know if they qualify for welfare. They've got 2 incomes coming into the place.

[UndertheOcean]

1. What about next month ? and the month after that , there is a limit to how much you can help them

[Droopy]

2. That's true, but

I don't know why they have fallen behind and I've known them for 20 years. They've never had this problem before.

I'm not a pushover, UtO.

[LeftyFingerPop]

3. Droopy...

I would help them out for this month, and then call Social Services to see if there is some kind of aid available for them.

[Forkboy]

4. I looked up the eviction laws for Ohio.

Which I'm assuming is where they live, but if not let me know and I'll try to find the law for whatever state they're in.

This page has the Ohio eviction laws. Have them read this carefully. It says the landlord cannot evict them and change the locks without a court order first. And before that he has to post a three day eviction notice on their door (he can't just say it), which doesn't include weekends. It has to be 3 business days, and then it goes to court, so it may take awhile longer. If none of that has been done then he can't boot them out tomorrow.

http://ohiorentersrights.com/chapters-11-15/chapter-14/

Here's some basic info for housing in Ohio.

http://www.hud.gov/local/oh/renting/tenantrights.cfm

And here's some more detailed help for housing, including transitional housing and such.

http://cohhio.org/

Like I said, I'm just assuming they live in the same state as you, so if not let me know and I'll dig some more.

[MrsBrady]

5. well why are they falling behind?

if they are both working, and this is not a pattern...then what is up?

unless they have been spending beyond their means all this time and it's catching up?

i would find out first. If there is a legitimate issue like medical bills or something major happened, your assistance might be a life saver.

If on the other hand, they are having some kind of spending issues or some other type of addictive issues...or maybe they have been helping others to their detriment...
you could still give them your money, but it wouldn't solve their issue...and you might actually make it worse.