The Ohav Sholom and Beacon Rental Community Kiada: The Case of the Missing Name on the Wait List

 

The flat that I currently reside in has seen its better days. The house, which apparently once belonged to a doctor, sits in Albany’s South End and can, or so I am told, be found on a census going back to the 1850s. It was remodelled, or so I am told, in the 1970s, though not expertly, and it looks it and feels it. The windows are, to say the least airy. It sits on a major avenue that carries workers and patients to the Veterans Administration Hospital, Albany Medical Center, and St. Peter’s Medical Center so dirt can readily enter the flat through the breezy windows. This makes the Sisyphean task of cleaning even more Sisyphean It is hot in summer and cold in winter. Radiators. Little in the way of insulation.

Given that I am in the autumn of my life and want a little bit more of the creature comforts in life and am in need or more affordable housing (the place I live in is very reasonable but, as I said, has seen its better days and the landlord may sell it which will raise the rent to a point I may not be able to pay) I applied for and was accepted into Ohav Sholom, a subsidised housing estate in the far south west end of Albany in 2022. I was put on its waiting list. In March and April of 2023 I was informed that a flat awaited me. 

I went over to Ohav Sholom taking over my necessary forms—income, bank statements, etc.—and was shown a flat. It looked great. Recently remodelled. Modern. Central air. Central heat. An elderly friendly wash room and shower. Laundry facilities, which I don’t have now. It even looked like i could hold all of my books, DVDs, blu rays, and CDs. I accepted the invitation to move in in April as I didn’t want to move in bad weather and I needed to see how much moving would cost (an estimated $2000 dollars which I did have at the time). Then I was shown my flat, the third one offered me by management. It looked much tinier than the model apartment I was shown. 

It quickly became clear that I could not move in until I ridded myself of most of my books and many of my DVDs, blu rays, and CDs. I pulled out of the move. A few days later I received a letter from the manager of Ohav telling me that I need to write to her saying that I wished to remain on the waiting list. I emailed her informing her (I don’t recall her name though it began with an L) that I wanted to remain on the waiting list. A few weeks later she wrote asking me to reconsider my decision not to move in. I told her I couldn’t as I had to many material possessions and it would take me awhile to get rid of them and give them loving homes.

A few months later I wrote L again via Ohav’s online contact page asking her to keep me on the list and informing her that I planned to move in in 2025. Cut to August of 2024. I wrote the management of Ohav, which is run by the private Boston firm Beacon Rental Community via their online contact page. I learned several things. First, there was a new manager. Second, L had removed me from the wait list despite my telling her not to. Why? I don’t know. Was she angry that I backed out of moving in? Was I supposed to do a letter by snail mail rather than email and webmail? If so I was not informed of this.

Long absurd story short, I have to reapply to Ohav. I will do this but I will also contact the New York State Housing Office, the federal Housing and Urban Development Office, which subsidises Ohav, and any Albany office I can to inform them of the injustice that was done to me and see what my options are.

An so it goes…

EPILOGUE

After complaining about my treatment by Ohav and its parent company Beacon Rental Community, I received a missive via email telling me that the reason I was taken off the waiting list was because I turned down several apartments and because I did not move in. In actually I only turned down one flat. The manager of Ohav offered me three over the course of our discussions about me moving in only to take away two of those previously offered. Note that Jessica Butler, the property manager of Ohav for Beacon, who wrote me is now changing the terrain. I was told initially byVernal Burrell, the administrative assistant at Ohav, that I did not ask to remain on the waiting list. I, as I said, did respond to a letter L, the manager, wrote me asking me if I wanted to remain on the waiting list AFTER I decided not to move in saying yes I did want to remain on the waiting list Now, according to Butler, the reason I am not on the list of the saved is because I did not move in. Apparently for Ms. Butler the letter L sent AFTER I decided not to move in asking me if I wanted to remain on the wait list never was written and never sent to me. Corporations do like to manipulate evidence and dissemble to cover their arses don’t they?