Accessing the Tenant Services Hotline at Solid Ground

Solid Ground’s Tenant Services Hotline is a free, informational resource designed to help tenants throughout Washington State learn about their rights, familiarize themselves with the Residential Landlord Tenant Act in order to assert their rights as tenants, and maintain stable, permanent housing.

To reach the Tenant Services Hotline please call: 206.694.6767. The hotline is only staffed on: Mondays, Wednesdays and Thursdays from 10:30am until 4:30pm. If you call during those hours and get our voicemail, please leave us a message and we will return your call in the order it was received within seven business days.

Solid Ground uses interpretation services so that we can respond to folks no matter what language they speak. Spanish-speaking callers can leave a message in Spanish by choosing the Spanish option from the voice prompts. People  who speak languages other than English or Spanish should leave a message (or get an English-speaking friend to leave it) on our English hotline, mentioning the language they speak and a good time to return their call. A tenant counselor will return the call with an interpreter in the preferred language on the line. There is no cost for this service.

During open hotline hours, tenants who have questions can call to address topics such as: eviction, deposits, repair, lockout and all other issues that pertain to a tenancy.

Whenever the hotline is open, we get a large volume of calls. So that we can address everyone’s issues in a timely fashion, we ask that tenants only call once. Repeat calls for the same question/issue will not be returned faster. Calls/messages are returned in the order received. For tenants facing eviction, including those having received a three-day notice to pay-or-vacate or a 10-day notice to comply-or-vacate, please choose the ‘eviction’ option from the voice prompts at the start of the call. Please note that our program does not provide rental assistance.

Please leave a clear and short message with your name, phone number and a brief description of the issue you are calling about. Please repeat your phone number clearly even if you think it will appear on the caller ID. We recognize that for many tenants who are in difficult and time-sensitive situations, it can be difficult to contact many organizations and feel that you are unable to get your issue resolved right away. Please note that we attempt to get back to every tenant who calls our hotline. Return calls can take up to a week, however, we try to return calls within two to three business days. If a tenant counselor leaves a message indicating a direct phone line for a tenant to call, please use this number – but it is unnecessary to call more than once. Once you have spoken with a counselor, it is OK to call them back to clarify your discussion – however due to the high volume of callers, tenants are encouraged to call the hotline with any new issues about their tenancy.

In an effort to make best use of the hotline, here are some points to consider before calling:

What Tenant Services provides:

• Information to Washington State tenants regarding their tenancy.
• Referrals to community resources, free legal services, fair housing agencies, code enforcement and other state and local county or city entities.
• We can mail or email packets of information and resources including sample letters.
• We have materials in other languages as well.
• We can answer questions and brainstorm ideas with tenants to help them resolve their housing situation.

We do not provide:

• Assistance to landlords.
• Legal advice or other legal services.
• One-on-one case management or long-term assistance.
• Rental assistance.
• We do not read or edit letters or documents for tenants. If a tenant needs these services, we will refer to legal services as these are delicate issues that require the assistance of legal counsel.

While waiting for a counselor to return your call, if you are in need of rental assistance or other resources, you can contact the Community Information Line dialing 2.1.1 or 1.800.621.4636.

Another great resource for tenants throughout Washington State is the Tenants Union. Their hotline hours are: Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays from 11am to 1pm. Call 206.723.0500. Walk-in services are available Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays from 2pm to 4pm. For walk-in service, please arrive by 3:30pm. No appointment is necessary and they serve tenants throughout Washington. As always, Solid Ground’s Tenant Services website is a useful tool in familiarizing tenants with their rights and providing information prior to speaking with a counselor.

12-year-old documentarian tackles homelessness

It’s the morning after the One Night Count of homeless people in our community. I volunteered, along with numerous Solid Ground staff and volunteers, and hundreds of other folks throughout King County. We walked, arguably, every street, investigated every park bench and green space, because we want to get a more realistic picture of who is homeless in our community.

It’s a very adult pursuit, one that is sobering and, frankly, somewhat depressing. For all we are doing in Seattle-King County to end homelessness, and we are doing an amazing job developing new affordable housing and program models, we still have thousands of people living in cars, under bridges, in the lobbies of post offices.

But somehow this little movie gives me a glimmer of hope. It was put together by 12-year-old Leo Pfiefer from Salmon Bay Middle School. Leo developed this project as an entry for C-SPAN’s StudentCam documentary contest, “an annual national video documentary competition that encourages students to think seriously about issues that affect our communities and our nation.”

It gives me hope to think that 12-year olds are looking at the issue of homelessness and asking: What do we need to do to solve this problem?

It gives me hope to think about the 11- to 13-year olds I recently interviewed from our Penny Harvest program who are not just asking good questions, they are raising money and granting it to organizations that are making a difference. Keep an eye out here for more from those amazing young people.

I, for one, hope Leo goes far in this competition. We need more young people asking tough questions to the people in power. And we need them to help us formulate better answers.

Food justice starts with us!

Solid Ground has spent decades helping folks have adequate food and nutrition. Over time that work has shifted from giving people food through the food bank system to looking at ways to restructure our regional food system. With many community partners, we strive to connect people more closely to the bounty that comes from our own communities. This work is especially important in low-income communities that have had limited access to healthy fresh produce.

Clean Greens is one of the visionary organizations in this work. “Founded in 2007, Clean Greens is a food justice organization that is owned and operated by residents of Seattle’s Central District,” according to its website. Its mission is to “decrease the incidence of disease in our communities by increasing residents’ access to healthy, pesticide-free produce at affordable prices. We are committed to delivering clean produce to all people in our communities, which we grow on our 22-acre farm in Duvall, Washington, and distribute via our Central District farm stand and CSA program.”

This Saturday, January 29, I’ll be MCing a fundraising event for Clean Greens and I want you all to join me there!

The Food Justice Starts with Us dinner event will be held at the Garfield Community Center, 23rd and Cherry, from 6pm to 10pm. The event features a meal cooked with local, seasonal foods by members of the Clean Greens community. Tickets are $35 and available from Brown Paper Tickets.

Clean Greens welcomes Brahm Ahmadi, co-founder of People’s Grocery in Oakland, CA, who will be giving a keynote speech on Oakland’s food justice movement. Towards the end of dinner, a short film on Clean Greens’ ongoing food justice work will be premiered. After dinner, we will be having a dessert auction, and guests can enjoy their dessert while listening to a local jazz band perform.

The event promises to be an evening of inspiration, fun and fabulous food. When we build community like this, we can make meaningful steps to secure food justice in our community! I hope to see you there!

For more info on the event, call 206.324.3114.

Stand up for your rights!

Statewide Poverty Action Network and concerned citizens around the state are joining together to make sure that Washington State does not balance its budget on the backs of its most vulnerable citizens. Here’s a little video call to action:

Join Poverty Action for Lobby Tuesdays, Phone Bank Thursdays and Members in Action Nights.

Call 866.789.7726 or email Senait Brown to get involved.

Poverty Action members at the 2011 MLK Day Rally in Olympia

A bipartisan argument for National Service

Check out this recent op-ed by Eric Tannenblatt about how National Service is a strategy that can be embraced by both Democrats and Republicans to meet our country’s most vital community needs: http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0111/47652.html.

Tannenblatt, who describes himself as a “lifelong Republican,” notes that:

1) AmeriCorps taps into the strengths and skills of grassroots community members to solve community problems.

2) AmeriCorps is a highly cost-effective program.

3) AmeriCorps has a transformative effect on its participants, “often putting them on a lifelong path of civic engagement.”

Voices for National Service, a national advocacy organization that works to educate the American public and our nation’s leaders about the power and impact of National Service, notes that funding for National Service has been included in the President’s 2011 fiscal year budget. Go to their website to learn more!

(Editor’s note: Tera Oglesby runs Solid Ground’s JustServe AmeriCorps program. JustServe AmeriCorps Members work with youth at risk of violence, support victims of domestic violence, help create alternatives to incarceration, support people coming out of the prison system, and mobilize community members of all ages to get involved in violence prevention.)

Tenant Tip: privacy

You have repairs that need to be made in your unit and you notify the landlord in writing. After receiving the notice, when should the landlord enter the unit and start repairs? How far in advance is the landlord required to give you notice to enter? What if a tenant gives notice to move out and the landlord wants to stop by with a prospective tenant to show the unit? How do you address these and other privacy concerns as a tenant, and what obligations does your landlord have under the Residential Landlord Tenant Act?

Some of the most frequently asked questions on our Tenant Services Hotline are calls about privacy violations and landlords entering a unit without a tenant’s permission. This week’s tip will cover some of these concerns and provide some useful information in handling these situations. State Law (RCW 59.18.150) does not specifically discuss landlord entry into yards, sheds, or showing up and knocking on your door. It is a good idea to check your rental agreement to see if these situations are covered. You may want to speak with an attorney to see if there are legal issues that relate to these situations.

I’m in!

I'm in! Seattle Seahawks players tap this sign on the way from locker room to practice field as a reminder of the commitment it takes to succeed.

At Solid Ground we talk a lot about the importance of advocacy. We work to get you involved in the political process. We lobby for funding and initiatives that strengthen our community by providing equal opportunities to people living on low incomes.

We’ve cajoled you online and in our newsletters. We phone bank you and blast emails to get you to sign petitions, send cards to the legislature and phone the Governor. And our Statewide Poverty Action Network has supported folks with low incomes around the state in claiming their political voice and building their power in Olympia.

As Solid Ground’s Communications Manager, I’ve personally reached out to thousands of you to engage you in the political system. And while I’ve made my share of phone calls to elected officials and written and signed many petitions, I need to own up to something here. I’ve never made the trip to Olympia to meet one-on-one with the people who represent me in the Washington State Legislature.

But this year, I’m in! And you need to be in, too.

We’ve all heard about the crisis in the state budget. You can bet that corporate interests will be well represented in the state capitol, protecting their slice of the pie.

Like the much maligned Seattle Seahawks, folks who care about the fate of working class people in our communities are huge underdogs. We really need to fully commit to the cause this year. We need to commit our hearts and souls, our phone calls, letters and visits, if we are to to protect the very fabric of our community— the ability to protect and provide for the most vulnerable among us. To keep our Hawks metaphor alive: We need to Always Compete and put it all out on the field, if we are to have any chance to succeed.

People power!

So, Monday, January 17, I am celebrating Martin Luther King Day by tapping the “I’m In” touchstone and joining hundreds of other people in Olympia to lobby the Washington State Legislature to strengthen our communities by:

• Protecting people from foreclosure by implementing a foreclosure mediation process in the state. Foreclosure mediation would give homeowners an opportunity to sit down with their lender to discuss alternatives before losing their home and most valuable asset. Twenty-three other jurisdictions — state and municipalities — have some sort of mediation process to seek foreclosure alternatives. These programs have found that 60% of people participating in mediation avoid losing their homes.
• Supporting programs that will help people with low incomes build up their assets and create opportunities to prosper.
• Ensuring access to TANF, Disability Lifeline and other programs that help people maintain their dignity.

Join Poverty Action on the Capitol for MLK Day to advocate for the issues important to you and your community.

For more information or to reserve your spot, please contact Kate.

Transportation, breakfast & lunch, & interpretation are available. Children are welcome to join.

I’m in! Are you?

Tenant Tip: Fair Housing and your tenancy

Under the federal Fair Housing Act and local fair housing laws, housing providers must accommodate the needs of disabled applicants and tenants. A landlord or manager must reasonably adjust rules, procedures or services to give disabled tenants equal opportunity to use and enjoy a dwelling unit or a common space. Housing providers must also allow disabled tenants to make reasonable modifications to their living unit or common areas at the tenant’s expense, if needed for them to live comfortably and safely in their units.

Housing providers cannot ask applicants or tenants whether they have a disability, ask for details about the condition, or ask to see medical records. If a person requests a reasonable accommodation or modification, a housing provider may ask for proof that the request will address the tenant’s disability needs. Upon request, the tenant should provide a letter from a healthcare practitioner verifying the person has a disability and requires the modification or accommodation. The nature of the disability does not have to be disclosed.

To clarify: “Requesting an accommodation means” that a tenant is requesting a rule change from the landlord due to disability.

Some common accommodations are: Requesting a service animal, having the lease printed in large print, moving to a different unit, allowing a personal care attendant and other requests based on the need of the tenant and the nature of the disability. If you are asking for a modification, it means you are asking to alter the physical state of the property, for example, asking to install handrails in the shower, a wheelchair ramp, or lever door handles and automatic door closers, just to name a few.

How to request a reasonable accommodation/modification from your landlord:

Submit your request to the landlord or property manager in writing and describe the accommodation you are requesting. A landlord may ask for verification of your disability, in which case you can provide a letter from a healthcare provider. Again, both letters do not need to disclose the nature of the disability, just the specifics of what accommodation or modification is needed in your case. The landlord may discuss this with you and may also suggest an alternate route to meet your needs.

You may also submit the request verbally, however submitting it in writing is beneficial so you have a record of the request. While discussing the logistics with the landlord, they may request that the tenant return the premises to their original state when they leave, unless the modifications will not interfere with the next tenant’s use and enjoyment of the premises.

Tenants can contact Solid Ground’s Tenant Services Hotline (206.694.6767; the hotline is answered only on Mondays, Wednesdays and Thursdays from 10:30 am – 4 pm)  and ask to receive a packet with information and sample letters on reasonable accommodations/modifications as well as to discuss their specific situation. More information, along with hours of operation, is listed on our website. General information about Fair Housing laws and regulations can be found here, where you’ll also find information about “protected classes,” which can help you understand how Fair Housing laws operate.

You can address questions about requests for reasonable accommodation and modification as well as any concerns you have if you feel you have been discriminated against by contacting one of these Fair Housing agencies to file a complaint or receive more information for your specific situation. If you are not sure which agency to contact, you can call the Tenant Hotline to receive information and referral to the appropriate agency in your area.

Legal disclaimer: The information contained in this post or linked to the Solid Ground Tenant Services website is for informational purposes only. Solid Ground makes no claims, promises or guarantees about the accuracy, completeness or adequacy of the information contained in or linked to its website. Solid Ground cannot act as your attorney. Solid Ground makes no representations, expressed or implied, that the information contained in or linked to its website can or will be used or interpreted in any particular way by any governmental agency or court. As legal advice must be tailored to the specific circumstances of each case, and laws are constantly changing, nothing provided herein should be used as a substitute for the advice of competent counsel.