HOPE funds may help tenants being forced out of Salisbury apartments, attorney says

SALISBURY, N.C. — Several people at Eaman Park apartments in Salisbury said they just found out that they have to move, but an attorney believes those who received HOPE funding may have the right to stay.

“My wife and I were out there scrambling to find apartments,” tenant R.J. Roberts told reporter Tina Terry. “Everyone has a waitlist of six months to a year. It puts us in a bad predicament because we have nowhere else to go.”

A letter sent to tenants early last week stated that the owner of Eaman Park plans to sell the apartment complex. On Oct. 1, the apartments will be demolished to make way for affordable housing.

[HOPE Program now accepting tenant referrals from landlords, increasing financial assistance]

Milicent Miller said that her husband is on dialysis and needs more time to find a new home.

“It was a shock to me, because if I have to move my husband,” Miller said. “I have to get a transfer.”

Diane Green said her daughter is paraplegic and just had a ramp installed onto her home last month to help her get in and out.

Green also said that she needs more time to accommodate her daughter’s needs.

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“Really scared and upset because we were already having problems getting services for her,” Green said. “Now we have this on top of that and have to move.”

Some tenants said their rent has been paid through the end of the year by funding from the state HOPE Program.

“I’m hoping to stay until the first of the year because everything down here is paid for,” tenant Garry Propst said. “Everything is taken care of.”

That letter states that any credit they have with the HOPE Program will be returned to the program and tenants will have to contact the organizations to transfer that money to a new landlord.

Attorney Isaac Sturgill with Legal Aide North Carolina said landlords who took HOPE Program funding signed a legal agreement.

A sample copy of the agreement says the landlord “agrees to extend the lease for the period that the HOPE Program assistance covers.”

“In those situations our advice to our clients is usually the landlord has agreed to this and you can hold them to it,” Sturgill said.

Tenants who said they can’t find an affordable place to live in such a short period of time told Channel 9 that they will consider getting an attorney.

“I’m on a fixed income,” Propst. “I’m retired. I’m disabled. I can’t just jump up and run out.”

Many say NC HOPE Program hasn’t followed through on promise to pay rent, utilities

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