Fair Housing

“Raymond,” who has a disability, was working a part-time job in addition to his full-time job in order to pay off the $6,000 he owed his homeowner’s association, which had initiated a foreclosure for the past due assessments. He was also behind on his mortgage. He and his two adult children, ages 18 and 20, share the family home, and he was in risk of losing it.

“Marcia,” a single mother whose adult son has a disability, was delinquent on her mortgage after a COVID-19 hardship. She had entered into a COVID-19 forbearance, and once it ended, her loan servicer told her she had to pay almost $8,000 in one lump sum.

“Margie and Frank Wilson,” a Clay County couple in their late 70s, came to JALA for help after becoming delinquent on their mortgage following a forbearance period. Social Security was their only source of income, and they had been struggling to make ends meet for several years. JALA offers housing counseling through a grant from Clay SHIP, or the State Housing Initiative Program, which provides local governments with funds to create housing programs to assist income-eligible residents.

“Ariana” came to JALA after her mortgage company wanted her to pay the whole sum that was due from the period when her family had received pandemic-related mortgage forbearance. Her whole family had not only had COVID-19, but the head of the household had lost employment due to the initial shutdown. The family had resumed their mortgage payments, but when asked to pay the whole sum due, they could not afford it.

Although “Jim” was no longer married to the mother of his stepson “Bryan,” when Bryan asked to come live with him, Jim welcomed the young man into his home. He knew he could provide Bryan the safe, stable environment the teen needed.

R.E.S.T.O.R.E., a Jacksonville charity that seeks to reduce recidivism by providing support services to ex-offenders transitioning back into mainstream society, acquired by donation a vacant residential lot from the City of Jacksonville. The previous owner, a corporation, had stopped paying property taxes on it. Having acquired the property in a tax sale, the corporation attempted to create a conservation easement on the property by conveying it to a conservation trust.  The corporation then stopped paying the property taxes.