Wilmington Housing Authority houses tenants making 30% of the area median income or less. For a single person, that’s $22,750 a year or less. And typically, a family living at Creekwood or Houston Moore pays exactly 30% of their total income for rent.
But next year, more than 500 units will likely see their rents go up. Way up. Rather than basing the new rents on a tenant’s income, they’ll be based on the area median income, or AMI. And with so many newcomers to Wilmington making higher salaries that AMI has really gone up.
Under the tenant income-based scheme, average rent at Creekwood is $300. They all now need to pay rent aimed at those making 40-45% of AMI. For affected units, the lowest rent will now be $975 for a 2-bedroom, so some tenants are seeing their rents double or even triple.
For a Creekwood tenant like Ariel Carter, a local certified nursing assistant, will see her rent jump from $700 a month to more than $1,200.
“I could barely pay seven now. Then they talking about 12. That's a big gap, and then it's supposed to be affordable? But how is $1,200 affordable?” She said. Carter lives in a 3-bedroom with her three kids, and says this feels even worse on the heels of two years living in a hotel during the institution's mold crisis.
She added that the letter came December 8, but she and other tenants are nervous to contact the office. "It said to contact the office when we got the letter. I ain't contact them yet, because I ain't got $1,200 to get them yet," she said.
Another neighbor in Creekwood, Leslie Cromartie, said she's worried what it will mean for people who can't work. "I'm just trying to figure out why they're not explaining it to the residents. Are they going to move us around, out of the tax credit units into other units, or are we just left to pay the bill?"
Cromartie said she's like to see the housing authority host a public meeting to explain the rent increase.
The change will impact nearly 70% of the units at Creekwood. And Creekwood isn't the only property undergoing this correction, according to WHA Manager of Executive Operations Elena Camacho. "Similar compliance reviews and adjustments are also taking place at New Brooklyn, The Pointe, Robert Taylor Senior, Rankin Terrace, and portions of Jervay Communities.”
A total of 525 units are undergoing an audit, she said, but the total number of residents impacted isn't yet clear.
The review comes as the current leadership at WHA catches up with mismanagement from the prior administration. A representative from WHA wrote in an email that these properties underwent repairs with Low Income Housing Tax Credit funding more than a decade ago - the rents should have changed back then.
"Unfortunately, the current administration cannot speak to why the previous administration allowed this to remain incorrect for an extended period of time," she said.
Asked how the authority plans to support tenants during this process, Camacho wrote: "WHA is supporting residents through a coordinated effort between Resident Services and Property Management, including one-on-one assistance, clear communication about rent changes, and connections to local resources and community partners. Our focus remains on supporting residents and maintaining housing stability throughout this process.”
Notably, WHA is planning to redevelop a number of properties around Wilmington with LIHTC funding — Hillcrest will be among the first of them.
Hillcrest's existing structures will be replaced with more units of affordable housing than are currently on the site, operating under a mixed AMI structure: a portion of units are set at 30%, 50%, 60% and 80% AMI. But as the median income in Wilmington rises, those rents will inevitably rise as well.
HUD's existing funding mechanisms are shifting away from traditional public housing and toward LIHTC — this is a problem that will impact housing authorities across the country. And it will hit the very poorest tenants the hardest, since the jump in rent will be so drastic. Camacho said the change can be difficult. "AMI changes can impact very low- or no-income residents because rents are capped based on AMI rather than individual household income."
Below are copies of the letter sent to tenants, provided by a tenant of Creekwood.
