The Wilmington Housing Authority is not raising rents at Creekwood after all.
Earlier this week, WHA learned from the state that it had vouchers that would stabilize rents — that means the tenants will be able to continue paying 30% of their income, instead of paying a flat rent based on the unit size.
Tenants had received a letter last month that said their rents were going up to those flat rates, which would have doubled or tripled the rent for some. But the housing authority rediscovered the vouchers after getting communication from the state earlier this week. Garrett says these 138 units are now correctly classified within WHA, but they have hundreds more to review.
“Hopefully, what we're putting together will identify how the units were identified in the past, if they were misidentified. We can put it into the system so we correctly understand what subsidies should be going to those units, and then we'll move forward," Garrett told WHQR after this week's meeting.
The news will be a relief, but it’s still possible for some tenants to still see their rents increase, based on their income. Others may be relocated to new units that are more appropriate to their family size. WHA plans to host town halls this month to explain this process to tenants at various properties.
You can find a more in-depth conversation about the Wilmington Housing Authority rent situation on The Newsroom: A chaotic, confusing month for WHA, a visit to a SparkNC campus, and WHQR's newest podcast
