For the past few months, we have been in communication with tenant leaders at the Warren Apartments Tenants Association about a growing cause of concern.
The utility subsidy that many residents use to pay their Memphis Light, Gas, and Water (MLGW) bills was disrupted last month. Normally, checks arrive between the first and the 10th of the month. However, over the past two months there have been “hiccups” in the disbursement of these checks to tenants, with March’s subsidy arriving on April 8 and April’s subsidy arriving just two weeks ago.
As allies of these tenants, our chief concern is that these delays can and have resulted in tenants being late paying their MLGW bills. This could damage their credit scores and could create undue hardships during this already difficult process of securing alternative housing within the timeline given.
The Mid-South Peace and Justice Center has reached out to Congressman Cohen’s office as this matter relates to HUD, and we thank his staff for their quick response.
Today, we have been in contact with MLGW and have learned some good news. MLGW will waive any negative credit reports for residents in this program for the past two months.
We are working diligently to provide MLGW a complete list of affected tenants as soon as possible.
We would like to thank Paul Young with Memphis Housing and Community Development and Clint Richardson with MLGW for their prompt attention to this matter.
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