NEW ON THE WEBSITE: SUBSIDIZED HOUSING RENT FREEZES (A WORK INCENTIVE)

 

A rent freeze, also called a “self-sufficiency incentive”, means that if one starts working after a period of unemployment, the increase in their income will not lead to a rent increase for a certain period of time (either 12 months or 12 months followed by 12 months of only half of income counting towards a rent increase).

In some cases one does not need to be disabled to qualify. There are different eligibility rules for different types of subsidized housing and varying lengths of the freeze as noted above. We now have a page on our website that explains in detail and includes links to sample letters to request a rent freeze. See www.mghsocialwork.org Staff Access > Rent Freeze or http://healthcare.partners.org/ss/ssframebottom/staffresources/New%20Site/Basic%20Needs/BN_Employment-Rent_Freeze.html.

-Content adapted from: " Massachusetts Public and Subsidized Housing Tenants: Know Your Rights! Get a Rent Freeze When You Go to Work" Resource Guide 10, by Melanie Jordan. Linked from News from Institute for Community Inclusion, e-mail March 05, 2009, (Thanks to Andra Sobran for forwarding.) On the web: http://www.communityinclusion.org/article.php?article_id=194 , retrieved 3/5/09.

 

4/09