#4 Why a Solo Retired American Woman is Moving to Thailand for the Rest of Her Life
Part Four: Safety: How The Government Is Putting It's Low Income Seniors At Risk in Subsidized Senior Apartment Buildings By Using Them As Housing For the Homeless
As I mentioned in my last 3 episodes, I intend for Her Expat Retirement to be a fun place to be. However, if we're going to talk about why I want to leave America, we're going to have to talk about some negative stuff. But, fortunately, this is the last episode on why I want to leave America. Stick with me past the depressing stuff and I'll talk about why it will be better for me in Thailand.
I want to begin by making it clear that I truly have compassion for homeless and mentally ill people. I'm going to share some personal family stuff here, and I'd like this to be the last time I ever talk about it with you all, because I choose to live my life looking forward in a positive way, and not looking backwards into disturbing past memories. But, I don't want anyone to think that I just hate all homeless people and don't have a real understanding of the issues they face. Because I do. On a very personal level.
My sister had schizophrenia. She began suffering from it when she was just a tween. She heard voices and used to cut herself. Back then, things like that were kept a family secret. She did eventually get help and she did have a good support system, so she never ended up without shelter.
I had a very close understanding of what she went through dealing with side effects from medications that she hated, how she tried using other substances to find relief, and how exhausting it was for her to use the techniques she had been taught to deal with the voices in her head.
She tried to kill herself many times, and she really meant to die. It wasn't just a cry for help. She ended up with casts on her arms more than once from trying to kill herself. She did finally die from a heroin overdose in her forties.
I also had a brother who killed himself and a close uncle who did, too. And, my one living sibling, my baby sister, has been homeless off and on, and is an opioid addict who nearly died a few years ago from an overdose. She lost her family and her career and struggles to stay housed and sober. As far as I know, she's still alive, but I'm not sure. We were recently back in touch when my mother died, but unfortunately, I can't trust her, so I've had to cut her back out of my life, again.
The only reason I am as sane as I am, is because I escaped my family home as soon as I turned 18 years old. Before I even graduated from high school. I finished high school sleeping on friends' couches, and as soon as I graduated, I moved two states away.
Slowly, but surely, I finally completely estranged myself from my family. I have great compassion for them all, and honestly wish they weren't suffering and I truly wish them well. But, I learned that environment is key, if you want to become and stay contented and sane.
So, when I start talking about why I don't want to live with homeless people and their problems in my apartment building, I hope you now understand that it is not about me hating all homeless people, or not truly understanding what they go through, with loads of compassion.
You can understand and have great compassion for them and how much they are suffering, and yet also know that for your own contentment and peace of mind, you need to be in an environment that is conducive for contentment. And, living with homeless people and their problems, and the safety concerns that go along with them, too, is not conducive for contentment.
Okay, so why am I even talking about living with homeless people, when I live in an apartment building, that's also advertised as having security?
The short version is -- because my landlord is taking financial incentives from the government to put homeless individuals into apartments in my building.
When I applied to move into my subsidized senior apartment building for low-income seniors, I had to undergo some pretty rigorous screening. They do have to allow for credit scores that might not be perfect in these subsidized places, but I needed to provide multiple good landlord references, a fairly decent credit score and pass a background check. And, the other tenants living in my building did, too. So, even though there could be occasional issues here, they weren't usually anything extreme.
Now, however, in order to address the homeless situation, the government -- from the federal level to the state, the county and local city levels -- are giving landlords thousands of dollars for every homeless person they put into empty units, and telling the landlords that they can ignore normal screening procedures. No background checks, credit checks, or landlord references required.
It's the easiest way the government has figured out to house the homeless, because there just isn't enough funding to build enough shelters and special housing facilities for the homeless.
And, there's a fairly new law based on a case in Idaho, Martin vs. Boise, that went all the way to the Supreme Court, that says that a municipality cannot have a law that makes it a crime to camp out or sleep on public property in the Ninth District, which is basically all of the western states in America. Now, if that municipality has enough shelter beds for all of the homeless, they can require them to go into the shelter, instead of camping on public property. But, those shelters cannot be religion-based -- separation of church and state and all that. Or, more specifically, any religion-based shelter cannot require any individuals to participate in any type of religion service or activity, in order to have a bed for the night.
So, since there aren't enough shelter beds available, out of desperation to find a workaround, many municipalities are working with other levels of government to provide incentives to private landlords to house the homeless. But, these incentives are not only available in the western states, because the federal government has also made it a priority to deal with homelessness across the entire country, under the House America Initiative.
These government incentives give emergency Section 8 vouchers to the homeless person through HUD (Department of Housing and Urban Development), and then promise to pay landlords thousands of dollars in signing bonuses for each homeless person they place in one of their units. They also pay all of the deposits, which can be up to three months rent. They promise thousands more dollars to cover any additional damage done by the tenant. They offer to pay sometimes up to nearly $5,000 to do whatever is necessary to pass inspections. So, the landlord gets to improve their unit on the government's dime. They provide a social worker who is assigned to take care of any problems with that tenant. And, they guarantee the rent will always be paid on time.
These incentives can be as much as nearly $5,000 free money to upgrade the apartment so they'll pass inspections, then for rents that can be over $2,000 a month where I live, that would be another $6,000 or more for three months deposit, then up to another $5,000 or so promised money to handle any additional damage done by the tenant. These incentives can total upwards of $16,000 per each homeless person they rent to. And guaranteed rent on time.
There's not much risk there for landlords, and that's a whole lotta money. So, of course, many landlords, like mine, are taking the deals. Even if it means their other senior tenants are put at risk. And, at least in my building, management has not increased security.
It's no secret that most homeless individuals suffer from mental illness and/or addiction. They can be violent. They may commit crimes to pay for their addictions. Where homeless people go, so go the problems associated with their issues.
There have been homeless folk living on the street and in their cars right outside my building for a long time. We already had problems with them sneaking into the building. But, of course, back then they were actually trespassing, so we could call the police and get them removed. We have been complaining about needing more security for years, but the management here cares more about profit than the safety of the seniors who live here.
But, now, if that homeless person is a tenant's guest, they are allowed to stay with that tenant up to two weeks at a time. They can visit whenever they want. And, formerly homeless people have homeless friends. And now, they aren't trespassing.
The problems in my building are growing exponentially with so many homeless people moving into my building and letting their homeless friends in, but management has not increased security to match the increased problems. The cops are called here at least once a week now. I've personally been scared out of my wits by a violent homeless guy who just appeared in front of me when the elevator doors opened, and he yelled at me, "What the "f" are you looking at!?" And then he banged into my shoulder deliberately as he walked past me and told me to "Get the "f" out of my way!"
And, as you can imagine, there have been increasing break-ins, thefts, and even fights in the halls. A guy was arrested who was visiting someone in the building waving a knife around at other tenants. I learned from the manager that he was the same guy who later assaulted me when he appeared before me when the elevator doors opened. It turns out, his mother lives in my building.
So, the homeless problem that at least for the most part was outside the building, is now inside of it. And, they are my fellow tenants and their guests, who have the right to be here. All we can do is complain and hope management eventually kicks them out, which can take forever, even if they wanted to do it. Because in these types of subsidized apartments, tenants can't be kicked out without good cause, and even then they get multiple chances to change their behavior, and then, they can fight any eviction in court with free legal aid.
A reporter for the Los Angeles Times, Thomas Curwen, wrote a great article in 2019 titled "An Entire L.A. Homeless Encampment Moved Into Apartments. But Their Past Still Found Them." Curwen followed the progress of several homeless individuals who had been placed in apartments with incentives to the landlords.
What Curwen discovered, is that the homeless individuals had a difficult time adjusting to living according to the rules in their new homes. They usually let in their homeless friends to live with them because they felt bad about having housing while their friends didn't. They and their friends caused problems with other tenants, including criminal activity and damage, and usually ended up being kicked out, while causing other tenants, who were not formerly homeless, to move out of the building.
Another article, which was published in the Washington Post, written by Peter Jamison, also in 2019, covered the same problems happening in Washington D.C., where homeless individuals were placed into an apartment building there. That article is entitled "D.C. Housed The Homeless In Upscale Apartments. It Hasn't Gone As Planned."
I'm afraid for my safety inside my building. I'm afraid to go down to my car in the basement garage, or do laundry, which is also down there in the basement. The laundry machines are broken into to get change out of them. They use the electricity in there to charge their phones. They break into our cars.
Tenants are moving out and they're being replaced with more and more homeless people. And the management is not increasing security. They're all about the profit. They are fine with us moving out. The next tenant, who will probably be another homeless person, will make them more money. And, when one of them does actually get kicked out, the landlord can take the same incentives again to house the next homeless tenant.
And, since I can only afford to live in subsidized housing, there's really nowhere else I can move where I wouldn't be facing the same problem. Landlords are being given this incentive all across America, under the White House's House America Initiative. So far, they've put 100,000 homeless people into units with these landlord incentives. They're really proud of that.
HUD (Department of Housing and Urban and Development) has even created a brochure with examples of how to entice landlords to take incentives to house the homeless, that is distributed to communities across the nation. They've only just begun.
So, where can poor seniors, like me, find a place to live that we can afford -- and feel safe?
Well.....Thailand.
In Thailand, I can find a condo with great security, for the same rent I pay now or even less, without these problems. And, I could even swim in a swimming pool that is also guarded. I'm talking about a safe condo complex, with great security with actual round the clock guards, and a swimming pool and other amenities, for the same rent I pay out of pocket now, which is just $264 per month, or even less. If I wanted or could afford a car, the parking area would also be guarded. There wouldn't be homeless sleeping outside on the sidewalk or in their cars.
No doubt there is poverty and other issues in Thailand, including some homeless people. But, if you just take some time to watch recent videos on YouTube made by creators who do walking tours of different areas and cities in Thailand, you will notice the stark difference between any area in Bangkok, for instance, and San Francisco.
There are statistics that also show that Bangkok is actually much safer than San Francisco or Los Angeles, even though it is a city of over 10 million people. The crime and safety index used on Numbeo.com ranks San Francisco the worst of the three, with a crime score of 61.2, next is Los Angeles at 52.2, with Bangkok having the least crime with a score of only 40.5.
Their safety index, where the higher the number the better, has Bangkok at 65.9, then Los Angeles at 47.8 and San Francisco at just 38.9.
So, there you have it. My fourth and final reason for wanting to leave America, is to find safer housing that I can afford with good security.
I'm Kelly Portola. In upcoming episodes, we'll talk about stuff that's a lot more fun, like how to figure out what's involved in actually moving abroad for the rest of my life.
You can always find everything I do on HerExpatRetirement.com, where I post articles, videos and podcasts. The letters spell "her," H.E.R., Her Expat Retirement.
And should you feel so inclined, check out my YouTube channel's community tab where I post polls and other random fun stuff.
I hope to see you again real soon.
References:
California home to more than half of all people without shelter in America: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2022/mar/22/california-homelessness-crisis-unhoused-and-unequal
HUD Brochure on Incentivizing Landlords to Rent to Homeless, Including Paid Bonuses, and using the Public Housing Authorities' Relationships with Current Subsidized Housing Landlords, Including Sample Flyers and Examples on How to Recruit Landlords: https://files.hudexchange.info/resources/documents/COVID-19-Homeless-System-Response-Leveraging-ESG-CV-Landlord-Financial-Incentives-to-Expedite-Engagement.pdf
Los Angeles County, CA Financial Incentives to House Homeless: https://aagla.org/2022/01/got-units-get-incentives-the-lacda-offers-new-landlord-incentives/
San Diego, CA Financial Incentives to House Homeless: https://www.sandiegocounty.gov/content/sdc/sdhcd/rental-assistance/landlords/landlord-incentive-program.html
Santa Clara County, CA Target Population for Housing Homeless in Permanent Housing: Chronically Homeless, drug addicts: https://osh.sccgov.org/solutions-homelessness/permanent-solutions/permanent-supportive-housing
Santa Cruz, CA Financial Incentives to rent to homeless: https://santacruzlocal.org/2021/11/02/incentives-help-landlords-rent-to-santa-cruz-countys-homeless/
WA State Incentives to Landlords to House Homeless, Including Using Alternative Application Criteria, Removing Credit Checks, Etc., In Order to Receive the Incentives: https://kcrha.org/landlord-incentive-package/
Financial Incentives to Landlords in New Hampshire to House Homeless: https://concordhomeless.org/new-affordable-housing-program/
LA Times Article About How Homeless Who Are Moved Into Apartments, Let Their Homeless Friends In As Guests and Bring In Their Problems, Causing Other Tenants To Feel Unsafe: https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2019-08-15/the-street-within-part-three-homeless-people-find-apartment-life-difficult
Washington Post Article: Washington DC, Homeless Placed in Apartment Buildings Causing Problems, Other Tenants Feel Unsafe, Fleeing: https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/dc-politics/dc-housed-the-homeless-in-upscale-apartments-it-hasnt-gone-as-planned/2019/04/16/60c8ab9c-5648-11e9-8ef3-fbd41a2ce4d5_story.html
Stanford University Statistics on Homeless in CA, Numbers & Mental Illness, Addiction: https://siepr.stanford.edu/publications/policy-brief/homelessness-california-causes-and-policy-considerations
Biden's House America Initiative placed 100,000 homeless into units so far: https://www.usich.gov/news/biden-administration-helps-105-communities-end-homelessness-for-more-than-140000-americans/
HUD House America goals: https://www.hud.gov/house_america/goals
Numbeo.com statistics on crime and safety in San Francisco, Los Angeles & Bangkok: https://www.numbeo.com/crime/region_rankings.jsp?title=2023®ion=019
Tenants cannot be evicted except for good cause and can fight eviction (California): https://www.treasurer.ca.gov/ctcac/compliance/eviction_docs.pdf