[DATE] VIA EMAIL, FAX & REGULAR MAIL [Addressee] [Address] [Address] [City, State, Zip Code] RE:

HUDs Forced Eviction of Tenants in Newarks Carmel Towers Building

Dear [NAME]: We appeal to your office for help in saving Newarks Carmel Towers apartment complexa 215-unit building that HUD has subsidized since the early 1970s. [Organization description]. The Carmel Towers Tenant Committee is a group organized to advocate for a more equitable outcome for the buildings residentsmany of whom now face potential homelessness. We write to you, our Senator, because of your stalwart support for the needs of Newarks residents, particularly through your work in appropriating funding to HUD for the very programs at issue here. As highlighted in the October 26 edition of the New York Times, Carmel Towers and its roughly 215 units of low-income housing could be lost forever, and many of its tenants may be left with nowhere to go because they had too little advance notice regarding HUDs plans. On September 1, 2011, tenants received only a short letter from HUD stating that HUD would not be renewing its financing of the building, and the tenants would receive Section 8 vouchers to move somewhere else. Tenants were not consulted before this major decision was made, as was their right under the due process clause of the United States Constitution. Nor did they have any other form of advance notice. They were simply given a meeting where HUD and the Newark Housing Authority instructed them on how they would use their Section 8 vouchers to find a new home. The lack of relocation assistance in HUDs plan has placed many Carmel Towers tenants at risk of homelessness. Even with their new Section 8 vouchers tenants are required to pay the costs of the required security deposit on their new apartments, as well as any additional deposit that could be required to open a utilities account. Even though it appears that HUD has extended the time for tenants to leave by 60 days, many tenants simply will not have the funds necessary to move and could end up homeless if HUD curtails the subsidies at Carmel Towers. This outcome is not inevitable, and a solution is within reach, but your help in breaking the current impasse could be vital. Tenants and advocates have spent several weeks in conservations with federal, state, and local officials, attempting to work out a solution by which an affordable housing preservation specialist would acquire the building, conduct necessary repairs, and give tenants the option of remaining, to see if better days lie ahead. However, these Page 1 of 2

efforts have stalled due to HUDs refusal to endorse such an alternative plan. To our knowledge, no one at the state or local level opposes this alternative plan in theoryit is only HUD that is intent on shutting down Carmel Towers. Carmel Towers can still be saved, but only if HUD and any other necessary parties agree to the following three-part plan, which balances the tenants interest in self-determination with the very real need to make significant capital improvements to the building: 1. Select a true preservation buyer from the current array of interested parties, that is willing to secure financing for any necessary repairs and continue the RAP contract; 2. Extend the current Rental Assistance Program contract until June 30, 2012. For those tenants who are not pleased with the transition in ownership, they should be able to take their voucher and leave; and 3. For those that want to leave now, they should be given relocation assistance to assist with the payment of security deposits, utility deposits, and other moving costs. However, time is of the essence. The longer that uncertainty persists among the tenants, they will either a) choose the proverbial bird in hand by using their Section 8 voucher to leave Carmel Towers, or b) those who cannot afford the cost of moving will face eviction and potential homelessness once the project-based subsidy expires on November 30 or December 31. We respectfully request a meeting with you so that we may discuss this plan in greater detail and learn more about what the Senator can do for these tenants in their time of need. Thank you for your time and attention in this matter.

Respectfully,

[tenant organizer]

[NAME] Member, Carmel Towers Tenant Committee

[NAME] Member, Carmel Towers Tenant Committee

[NAME] Member, Carmel Towers Tenant Committee

[NAME] Member, Carmel Towers Tenant Committee

cc:

[Name] (Via Email & Regular Mail)

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