Housing crisis in Cobb County

Attention attention attention Cobb County does not have apartment complexes that provide leases based on your income. Cobb County has 300,000 households, 88,000 households show a need for subsidized housing but only 8,000 households are receiving subsidized assistance ( section 8,LITHC low income tax credit properties properties, TBRA tenant based rental assistance )

Types of subsidies

Marietta Housing Authority provides section 8 housing choice vouchers but the wait list is not open
If you are 65 or older you can check and see if the list is open at certain apartments

LITHC - Low income tax credit properties minimum household income is $35,000 a year to apply for 1 person. The rental price starts at. $1,000 a month for some properties.
The minimum income varies if the person is 65 or older and receive the section 8 subsidized
Rental assistance

Tenant based rental assistance ( TBRA) provides rental assistance 6 months to 24 months

Median household income
The median household income for Cobb County is $63,000 a year and the fair market rental price is based on the average household income of $63,000 a year
. It is not based on income from essential workers or even entry level careers salaries for one person.
If your household make less than $30,000 a year there will be extreme challenges to maintain housing.

Quasi low income apartment complexes

There have been apartment complexes that were flexible with their application guidelines however their 2 bedroom apartments are averaging $1500 a month, some are run down, they are not modernize and have aggressive eviction tactics.
Residents are afraid to speak up because they have no where to go.
These apartments are mostly located in Austell/ Mableton area and the Osborne/ Marietta area. These areas also have challenges with academic performance in the attendance zoned schools. Demographics mostly African American and Hispanic

Rental Assistance and evictions
Rental assistance is dwindling down and are not long term. Cobb County magistrate court which oversees eviction has 300 people weekly on their docket for evictions and most are African American households

Apartment complexes have 90 percent occupancy rate
The truth of the matter is that we have to be honest if you have to work 2 jobs to afford rent, you cannot afford rent and need to address elected officials to assist with concrete solutions for the housing crisis. You need to stop going from apartment complex to apartment complex pretending like you can manage the rent, Stop contacting non profits just to get help to pay rent. The guideline is that households should not pay more than 30 percent of their monthly income in rent. So if you make $3000 a month which equals about $40,000 a year your rent should not be no more $900 a month.

Making plans to stabilize housing
Do not be embarrass that you can not afford rent. It is impossible to manage $1500 a month unless you have household income over $5000 a month. Stop allowing the apartment complexes to take advantage of your situation, charging you double deposits around income tax time to move in. Even though they are aware that you can not afford rent. Stop going to apartments that have a history of maintenance concerns.
Speak with your family about combining your income to rent apartments or homes that you can manage together as a family and have a plan to purchase homes together.

Ways to address the housing crisis

Seek Specialized training to increase your income https://www.worksourcecobb.org/news-events
Know your rights as a tenant www.wethriverenters.com
Contact elected officials Lisa.Cupid@cobbcounty.org,
monique.sheffield@cobbcounty.org

Keli.Gambrill@cobbcounty.org

JoAnn.Birrell@cobbcounty.org

Jerica.Richardson@cobbcounty.org

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Cobb County does not have low income apartments based on your income so stop asking

Thank you
Monica DeLancy
We Thrive on Riverside Renters Association