TULSA, Okla. — For three years, Gable Hills Apartments have been home for Sylvia Aguilar and her six-year-old son.
At the end of June, she found a notice taped to her door, alerting her to her lease being terminated in just 60 days. The notice attributes it to rental increases that Tulsa Housing Authority, who gives Aguilar rental assistance, refuses to pay.
“I mean, we have Tulsa Housing help for a reason, and I’m a single mom, I can’t work a whole lot of hours," she said. "My son’s school is out here, his counseling is out here, my job is out here, so I feel like our whole life is blowing up and I don’t know what to do, I don’t know where were going to live.”
Aguilar said she wasn't the only resident to receive the notice. She estimated anywhere from 40-50 of her neighbors also got the letter.
WATCH: Tulsans face eviction over rent hikes
While it was shocking, Aguilar said it wasn't altogether surprising. She told 2 News a new company purchased the property about a year ago and has been making little upgrades along the way.
That's what she believes caused the rental increase.
“Feels like they’re trying to just get all of us out so they can go in and finish their little project they’ve got going on," said Aguilar.
2 News Oklahoma's Stef Manchen reached out to Legal Aid to see if it was legal to increase rent in the middle of a lease. They said it is not legal if they were in the middle of a lease.
But that's not a problem for management.
“They didn’t have us renew leases," said Aguilar. "They did this on purpose and I don’t know, we're just in a bind a lot of us because we're not on a lease, so I guess they can just be like 'bye.'”
2 News reached out to Tulsa Housing Authority to understand their side of the issue.
This is their response:
Tulsa Housing Authority notified Section 8 landlords in May of this year that we can no longer fulfill rent increase requests. This is due to insufficient federal funding, with even more significant cuts predicted for all rental assistance programs. Denying rent increases will allow THA to manage under current funding while not requiring us to remove subsidy from existing tenants. It is at the discretion of the landlord to maintain current rent levels or, in the case of Gable Hills, to displace existing tenants in search of higher rent amounts. We are grateful for every single participant in the Section 8 program that houses Tulsa’s most vulnerable.
They explained those residents don't lose their voucher, but will have to put in a request to move it with their Housing Coordinator. The residents will then be able to move wherever their voucher is accepted.
“I would like some guidance on what we're supposed to do and where we’re supposed to go," said Aguilar. “I’m just slowly packing because I don’t know what’s coming next so I might as well pack. I’ve got less than two months and I don’t know what we're doing, so I’m kind of bracing myself for the worst.”
Aguilar and her neighbors have until Aug. 30.
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