Case Stories
Wednesday, January 27, 2010
Mr. J applied for a rent-geared-to-income apartment in 2000. He was placed on the Housing Connections waiting list. Every year until 2005, when he received a note from Housing Connections, he called to update his status, saying he wanted to remain on the list. He didn’t hear from them in 2006 or 2007. In 2008, he asked about his status. Housing Connections told him he was no longer on the list. He would have to apply again. They could not backdate his application. He would end up at the bottom of the list.
Mr. J came to the Ombudsman for help.
Ombudsman staff contacted Housing Connections. Their staff looked at the electronic records and found they had sent letters to Mr. J every year. He had stopped responding and so was off the list.
After some discussion, Housing Connections finally agreed to search the paper file. They found the 2004 letter was returned, but this had never been noted in the electronic file. If it had, they would have contacted him by phone for his new address. As a result, subsequent letters had been going to his old address.
Result: Housing Connections backdated Mr. J’s application to 2000, restoring him to his place on the waiting list.
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