Agenda Abstract - 01-30-2018 Assembly of Governments

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50 When asked about retaliation, only 20% of families were concerned about the manager and /or owner getting back at them for complaints or requests. Of those families, all except one identified as Hispanic. On the other hand, 63% of families would file an anonymous complaint if that was available, signaling that retaliation may be a larger concern than the original data would suggest. One resident told the following story: "We complained about the potholes in the road for a long time. Finally, our manager bought gravel and filled in the holes. However, a few months later, rent went up a lot for everyone. We could never prove that it was because of gravel, but now we're afraid to complain about anything." Additional Observations by the Survey Team During survey administration, many families discussed the following concern with the survey team: Documentation Status: Although not collected in the survey, many families expressed that documentation status can be a significant obstacle, even for those families who have "mixed status" (the children are citizens, but the parents are not). The lack of legal status for parents can restrict the services that they are eligible to receive and can complicate other issues. For example, some mobile home residents have the signed title from the previous owner, but in order to put the title in their name they need a North Carolina driver's license, which they can't get if they're undocumented. Families are very interested in programs where they could put in work to buy a home and the land it sits on, but are concerned they may not qualify because of their documentation status. They are afraid that there may be similar limitations on alternatives offered through other government programs because of their status. There are also fears about benefitting from governmental housing support more generally, even if they qualify, because of the potential implications of publically recognizing their status. 11