My Illegal Lease

 The day I moved into 1627 Eastern Ave Baltimore several residents exclaimed surprise at me being given a lease when the building did not have a valid permit to rent apartments. That was the beginning of my knowing I was in a bad situation. I was supposed to be on a 50% subsidy for seniors, but that was not printed on my lease, so I knew that the money I paid may have been kept off the books. One resident later claimed that when Jubilee was granted a Rental Property License on July 25, 2023 it had been two-and-a-half-years since the previous license had expired or been revoked.

I had expected to be the man on my blue electric mobility scooter with photographs for sale and out and about in Fells Point offering them for people to purchase. That would have been nicely profitable for me. I have a serious stock of custom color 8x10s in my storage locker; prints I made in an old-time photo lab darkroom twenty-some years ago. I also have a collection of old black and white photos from the files of the Baltimore Sun Papers, when they digitized them all then wanted to get rid of the paper prints. Plus, I intended to build up capital to use for having some of my digital photos printed. I was even checking online to learn about outside sales permits. I am a low-income disabled Veteran, and I had to have an organization that helps homeless vets to pay my security deposit and first month's rent. I had been stuck in the Baltimore Station long term shelter and drug/alcohol recovery treatment place for 15-months. And me being an alcoholic with thirty years sober now. Not easy living in an open dorm with 40-some other men, most of whom are hard core crack and or heroin/fentanyl addicts. I care a lot about them and the staff at Baltimore Station, because many of us helped each other deal with our difficult lives.

Stephanie Whitehead of the organization New Vision House of Hope found this apartment for me. At the time, I was offered a full apartment worth of new furniture from a city program, but Jean Cobb the Jubilee rental agent kept putting us off until the furniture grant program expired. She was saying the apartment is an old school room with larger than normal doors and windows and her crew had to do some repairs on mine. It was actually due to the elevator being out for about 5 weeks. One resident had to stay in a hospital because once she struggled down the stairs her doctor said she was not to climb back up them.

Then I learned more and more of the bad things happening here all the time: with the homeless breaking in; my heater nor air conditioner never worked as was similar with other residents, so I had to purchase a portable air conditioner and two small heaters.