Housing Search and Advocacy - In English and Spanish
There are many challenges in finding and securing subsidized housing: What kinds of resources are out there? Who is eligible for them? How do you overcome some of the barriers to housing, such as criminal history or bad credit? What are my rights as a tenant in Massachusetts?
AHC's Housing Search and Advocacy Training addresses these questions and many more. Each section below contains detailed notes from AHC's training presentation. For each section, there are additional handouts and related materials. All are in PDF and open in a new window.
Please note some of this material is specific to Massachusetts, but much of it covers federal programs and universal challenges related to housing. AHC has also translated these notes into Spanish, and is in the process of converting them to plain text for persons with disabilities.
- Directions: The documents for both trainings below are Adobe PDF documents and require Adobe Reader to open. All open in new windows. Download Adobe Reader →
- The presentations for this training are Microsoft PowerPoint files that are password-protected. A dialog will appear when you open the files -- leave the password field in this dialog blank and press the "Read-Only" button to view the presentations.
- Below is the English version of this training. Click here to jump the Housing Search and Advocacy in Spanish →
- Housing Search and Advocacy in English
- Download the PowerPoint presentation "Housing Search and Advocacy" →
- 1. Assessment of Need + Housing Strategy (78KB)
- Handout: List of Documents for Housing Search (23KB)
- Handout: Internet Resources (23KB)
- 2. Overview of Affordable Housing (111KB)
- Handout: List of Massachusetts Housing Resources (1MB)
- Handout: Overview of Federal & State Preferences (2MB)
- 3. Barriers to Subsidized Housing (119KB)
- Handout: Personal CORI Request Form (3MB)
- Handout: CORI Code List (4MB)
- Handout: Immigration Categories + Documentation (988KB)
- 4. Overcoming Denials (95KB)
- Handout: Denial of Assistance Rules (1MB)
- Handout: Sample Appeal Process (16KB)
- 5. Fair Housing Law + Supportive Housing (95KB)
- Handout: Reasonable Modification & Accommodation (68KB)
- 6. Tenant - Landlord Issues (116KB)
- Handout: MA Sanitary Code List (6MB)
- 7. Evictions (97KB)
- Handout: Eviction Time Line (1MB)
- Housing Search and Advocacy in Spanish
- Download the PowerPoint presentation "Búsqueda de vivienda y abogacía" →
- 1. Evaluación de necesidad y estrategia de vivienda (24KB)
- Handout: Documentación para la búsqueda de vivienda (24KB)
- Handout: Recursos en la red de internet (20KB)
- 2. Resumen de recursos de vivienda en Massachusetts (28KB)
- Handout: Vistazo de los mayores programas de vivienda de Massachusetts (20KB)
- 3. Barreras a la Vivienda Subsidiada (32KB)
- 4. Superando las Negaciones (24KB)
- Handout: Regulaciones para negación de asistencia al vistazo (12KB)
- Handout: Ejemplo- Proceso de Apelación (16KB)
- 5. Vivienda Justa, Discapacitados y Vivienda con Apoyo (28KB)
- Handout: Ejemplos de Acomodamientos Razonables, Ejemplos de Modificaciones Razonables (20KB)
- 6. Problemas entre Inquilinos y Propietarios (36KB)
- 7. Evicciones (24KB)
- Handout: Cronología de una evicción (16KB)