Public Employee Press

Municipal Employees Housing Program
"From no place to a great place"

Her own home, thanks to the union

By DIANE S. WILLIAMS

DC 37 member Audrey Graves and her family went from Brooklyn Housing Court to home ownership thanks to the union's legal service and its affordable housing program.

"The landlord raised our rent every other year but never made repairs," said Graves, a Local 372 high school Parent Coordinator. The Graves family was renting a house with the option to buy, but for years the landlord stalled and reneged on the sale - and the upkeep. "She'd tell my husband to do the repairs himself," Graves said.

The long list of much-needed repairs and her landlord's bad attitude forced Graves to contact DC 37's Municipal Employees Legal Services for advice. MELS lawyer Admarie Llewellyn represented Graves in Housing Court. With documentation of regular rent payments and pictures of the disrepair and the worn-out 35-year-old stove, the lawyers negotiated and slashed Graves's rent increase to $100.

Meanwhile Graves attended two Municipal Employees Housing Program workshops that lit a spark for her. "I was so excited," she said. "Who wants to live in a place with things undone? I knew with God's help I could buy a house rather than continue renting."

MEHP helped Graves see that her goal of home-ownership was "definitely doable." She broke the news to her longshoreman husband of 29 years on an anniversary cruise. "I told him we're buying a house, but he was skeptical," Graves said. "I said, 'We both have good jobs and we need to invest in something of our own.' "

MEHP counselors helped Graves repair her credit; they also stressed that potential homebuyers should get a home inspection before making a purchase. The sage advice saved the family lots of money and headaches in their search for the right house. They looked at three properties but an inspection revealed that one house needed more than $30,000 in repairs and another was lost to another buyer.

"The inspection is worth the $500 and I thank the union for good advice and terrific lawyers," Graves said.

The couple found a newly renovated, three-family brownstone on a quiet block in Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn, and moved in last November. They tapped their pensions for the down payment and MELS Attorney Judith Brown represented them at the closing, which saved them nearly $2,500. With two grown daughters as tenants and a 16-year-old son, the Graveses are finally at home. "We are optimists and hard workers. I believe all things are possible with God," Graves said. "We went from no place to a great place."