A MOTHER-of-four has been living in fear of being homeless after she was issued an eviction notice despite always paying her rent.

Stephanie Blanchard is terrified of being kicked out of her housing after a mistake that was no fault of hers.

Blanchard, a single Cincinnati mother of four children, got multiple eviction notices over the last year, with the most recent one being sent on February 7 along with a letter stating she owed thousands of dollars. 

The mother has a housing voucher which allows her and her family to live in government-subsidized Section 8 housing managed by the Cincinnati Metropolitan Housing Authority.

To be eligible for the housing voucher, she has to meet income requirements set by the local housing authority.

The CMHA told the mother she no longer qualified for a housing voucher, local ABC affiliate WCPO reported.

The Ohio woman showed reporters her eviction notices and other documents relating to her housing situation.

“This is showing that my rent is zero,” Blanchard said.

“This is the termination of [my] housing choice voucher.”

When she demanded answers from the CMHA, she was told it was the management company’s problem. 

“[The CMHA] basically [told] me it’s the management company not turning in one single sheet of paper,” she said. 

Blanchard’s lawyer, Emily Roberts, told WCPO Blanchard did turn in all required paperwork – and that this issue is the fault of the CMHA. 

“As much as we would want to blame it on the landlord, who has been notorious for kind of dropping the ball in the past, in this instance, it really was the Cincinnati Metropolitan Housing Authority,” Roberts said.

“It turns out, all CMHA needed to do was contact the landlord and say we need the specific structure of the water bill.”

Roberts blames this mistake on the agency’s lack of staffing.

“I think lack of staff is a big thing,” she said. 

“I will email CMHA’s legal department, and I will have to send five, six, seven follow-up emails to get a response.”

Roberts reported speaking to members of the CMHA and landlords of the Heirlooms of Cincinnati. 

“This seems like it’s super simple, but it’s not getting resolved,” Roberts said. 

“But it took a city attorney and myself basically intervening and saying, ‘This isn’t OK what’s happening, we need to get this fixed.'”

In response to the mistake, the CMHA said it prioritizes its residents. 

“The residents and voucher participants are our first priority at CMHA, and we work hard to provide a high level of customer service to them,” the agency wrote in a statement to WCPO.

“As we understand in this case, there was a misunderstanding between the landlord’s completed form and CMHA’s expectations regarding responsibility for the utilities for the tenant to renew the Rental Tenant Agreement. 

“This communication was resolved last week, and CMHA is moving forward with renewing the tenant’s voucher.

“She is able to continue in her current unit under CMHA protocols.”

The CMHA didn’t immediately respond to The U.S. Sun’s request for more information.