KSHB 41 reporter Alyssa Jackson covers portions of Johnson County, including neighborhoods in Overland Park, Shawnee and Mission. Share your story idea with Alyssa.
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Affordable housing is precious in today's market.
For some renters, it can feel like a hopeless search.
That's why Terrell Jolly, who runs Integrity Capital Management, said a primary focus for his company is providing homes for voucher holders.
"The reality is it could be me, one of my staff members," Jolly said. "We walk past people every day in a challenging situation that needs a quality home. When you have home, you have hope."
A longtime tenant of Jolly's ended up needing financial help.
“We ended up finding a way to assist her and get her on the Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher System in Lee's Summit.”
A Dysfunctional System
Integrity Capital Management has experience working with housing authorities, including the Lee's Summit's Housing Authority.
Jolly said he expected a two-month delay to get Housing Assistance Payments (HAP) arranged for his tenant.
Lisa Dickerson, the Lee's Summit Housing Authority's executive director, started her position with the agency in January.
Dickerson said previous staff members didn't get Jolly's tenant off the authority's waiting list.
That's why Jolly didn't receive any payments for about six months because the payments were never scheduled.
"I didn't know she existed," Dickerson said. “In my months here as the new executive director, I have uncovered a plethora of issues that began before me and persisted under me until staff was completely rotated.”
Dickerson described a dysfunctional system at the housing authority that included documents that disappeared.
"Documents were shredded or gotten rid of," Dickerson said. "The staff, no longer here, had to ask repeatedly that Mr. Jolly send any and all emails that had been sent. It was clear they had been sending emails to staff who are no longer here."
KSHB 41 reporter Alyssa Jackson asked if Jolly's tenant's documents were shredded.
"I can't say what happened to them, but they were not in this building," Dickerson said.
She claims they found a "shred box" with documents inside.
When asked when the box was found, she said she could not remember.
"We're going to keep it on Mr. Jolly," Dickerson said.
"It's a continuous battle."
Housing assistance payments cover 90% of the rent for Jolly's tenant.
Integrity Capital Management spent six months waiting for the housing authority to send the payments.
"We were verbally on the phone, followed up, emailed," Jolly said. (They) told us to do this, we had text messages, documented...did everything we could."
He didn't have many options while the housing authority figured out how to get him the payments.
“I had to float the capital, take out of my personal finances," Jolly said. "I had to create a way in order to keep servicing the debt.”
Last month, the Lee's Summit Housing Authority wrote him a check for the missed payments.
The check did not include late fees.
The housing authority owes about $700 in penalties, but they refuse to pay.
Jolly provided KSHB 41 with his contract that states the agency does pay late penalties.
The housing authority also has a 2020 HCV Administrative Plan on their website that states: "The HAP contract provides for penalties if the LSHA fails to make the HAP payment on time."
Jackson asked Dickerson how they justify refusing to pay.
Dickerson said guidelines have changed and they are in the process of updating them.
She wouldn't provide KSHB 41 the new policy or explain the updated policy she plans to propose to the board.
“Alyssa, I gave you this interview not to be made the bad guy here,” she said.
Dickerson ended the interview with KSHB 41 early.
Before she walked out, Dickerson was asked what the agency is doing to solve the alleged problems that existed before her arrival.
"They have already been resolved,” she said.
However, Jolly said he still receives late payments from the agency and has not received any late fees accrued from the past several months.
"It's the principle," Jolly said. "If we keep letting this go on, small mom and pop shops like myself won't survive.”
Those who work to find and provide affordable housing know the challenges of finding and managing the programs are difficult.
Jolly believes providing quality housing can solve a lot of the issues the community faces.
He doesn't plan to stop anytime soon, but he hopes government agencies can meet them halfway.
"I hate to put it this way, but it’s par for the course. What’s the next challenge?" Jolly said. "We just keep going and going and going."
KSHB 41 reached out to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).
Dickerson said HUD sends them housing assistance payments at the first of every month and HUD policy allows the local authority until the 10th of the month to disperse the money.
A HUD spokesperson told KSHB 41 reporter Alyssa Jackson no such policy exists.
A HUD official confirmed the agency has received complaints about the Lee’s Summit Housing Authority, but they do not have any open investigations at this time.
