Right before Jerricia Harris’ mother passed away, she had a vision.
“I see a big house coming your way soon,” she told Harris, a single mother of two who works at a Home Depot warehouse in East Memphis. Almost immediately after her mother passed, the vision seemed to come true: Harris got an approval letter for a Section 8 housing voucher.
“I was like, she spoke this into existence,” Harris said. “It was so devastating, losing her, and then I end up being blessed.”
Harris soon settled with her kids in a Whitehaven apartment complex called Cleaborn Pointe at Heritage Landing. The $1,425 rent on the large, townhouse-style unit was subsidized by the Memphis Housing Authority, a local group that coordinates federal housing vouchers. The voucher meant Harris only had to pay $500 per month, with the MHA paying the rest.
Last summer, the MHA approved Harris for a lower rent payment based on a reduction in her income. But instead of dropping, her rent went up in the fall. She’s now being charged $250 more than her lease adjustment notice specifies — and neither her property management nor the MHA have explained or removed the additional charges.
Harris’ experience isn’t unique. A new report from the Fair Housing Council of Metropolitan Memphis alleges that the MHA regularly changes and even terminates housing vouchers without informing program participants. Voucher recipients often struggle to communicate with the organization, and in some cases are left scrambling to avoid losing their housing.
In February, Harris found a letter taped to her door threatening her with eviction if she didn’t pay her overdue balance — even though she has been paying her share of the rent every month. She worries that the complex has grounds to take her to court over the extra rent charges and late fees that have been piling up.
“I just feel heartbroken,” she said. “Y’all going to put me out, and I’m paying my rent.”
Outstanding balances leave tenants in limbo
The rent that housing voucher recipients pay is based on income — and last year, Harris’ income dropped due to a reduction in her work hours. She brought proof of this reduction to the MHA offices in July, and was given a lease adjustment notice stating that her rent would drop to $335 per month in the fall. She then submitted this notice to her property managers at Cleaborn Pointe.
But in November, shortly after her lease was renewed, Harris’ rent jumped up to $585 without explanation — $250 more per month than her lease adjustment notice says she owes. The additional rent charges, along with the late fees that accrue when she can’t pay in full, have now snowballed into an outstanding balance of over $2,000.
Right: A delinquency notice left on Harris’ door on Feb. 10 threatens eviction proceedings due to her overdue balance.
“That’s really hurting me because that balance went up… and I don’t want to pay that balance if I don’t have to,” she said. “I’m trying to just get it resolved, and they haven’t got it done at all.” Pennrose Leasing, which operates Cleaborn Pointe, did not respond to several requests for comment.
The Fair Housing Council found that unexpected rental balances caused by a variety of voucher-related issues have left many MHA clients in limbo, unsure of whether they’ll be held responsible for paying them.
“It does not appear that MHA consistently notifies tenants of changes to their vouchers, problems with recertification that result in the loss of the subsidy, or unit inspection status,” the group wrote in its 99-page report, which it released in February.
According to executive director Chenise Anthony, the Fair Housing Council has heard from over 150 Memphians about their negative experiences with the MHA since 2024. One of them was Brenda, a housing voucher recipient for over 10 years whose name was changed in the report to protect her identity.
Like Harris, Brenda lives at Cleaborn Pointe on a Section 8 voucher. Last fall, a property manager informed Brenda that the MHA hadn’t paid their share of her rent since 2021. The Fair Housing Council inquired on her behalf and learned that the agency terminated her voucher in 2021 without informing her in writing or letting her appeal the decision — violating federal regulations.
Anthony says that Brenda is still living in her home, but she fears that Cleaborn Pointe will eventually demand that she make up the MHA’s four years of missed payments.
“This is terrifying as she has no other means to pay her rent,” Anthony wrote in an email to MLK50. “She is not the only person in this predicament. Some of the voucher (recipients) have more than a $10,000 balance.”
While the MHA says it doesn’t comment on specific tenant cases, CEO Dexter Washington said recertification issues are a leading cause of voucher terminations.
“Last year, we terminated 736 vouchers,” he wrote in a response to questions from MLK50. “The most common reason for termination was failure to complete Annual Recertification.”
Harris said she never got confirmation from the MHA that her voucher was recertified, but she is still being charged far below the market rate rent that she would have to pay without a voucher. She believes that Cleaborn Pointe and the MHA are not communicating with each other, making it even harder to resolve the issue.
Communication challenges stymie solutions
Getting answers about voucher issues is a well-documented problem that tenants face with the Memphis Housing Authority. The report describes a culture of withholding access to case managers at the MHA’s offices — something Harris experienced when she made an appointment in July.
“I was there on time, (but) she was like, ‘Just leave your stuff at the front (desk), and we’re gonna give your caseworker all of your information,’” Harris recalled. “I needed to talk to my caseworker, but that didn’t happen.”
Washington stated that the MHA is open for walk-ins from 8 a.m. until 4 p.m. Monday through Thursday — echoing a sign posted in the building’s lobby. But the MHA website lists these hours as “Dropoff and Appointment Only” for housing choice vouchers, with no mention of walk-ins. Its Housing Choice Voucher page states that appointments are only available on Mondays and Wednesdays between 9 a.m. and 3:30 p.m.
Google lists the MHA office as closing at 2 p.m. every day except Monday, and says it is open on Friday from 8 a.m. until 2 p.m. The posted sign says it is closed every Friday.
“MHA’s communication practices limit access to services for voucher holders who depend on clear guidance and timely responses to maintain housing stability,” the report states.
Trying to reach the office by phone poses more challenges. The Fair Housing Council found that MHA phone lines often go unanswered, including one designated for people with disabilities. Test callers found that there is often no callback option or ability to leave a voicemail.
“In October 2025, MHA upgraded phone providers to a cloud-based call management system to better connect callers to MHA’s team,” Washington said in an emailed response to questions. “It’s important to note that MHA’s customer service call center is intended for people currently enrolled in a program or on a waitlist.”
In November, after her rent increased, Harris left the MHA a voicemail asking for help resolving the issue. No one ever called her back.
Dreaming of a home
Harris doesn’t want to stay in Cleaborn Pointe long-term. Soon after she moved in, her car was broken into — she now puts a lock on the steering wheel whenever she parks it. She says that a neighbor frequently has disruptive guests, including a man who wandered into her back yard with a shotgun.
Recently, her block’s bank of mailboxes was broken — she now picks up her mail from the post office so important documents don’t go missing. And her 11-year-old son described hearing gunshots while walking through the complex with a friend.
“He’ll stay in the house. My daughter’ll stay in the house,” Harris said. “That’ll mess with any child’s mental (health), if you can’t go outside … I just want (to give) them a better living environment than we’re in.”
But until her outstanding rent balance is resolved, she fears no other rentals will accept her application.
“Right now I want to move, but I can’t because of the situation … on my ledger,” she said. “It’s a headache and a heartbreak.”
Harris would love to live in East Memphis so she can be closer to her job and settle in a neighborhood where her kids can play and meet up with friends safely. She dreams of eventually owning a home.
“I want to have a house,” she said. “I want to leave something for them, whenever I leave here.”
Have you faced problems obtaining or keeping a Section 8 voucher through the Memphis Housing Authority? MLK50 wants to hear from you. Contact the author of this piece by emailing natalie.wallington@gmail.com or messaging nataliew.901 on Signal.
Natalie Wallington is the housing reporter for MLK50: Justice Through Journalism. Email her at natalie.wallington@mlk50.com.
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