Connecticut became the 48th state in the nation last week to prevent the state from putting a welfare lien on someone’s home. Advocates and faith leaders took a victory lap Tuesday but they aren’t stopping there.
“To buy my own home at 50 years old, first of all, was amazing because I came out of poverty,” Renee Blake said.
But when social service workers told Blake they planned on putting a $70,000 lien on her home for assistance she received 40 years ago, she said it was heartbreaking.
Gov. Ned Lamont signed legislation four days ago that erases that lien for Blake and thousands of other Connecticut residents.
“Now I’m able to sell my house and get a small one and pay for it outright. So I am happy and I’m so thankful,” Blake said.
But help didn’t arrive soon enough for some.
“The moment for me is bittersweet. I lost my home and became homeless because a welfare lien placed on my property prevented me from renegotiating my mortgage,” Isee Greenwood of New Haven said.
