For a person to be considered “homeless” in Lewiston-Auburn, that person has to be in a shelter; living on the streets or in a tent doesn’t count.

Most landlords won’t rent an apartment unless the renter has a great credit score (I guess they don’t know about the economy out here).

The renter has to give the landlord a lot of personal information, such as a copy of an ID, Social Security number … even a bank account number. Still, they have approved people who ended up not paying their rent, so I guess it doesn’t work.

Some landlords take a deposit and have the renter sign paperwork saying the deposit is not refundable. Well, that sure makes a person want to take care of the apartment.

Time to make some real hard changes in Lewiston and Auburn, and I mean now.

Carl Kimball, Lewiston