Preston — A resident of the Lincoln Park senior housing apartment complex is fighting eviction, saying the Preston Housing Authority has refused to consider her hardship situation and has refused to accept rent payment now that her financial situation has been resolved.

Susan Crowe, 71, a retired nurse, and civil rights activist Ishma’el Schwartzman of Groton said the eviction is part of a broader dispute and allege that the Preston Housing Authority has discriminated against Crowe and others. Schwartzman said they will file a complaint with the Connecticut Human Rights and Opportunities office next week.

Crowe said her financial difficulties started in December, when the U.S. Social Security Administration contacted her to do an audit of her account since her husband’s death in 1988. Her monthly Social Security payments were reduced, and after the federal government shutdown, she was told the office could not find her file and the case was delayed.

She said she provided the housing authority with a letter in January that was placed in her file, and a second letter when the case was delayed. In March, she said she asked housing authority Executive Director Carol Onderdonk for a hardship to delay rent payments and went to Catholic Charities in Norwich for rental assistance.

Crowe said Catholic Charities sent the Preston Housing Authority a rent check for $400 — less than her monthly rent of $682.42 — and the housing authority refused the check. Catholic Charities tried again, and again was refused, Crowe said.

By May, her Social Security issue was resolved, and Crowe said she told housing authority officials she could pay back and current rent. But her check was refused, and authority officials declined to discuss the issues with her.

Onderdonk could not be reached for comment Friday, and the authority office is closed on Fridays. Attorney Frank Manfredi, who represented the authority in the eviction, could not be reached for comment Friday.

According to court records, the Preston Housing Authority issued an eviction notice on April 22, ordering Crowe to vacate the apartment by May 3 and filed an eviction lawsuit against her on May 21 in Norwich Superior Court. The complaint stated Crowe had a month-to-month lease for her apartment since August 2015 and has failed to pay rent in April and May of this year.

“The defendant’s lease has terminated by reason of non payment,” the eviction complaint stated. The complaint said Crowe “continues in possession thereof and refuses to vacate said premises.”

In her response to the complaint, Crowe told the court she has a physical disability — she has had knee and ankle replacement surgery — never received a 90-day notice before the order to quit the premises and cited her hardship of the “interruption by Social Security monthly payments.”

After a court hearing on Wednesday, Norwich Superior Court Judge Nuala E. Droney continued the case to July 10 to allow time for Crowe to obtain a lawyer. She and Schwartzman said they are in the process of hiring an attorney to represent her.

“I don’t want to move at this time,” Crowe said, “due to my physical limitations and my health. I have to have reduced stress. I’m not sleeping. I can’t eat.”

Schwartzman, who is black, alleged the housing authority wants to remove Crowe because she has befriended his wife, who has lived next door to Crowe since Schwartzman had to spend time in Detroit caring for another family member. He said his wife also has been harassed and said security cameras are aimed at her and Crowe’s apartments. He will file a complaint next week on behalf of Crowe and others, claiming harassment and racial discrimination.

“I firmly believe every person deserves the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, regardless of their sex, age, race, creed or religion,” Schwartzman read in a statement to the media. “The continued assault and harassment and unfair treatment by Preston Housing Authority toward Susan Crowe, her rights clearly have been violated. This needs to stop.”

c.bessette@theday.com