Need a New Place to Live

  • Thread starter TemporaryCircumstances
  • Start date
  • Christian Chat is a moderated online Christian community allowing Christians around the world to fellowship with each other in real time chat via webcam, voice, and text, with the Christian Chat app. You can also start or participate in a Bible-based discussion here in the Christian Chat Forums, where members can also share with each other their own videos, pictures, or favorite Christian music.

    If you are a Christian and need encouragement and fellowship, we're here for you! If you are not a Christian but interested in knowing more about Jesus our Lord, you're also welcome! Want to know what the Bible says, and how you can apply it to your life? Join us!

    To make new Christian friends now around the world, click here to join Christian Chat.
T

TemporaryCircumstances

Guest
#1
#1
So,
We pay $610 dollars in monthly rent for our apartment (if you have read some of my previous posts you may know that it's not the best or healthiest place to live, but it a place nevertheless)
Anyhow, management changed in our apartment, and the new management wants to raise the rent to $850 a month. Well... A moldy, leaking apartment where the stairs crumble when you walk on them and crime happens just about every day around the area is not worth $850 a month. Not to mention the reason we and just about every other person live there is because we can afford it.

If we do not want to live there anymore because of the price increase we have to move out by the end of April.
So we are moving out by the end of April. The problem still arises that we have no idea where to move. It's probably not going to be much better than the apartment we have now, but hopefully we can find something cheap enough :/

Does anyone have any advice that may be able to help in this process?
 
Desertsrose

Desertsrose

Senior Member
#2
Oct 24, 2016
2,824
207
63
#2
Hey Natania,

Wow, what a bummer!!! So sorry - That's a huge increase!!!

I don't know where you live but have you guys ever thought of maybe moving out into the rural areas? It's normally less expensive. We have some apartments, duplexes and mobile homes that are affordable.

I'm going to pray for you and your family that you find the perfect place to rent that's affordable and clean and a nicer place than where you live now.

Bless you sweetie!!!
 
OneFaith

OneFaith

Senior Member
#3
Sep 5, 2016
2,270
369
83
#3
TemporaryCircumstances said:
So,
We pay $610 dollars in monthly rent for our apartment (if you have read some of my previous posts you may know that it's not the best or healthiest place to live, but it a place nevertheless)
Anyhow, management changed in our apartment, and the new management wants to raise the rent to $850 a month. Well... A moldy, leaking apartment where the stairs crumble when you walk on them and crime happens just about every day around the area is not worth $850 a month. Not to mention the reason we and just about every other person live there is because we can afford it.

If we do not want to live there anymore because of the price increase we have to move out by the end of April.
So we are moving out by the end of April. The problem still arises that we have no idea where to move. It's probably not going to be much better than the apartment we have now, but hopefully we can find something cheap enough :/

Does anyone have any advice that may be able to help in this process?
Click to expand...
It sounds to me like you live in low income housing, because I do too. If you see this sign (I'll insert a picture) at your apartment complex, then you are protected by laws. Your local Department of Human Services can get you to the correct agency in your area for low income housing, and they can either mail you a list of low income housing in the area you request, and/or give you a website to search for yourself.

I know of one website- "show me the rent . com" (without spaces). You can filter things such as 10-100 mile radius, washer/dryer, central air, etc. One of the filters is low income. It's a pain because I can't seem to also filter out low income for seniors only, so you have to do some digging.

Low income apartments cannot discriminate against income, nor can they raise the rent past a certain percentage of your income. If you think they are disobeying the rules/laws, you should contact you local legal aid department.

I'm not kidding, when I lost my job once, my rent was based on zero income, and therefore my rent was free. Well, almost, you have to have an income, so I drew a picture every month and sold it for one dollar.

Google it, look up discrimination laws with the key words "low income" for your state. There are also laws that your landlord has to keep a clean and safe environment. There are certain standards for low income housing- such as working stove, washer or dryer, no lead paint, many things, and you do not have to pay rent until they comply.

I wish you well.


(Sorry, it won't let me add the photo. Just look up equal housing opportunity on google images)
 
Last edited:
D

Depleted

Guest
#4
#4
TemporaryCircumstances said:
So,
We pay $610 dollars in monthly rent for our apartment (if you have read some of my previous posts you may know that it's not the best or healthiest place to live, but it a place nevertheless)
Anyhow, management changed in our apartment, and the new management wants to raise the rent to $850 a month. Well... A moldy, leaking apartment where the stairs crumble when you walk on them and crime happens just about every day around the area is not worth $850 a month. Not to mention the reason we and just about every other person live there is because we can afford it.

If we do not want to live there anymore because of the price increase we have to move out by the end of April.
So we are moving out by the end of April. The problem still arises that we have no idea where to move. It's probably not going to be much better than the apartment we have now, but hopefully we can find something cheap enough :/

Does anyone have any advice that may be able to help in this process?
Click to expand...
A. Do you have a lease? If you do, the lease is still binding, so you get to stay at your rent price until the end of that lease.

B. If you do not have a lease, then you can withhold rent, until the major problems in the apartment are repaired.

C. Landlords must give tenants 90 days to vacate. If yours won't, take them to small claims court. The judge will give you those 90 days.

Use those 90 days to save for next place. Assume of you do not pay your rent each month you will not get your deposit or first months rent back, however, any landlord that will raise the rent that much without making improvements first was never giving you money back anyway. (And, again, since they have to give you 90 days to vacate, they can't kick you out early. If they try, take them to small claims court.)

Experience here:
- Had a slumlord once, and got all I wanted out of the deal through small claims. (And survived the winter with temperatures in the 30s and 40s in my apartment too, but at least I didn't pay the heat, like he told me I had to. He tried eight feet of copper pipe to heat a 24' X 16' X 10' room, with 1 inch gaps in the 8' tall windows.)
- Was the Assistant Maintenance Manager for a property management company for a couple of years.

AND, best place to find cheap apartments is near college campuses. There's a reason for that though. Chances are good you'll get to hear loud parties Thurs., Fri., and Sat. nights throughout the school year. On the positive side, it gets really quiet in the neighborhood during summer.
 
D

Depleted

Guest
#5
#5
Oh, another idea. Is your stepdad handy? I know folks who get apartments for free because they become the maintenance guy. (I'd ask if your stepmom was handy, but she's in a career path that strikingly says, "No way." lol) If it's a small complex, that's all they get. If it's a big complex, they also get paid.
 
T

TemporaryCircumstances

Guest
#6
#6
Desertsrose said:
Hey Natania,

Wow, what a bummer!!! So sorry - That's a huge increase!!!

I don't know where you live but have you guys ever thought of maybe moving out into the rural areas? It's normally less expensive. We have some apartments, duplexes and mobile homes that are affordable.

I'm going to pray for you and your family that you find the perfect place to rent that's affordable and clean and a nicer place than where you live now.

Bless you sweetie!!!
Click to expand...

Yes we have thought of that, the one downside would be the drive everyday
 
T

TemporaryCircumstances

Guest
#7
#7
OneFaith said:
It sounds to me like you live in low income housing, because I do too. If you see this sign (I'll insert a picture) at your apartment complex, then you are protected by laws. Your local Department of Human Services can get you to the correct agency in your area for low income housing, and they can either mail you a list of low income housing in the area you request, and/or give you a website to search for yourself.

I know of one website- "show me the rent . com" (without spaces). You can filter things such as 10-100 mile radius, washer/dryer, central air, etc. One of the filters is low income. It's a pain because I can't seem to also filter out low income for seniors only, so you have to do some digging.

Low income apartments cannot discriminate against income, nor can they raise the rent past a certain percentage of your income. If you think they are disobeying the rules/laws, you should contact you local legal aid department.

I'm not kidding, when I lost my job once, my rent was based on zero income, and therefore my rent was free. Well, almost, you have to have an income, so I drew a picture every month and sold it for one dollar.

Google it, look up discrimination laws with the key words "low income" for your state. There are also laws that your landlord has to keep a clean and safe environment. There are certain standards for low income housing- such as working stove, washer or dryer, no lead paint, many things, and you do not have to pay rent until they comply.

I wish you well.


(Sorry, it won't let me add the photo. Just look up equal housing opportunity on google images)
Click to expand...

Awesome
Ill look at that!
 
T

TemporaryCircumstances

Guest
#8
#8
Depleted said:
A. Do you have a lease? If you do, the lease is still binding, so you get to stay at your rent price until the end of that lease.

B. If you do not have a lease, then you can withhold rent, until the major problems in the apartment are repaired.

C. Landlords must give tenants 90 days to vacate. If yours won't, take them to small claims court. The judge will give you those 90 days.

Use those 90 days to save for next place. Assume of you do not pay your rent each month you will not get your deposit or first months rent back, however, any landlord that will raise the rent that much without making improvements first was never giving you money back anyway. (And, again, since they have to give you 90 days to vacate, they can't kick you out early. If they try, take them to small claims court.)

Experience here:
- Had a slumlord once, and got all I wanted out of the deal through small claims. (And survived the winter with temperatures in the 30s and 40s in my apartment too, but at least I didn't pay the heat, like he told me I had to. He tried eight feet of copper pipe to heat a 24' X 16' X 10' room, with 1 inch gaps in the 8' tall windows.)
- Was the Assistant Maintenance Manager for a property management company for a couple of years.

AND, best place to find cheap apartments is near college campuses. There's a reason for that though. Chances are good you'll get to hear loud parties Thurs., Fri., and Sat. nights throughout the school year. On the positive side, it gets really quiet in the neighborhood during summer.
Click to expand...

Hm
Not sure if we have a lease actually, cool thanks I'll check up on that.
We have just shied away from bringing them to court for anything in fear that they will bring up the stupid violations we have made (they range everywhere from turning our porch light off to not agreeing to cooperate with the cops which is BS but whatever)

But it sucks because the manager has gone into our apartment and stole things, he has put needles under our cars, he's called the police for incidents that never happened and has tried to fine us for things we never do.
 
T

TemporaryCircumstances

Guest
#9
#9
Depleted said:
Oh, another idea. Is your stepdad handy? I know folks who get apartments for free because they become the maintenance guy. (I'd ask if your stepmom was handy, but she's in a career path that strikingly says, "No way." lol) If it's a small complex, that's all they get. If it's a big complex, they also get paid.
Click to expand...

My step father repairs roofs
 
tourist

tourist

Senior Member
#10
Mar 13, 2014
41,304
16,297
113
69
Tennessee
#10
I have prayed for God to address your family's housing needs for an affordable rent, clean, quiet, close to where you need to be and safe.
 
T

TemporaryCircumstances

Guest
#11
#11
tourist said:
I have prayed for God to address your family's housing needs for an affordable rent, clean, quiet, close to where you need to be and safe.
Click to expand...
Thank You

..............
 
Corbinscam

Corbinscam

Senior Member
#12
Jul 17, 2016
560
35
28
#12
I have no advice but I'm praying you find exactly what God has for you and it works out quickly...
 
Bigbromarsh

Bigbromarsh

Member
#13
Feb 7, 2017
80
1
0
44
#13
Father help your loved ones find a place that is affordable, clean and safe, and close to work/school. We as a family call you PROVIDER ! In Jesus name
 
E

Exodus1

Member
#14
Sep 27, 2016
34
0
0
#14
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Even the humblest homefills a basic need for familiar surroundings as we grow up. At homeyou learned to talk when you were little. And there you can continueto learn about people and how they cope, even now as you grow older.As one authority writes: ‘Home is the place to which one brings theeveryday run of social experiences, to sift, to evaluate, toappraise, to understand, or to be twisted, to fester, to bemagnified, or ignored, as the case may be.’By all means continue toavail yourselves of the resources that municipalities make availableto those who qualify for such. But remember that greatest man whoever lived had a humble beginning. He was raised by a Jewish virginand a poor carpenter. But grew up to become the Savior of the world.Keep your faith and keep your dignity. You will do great things!! IfGod keep Daniel safe in a Lion's den, He will surely watch over youand your family in an impoverished neighborhood. And you will see!!This too shall pass!![/FONT]
 
D

Depleted

Guest
#15
#15
TemporaryCircumstances said:
My step father repairs roofs
Click to expand...
Does the roof need repairing? If so, he has the means to negotiate. He knows how much it costs for the physical work and the supplies.

Now, I live in the city, so we have tar-and-tarp for roof, and it costs about $2000 for a new roof. Let's say $500 is for actual supplies, meaning $1500 for labor. That's one more year at the same rent levels where you live, in exchange for him putting in sweat-equity. (Labor. lol) If the new landlord has more than one building? Well? You see where he can negotiate a new lease to keep you where you are now a while longer at the same rent.

One of our landlords (and us, since that basement was supposed to be our living space too, but flooded at every rain), needed a sump pump put in. Hubby is a steamfitter, so he could put in the pump if the landlord made the hole it was to go in. We negotiated. One month's free rent if we installed the sump pump. (I just helped. Kind of day laborer to a skilled worker.) Our sweat-equity saved us $400 that month.

Rent really is negotiable, if the tenant has something to trade. And having a tenant that can do needed work? Priceless! Because the landlord knows where to find the person if the work is shoddy. lol
 
T

TemporaryCircumstances

Guest
#16
#16
For whoever talked about the lease and allowing 90 days,
Apparently they are allowed to do 30 days if it is a month to month
 
D

Depleted

Guest
#17
#17
TemporaryCircumstances said:
For whoever talked about the lease and allowing 90 days,
Apparently they are allowed to do 30 days if it is a month to month
Click to expand...
Ah, month-by-month happens whenever the tenant doesn't resign the lease every year.

It's a gamble. On the one side, not resigning means you can leave whenever. On the other side, it means this.

I hope you're packing already, because packing needs to start even before finding the new place. (It used to take us 6 weeks to pack, but then again, both of us were working, so it was a part-time packing.) Amazing the amount of stuff we collect, even if we think we're minimalists.
 
T

TemporaryCircumstances

Guest
#18
#18
Depleted said:
Ah, month-by-month happens whenever the tenant doesn't resign the lease every year.

It's a gamble. On the one side, not resigning means you can leave whenever. On the other side, it means this.

I hope you're packing already, because packing needs to start even before finding the new place. (It used to take us 6 weeks to pack, but then again, both of us were working, so it was a part-time packing.) Amazing the amount of stuff we collect, even if we think we're minimalists.
Click to expand...
yes
we are already packed some of the way since we thought we were moving before but all that stuff with the pipe breaking happened
 
Oncefallen

Oncefallen

Idiot in Chief
Staff member
#19
Jan 15, 2011
6,030
3,255
113
#19
The cost of housing in Co Springs has skyrocketed in the past few years. Studio apartments are starting at $600 and 2 bed apartments are at the low end at $850.
 
T

TemporaryCircumstances

Guest
#20
#20
Oncefallen said:
The cost of housing in Co Springs has skyrocketed in the past few years. Studio apartments are starting at $600 and 2 bed apartments are at the low end at $850.
Click to expand...
Yep
Unfortunately that's true
 
You must log in or register to reply here.