They are raising my rent-in this economy?

A few days ago we came home to a letter on our front door from the “community manager” letting us know that our lease is up June 3rd. If we renew, our rent will be going up $55. Half of our complex is vacant and when I walked my dog the other night, we seen one apartment getting an eviction notice put on their door. I understand that sometimes it is necessary to ask for a rate increase but in these hard times, should ya? Me personally would offer an incentive to renew the lease. Maybe a month free or lowered rate or something. I would not up the rent, that’s for sure.

Our rent will be going up to $1455 if we don’t move out by June 3rd. That is a lot of money for rent-a lot of money. Not only is it a lot of money-it is not affordable. I really don’t feel like moving…again. But I know we will need to. There is no way I am paying that much money for rent.

I remember last year I posted here that I was moving and only paying a little more a month. I thought it was great to be paying a little bit more than what I was. Someone posted a comment and now looking back to it, it made total freaking sense! When trying to save money and pay down debt, the last thing I should have done was pay more for rent. Even $10 more per month is too much. I should have done the opposite-find something even cheaper!

I hate to use the excuse that I had a lot going on at that time to give any real thought to it-but I did. I am learning from it all and I totally “get it” now. I have definitely learned a thing or two on this debt journey of mine.

I have been keeping an eye out for a new place these past few months anyway. There are a lot of places for rent out there but we are having a hard time finding  something in the same school district and someone who will allow my dog without a huge deposit. I am hopeful though.

What I did do just in case was look within our apartment community and request a transfer to something cheaper should we not find a place to live. We really don’t care to stay here but financially it would work out great. We would transfer to another apartment here in a lower price range and not have to give any money upfront for security or for a pet deposit. They would just transfer our existing deposits. We did it before with zero problems but apparently things have changed. My husbands mouth almost dropped when they told him we are “pending approval!” What the heck does that mean? We have been awesome tenants for over 1 year 1/2-never late on our rent. Should they go by our payment history-we are good to go but if they go by our credit-we are screwed.

So the “we will let you know in a couple hours” has turned into a couple of days and still no word. We shall see. I am not gonna sweat it. I am still looking diligently for a new place. I tell you though, I really am tired of moving.