Do poor people find it more difficult to rent an apartment?
By thedataminer
@thedataminer (515)
United States
September 7, 2011 6:26pm CST
Do you think poor people find it allot more difficult to apply for an apartment and get approved to rent it these days? My son and I are very low income living at well below $1,000 per month. I was trying to hunt online for an apartment and I also tried to call some apartments. Allot of apartment complexes, or property managers, want you to make and income of 3 times the rent. A few require 2X income the rent. That's makes it so I can't qualify. They also want you to pay $25 to $40 application fee per person who will be living in the apartment. I can't afford to pay that application fee; I can't afford to pay a 1 time $25 application fee. And then if you don't get approved for the apartment you do not get the application fee refunded. They want to do a criminal and a credit check plus other kind of checks I guess. And I talked to this landlord over the phone and sent him my application. Then I emailed him a couple times. He never responded; I guess he won't rent to me. Another property manger online sent me an email giving a short, flat "no" meaning he wouldn't rent to me. We have no criminal record, we are good people but we are poor; what are we to do?
2 people like this
6 responses
@Amfyre (512)
• Canada
8 Sep 11
Hi! Boy you are in a tight spot. Here in the great white north we have what we call "low in come housing" and other services that can help. There are various out reach programs that can help.
I am not sure what programs there are in your area... thos fees to me sound like scams, I will take your 40 bucks and then say NO... Sheesh that is so sad. I do believe there are out reach places, perhaps some kind of social assistance? My dear friend in Florida has told me about some of the social help, food stamps etc.
Can any of those agencies help you? Perhaps a call or two might get you a "right number " to call!
My heart really goes out to you, some of those landlords money grubbers!
@Amfyre (512)
• Canada
8 Sep 11
Thedataminer
I meandered off and this topic got me thinking of years ago when I was looking for appartment. Some of rent prices was insane, I remember this one basement appartment which they were asking $650 for, it had 3 rooms, bedroom, living/kitchen and tiny bathroom. It was dark, damp and had an odd smell to it, even the few steps into the place was askew... I remember thinking does this place come with cockroaches or am I to find my own ?
The prices of places now adays are unreal, and some of these places are not the nicest! It's so sad and the worst part is many people are on disability. People who have worked hard and now can't. My friend is like that, the money can only stretch so far!
@chiyosan (30186)
• Philippines
8 Sep 11
i think yes, its true that it is hard to be renting. what's worst is that since its not yours you cannot really do anything about the situation... if you don't like anything, you only have to move out... and not to mention the yearly increase that some land lord would be imposing.
@lelin1123 (15594)
• Puerto Rico
8 Sep 11
I think it is most definitely more difficult for poor people to find a good apartment. They want alot of money for rent but also most times two times the rent and like you said also an application fee which is crazy to me. They do this so they keep the poor out of their complexes. They want people with good paying jobs and no criminal record. This is why most poor people are living in the projects. This is where you pay how much you can afford when it comes to rent. Every state has these projects for the poor. So sorry that you are going through a hard time.
@frontvisions101 (16043)
• Philippines
8 Sep 11
I guess it is pretty hard for poor people to get an apartment. It just makes sense, if you don't have money, you don't have a place to stay. Maybe your previous landlords were just afraid you won't pay them and run off. As far as I know, you can even get sued because of that. Why not just stay with relatives for a while. After you get a more sufficient job for your needs, then you can move out of the house and sent your own apartment.
@cowgirl03051979 (918)
• United States
8 Sep 11
i do think it is harder for poorer people to find an apartment to rent i only work part time right now and i work on this site and a few others for hours every day but i still make well below 1000 dollars a month i looked into moving out at the beginning of this year and i soon realized that it was going to be so expensive that i could not afford it right now i would first have to find a full time job which is not easy with this economy i am trying my hardest to save as much money as i can but with bills to pay its hard
