Is there a time in the near future where people will no longer afford to pay their rent?

[graywarrior]

And what will happen to these people? It is getting close to making a choice between paying rent and utilities and buying food for a lot of people I know. Forget gas for your car. There are NO jobs. My employment security location has 41 jobs--the same ones that have been listed for months--ones that are either already filled but not removed from the system or they're for people who have specialized degrees. Trust me, not many nuclear physicists are just hanging out in northern NH looking for a job.

Is anyone here close to edge of being evicted or afraid you can't pay the rent?

[Uben]

1. From a landlord's perspective......

......I am at 100% occupancy......... 158 apartments and two lease homes, all filled.

Never been better here..........in Dallas.

[graywarrior]

2. NH is worse

Lots of rentals available at $1000-$1200 per month plus utilities and heat and salaries here are $8.50 to $10 per hour.

[SoCalDem]

4. People will have to go back to sharing space..

or living in really shitty places.. They will have no choice:(

[graywarrior]

5. We're considering sharing our space

I am so sick of struggling. I want to go back to school but looks like that will be on hold again.

[SoCalDem]

6. I hear you.. We have struggled our whole lives, and just the last few years

things have picked up for us, but I always look for that black cloud, every time I see a silver lining:)

[graywarrior]

10. Ain't that the f'n truth!

Just when Mr Gray's business starts to pick up, we have to move, he gets a skin cancer, our car breaks down, we made too m uch money for heating assistance....it just never ends. good thing I am border line insane. Otherwise I'd be in the fetal position or back to drinking.

[Le Taz Hot]

21. My husband and I have two people living with us.

One is my best friend of 30 years who retired with just under $500.00 a month SS (she raised 5 kids and worked sporadically at minimum-wage jobs). The other is a close cousin on SDI making about $800.00 a month. She's actually using our office-with-a-futon space until her Section 8 comes in (two years wait time).

[graywarrior]

28. We may share a space with my SIL

She'll need to sleep on the sofa. She also has multiple health issues including apnea.

[SoCalDem]

33. My best friend takes care of her older handicapped brother

He was severely beaten with a tire iron as a teen, and has never been able to work or live alone..and without his SSI, they would both be up the creek.. He drives her crazy, but she's the ONLY responsible one of the EIGHT siblings who even offered to help Harold..

[Uben]

7. I'm sure there are units here that are empty, too

My apartments and homes are over thirty years old, all paid for, and the rents are very median. The property is very well kept, landscaped, has its own small lake, and has been remodeled to keep up with modern trends. I would attribute our high occupancy to people downsizing from the $1200 to $1400/mo rents in the newer complexes to ours, which has rents from $500 to $700/mo. We could get more for rents, but then you deal with turnover and leasing fees, and we are quite happy with the current income.

We have some tenants who have been with us for twenty years! Location is very accommodating, it is gated with camera security and covered parking.

I am actually looking for some good deals on properties. Can't make money in the market, and no one is paying any decent interest for savings. I'll be attending some auctions and estate sales to find some bargains and expand my holdings. By far, my real estate holdings have been the best I have had. We did have a downturn for about 5 yrs fromm 2001 to 2006 due to the bust in the telecom industry and a construction project on the street that accesses the apts. But everything is great right now.

[graywarrior]

11. Will you adopt me?

[waiting for hope]

3. I couldn't downsize if I wanted to -

The mortgage on my three bedroom house (family of four) is less than rent on a two bedroom apartment. I live in a college town and most of the apartments are priced for the out of town students.

[leftofthedial]

8. I think I can make it through January

[edhopper]

9. My only thought is

that rents are very susceptible to market forces. If there are too many empty apartments, landlords will lower rents to get tenants. There will still be people forced out, but most apartments can't be unaffordable to most people. That's what happen to houses and we see the results, prices crash.

[Uben]

13. That's happening already

A lot of apt complexes were built in 2005-2006 when the economy appeared to be pretty good. These people need a 90-95% occupancy rate just to pay the bills, and they are the ones with the highest rents. A lot of those will go into foreclosure. I have had very generous offers made for my holdings, but then where would I put the money? I already get a better return than any other investment I know of, so I'm gonna hang on to what I have.

[peacefreak]

12. I just paid this month's rent.

Next month? Good question. Added to the uncertainty is the fact it is increasing by another $25. Merry Fucking Christmas.
I'm across the border in Midcoast Maine, graywarrior. Things aren't so rosy here either.

[graywarrior]

14. Maine seems to be worse unless you live in a city.

And even then it's tough. Hell, rents in Portland skyrocketed since 2003. $900 for a studio....right.

[juno jones]

15. I'm worried.

I'm always working pretty much FT but I've never made enough to live alone (I'm a baker, I'm lucky to get $250-$300 a week before tax).

I've always had to rely on sharing rent, usually a spouse, but sometimes roomates. Right now not only my spouse can't find work, but he has repetitive motion injuries from 25 years of silkscreening and can't work the physical labor he used to. His degree is in Graphic Art. His and a couple of million other people who aren't employed either.

I'm ready to buy a travel trailer to move into, I've lived in vans and trailers in the past (while working FT, BTW) but the move is complicated by the fact that I am also now responsible for a teenage boy who ain't gonna fit into a 25' Airstream. And the complications have complications, like it would be all cool if he could work and all but the bus lines don't run around here much after 7 PM and I refuse to have him compromise his study (he's in Running Start here and getting a 3.6 GPA in his college stuff) for a pissant job as long as we can hold out...

And I have two of the coolest kittehs who will have to adjust because I'm not giving them up, and know no one who could take them anyway.

We got about 6 months. And then it looks dire if something doesn't turn around. But I will have a roof over my head, no matter what.

I would certainly like to ask people on the board who have a pretty much been middle class exactly what they thought happened to people who work their asses off for survival wages. Especially when times are shitty like this.

When you bite into that fresh artisan sourdough or French Baguette, think of the people who work weird hours not just doing jobs but loving them. Who do the things you don't want to do or would never know how to do. Who are treated with no respect in our culture because we don't seem to equate 25 years or so studying and producing food, say, to anything culturally important like laywers and the stock market. Lots of degrees amongst the people I've worked with over the years and many who seek to improve themselves, but how many people consider that...or care?

So hard to do much when you're homeless. Call me a socialist if you will, but no one who works for a living should have to go without a home. Hell no one should, working or no. It's like water and food.

[graywarrior]

16. I'm concerned about people who are bewteen 55 and 62 (I fit into that category)

Either no one wants to hire them or they have health issues that prevent them from working. They are not ready for social security and yet, they are finding themselves laid off or fired or downsized. Or they never finished their degrees and have no specialized education, yet they are capable of doing jobs that people with degress can do. It's getting darker and darker for those people.

[juno jones]

18. I understand.

I see the tunnel closing up in front of me, I'm 45 now. It's harder and harder to find work.

My husband has reached that point of health and physical capacity. He's 46 and has worked since he was 11.

Bic employees, use 'em up, throw them out.

And I understand about finished degrees. I can kick the ass of any young cook with a tech degree out there. But I came up in the remnants of the apprenticeship system, meaning I trained day in day out for years with master chefs and bakers. I am as knowlegeable as those kids and have a shitload more discipline and stamina...but they have the piece of paper.

Good luck, grey warrior. You are speaking for many of us right now, methinks.

[graywarrior]

20. Mr Gray and I just had a business meeting to discuss our next direction

He used to write grants. We've decided to start researching grants for us and other people to get some help.

[juno jones]

22. Grant writing, eh?

If you can do it, go for it. Grant writing is quite the talent/skill. Keep us posted, please. It will be informative to see what you decide to get grants for, etc.

:hi:

:hug:

The only way out is thru. And we have each other for company. Let us proceed. Let's get thru this sucker and come out in a better place.

[graywarrior]

26. I'll let you know.

One thing is for damn sure....helping other people is key to our success. I am frightened by the haunted look I see in friend's eyes lately knowing they are in the same boat we are.

[madrchsod]

25. same here...i`m going to take my early ss

i won`t get crap for the rest of my life but it`s better than nothing. i still have my upholstery stuff to supplement my income off the books. shit i could grow pot. there`s no way i`ll ever find a decent job again.

[graywarrior]

27. I have to wait another few years to even consider SS

Meanwhile, I need to pay bills and eat. I suppose I could give up food but my cat needs to eat.

[Uben]

17. I'm sure your story is being lived out........

...by millions of others here in the U.S. It is up to those of us who can afford to help, to do it! I have helped organize a food and clothes bank for the citizens of our county. While the economy here is pretty good and there are jobs available, we still have a sizable amount of the populace who are in need, especially kids! It kills me to hear of a child who has to go without food in this day and age, and there are kids dropping out of school because they don't have nice clothes to wear (I was told this by teachers). That is what instigated me to get involved with getting something going to help these folks. Our school has a program that sends kids home for the weekend with a backpack full of groceries so we know they'll eat. A lot of them get their only nutrition from free lunches at school. That, my friends, is a sad note, but one that will be becoming more and more prevalent in the near future!

Please, if you can help out, donate clothes and food. Someone needs that coat you haven't worn for five years, or those shirts stuck back in the back of your closet. Do it!

[juno jones]

19. Thank you for what you do.

Much of my stuff comes from thrift stores, and much gets recycled back into them.

Recycled clothes (and my cooking expertise :D ) is part of the reason we've always had enough decent food to eat around here.

[madrchsod]

23. our son is moving back to take a job

because it`s cheaper to live here for three days and drive 80 miles to his apt. his wife has a good job but his cut back on hours. a friend of ours is moving back to her mother`s because she can`t find a teaching job.

like my dad said during the 80`s--"that`s what we did in the 30`s"

oh ya our 23 year old daughter still lives with us because she can`t afford to move out..

[NV Whino]

24. Can I get back to you in January?

[Breeze54]

29. Family homelessness rising in the United States

Family homelessness rising in the United States

Wed Nov 12, 2008 1:07am EST

By Ross Colvin - Analysis

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President-elect Barack Obama has vowed to help middle-class U.S. homeowners facing foreclosure, but he has said little about how he will help low-income families made homeless by a worsening economy.

Obama has spoken broadly about boosting affordable housing and restoring public housing subsidies. But with economists forecasting a deep recession in 2009, he may find it hard to find the money to fulfill those promises soon.

At the same time, advocacy groups and the country's czar for combating homelessness say immediate action is needed to halt the foreclosures of tens of thousands of homes and rehouse thousands of families amid the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression of the 1930s.

"President-elect Obama understands the economy will only get back on track if we end the foreclosure crisis. And he realizes that part of ending the crisis is both preventing and ending homelessness for families losing their homes," said Jeremy Rosen of the National Policy and Advocacy Council on Homelessness.

It is a quandary that will require help for the overall economy to aid people who slide into homelessness because they lose their jobs. Measures will also be needed to address the mortgage crisis, especially foreclosures on rental properties that house lower-income residents who then wind up homeless when their apartment buildings are repossessed.

Homeless advocacy groups have called for targeted housing subsidies that help homeless families get back into more permanent accommodation as well as helping those on the brink of foreclosure. But Obama will need to do more, and there are no magic wands.

Families are flooding homeless shelters across the United States in numbers not seen for years, camping out in motels or staying with friends and relatives, homeless advocates say.

"There are lots of families hemorrhaging into homelessness and we need to figure out how to put a tourniquet on the hemorrhaging," Philip Mangano, the homelessness czar appointed by President George W. Bush in 2002, told Reuters.

There is little time to waste. The U.S. unemployment rate is at a 14-year high and more job losses are forecast, while the Mortgage Bankers Association says nearly 1.5 million homes are in the process of foreclosure.

The U.S. Congress approved a massive housing market rescue bill in July that sets aside $3.9 billion that can be used partly by local authorities to buy foreclosed properties. Those could potentially house homeless families.

Mangano, whose official title is director of the Interagency Council on Homelessness, described the $3.9 billion as an "opening salvo" and said the new administration and Democratic-controlled Congress must be prepared to move quickly to invest more money to help homeless families and slow the flood of foreclosures.

snip-->

While the latest official figures show the number of homeless declining by 12 percent from 2005 to 2007, Mangano said there was sufficient data and anecdotal evidence to suggest that family homelessness was now on the rise.

In New York, the number of newly homeless families entering shelters has hit a record high, according to the Coalition for the Homeless, which says 1,464 families entered the New York shelter system in September.

San Francisco's four shelters are "beyond full," according to Paul Boden of the Western Regional Advocacy Project, whose organization has identified 450 families with 800 children living in single-room hotels in the city.

Continued... http://www.reuters.com/article/newsOne/idUSTRE4AB18I20081112

[MedleyMisty]

30. Err - that time has always been with us

I could try and look up statistics, but I'd be willing to bet that you couldn't find a month at any time in American history in which 100% of all renters in the nation paid their rent on time.

I work for a rental management company. Since I've been working there there hasn't been a month with 0 court cases and 0 evictions, but our court cases and evictions have gone up recently. The other day someone came in to pay $3,000 some dollars so she wouldn't be evicted. She was laughing hysterically and crying and I wanted to go hug her but she might have thought that was weird so I didn't.

[MilesColtrane]

31. I'm self employed and have pretty much always lived month to month.

January and February have always been lean, but next year's looking particularly bad.

If I have no income I can survive one month without going into more debt.

After that, I guess I'd swallow my pride and ask a relative for a temporary place to live rather than being out on the street.

edited from, "without going into debt." to "without going into more debt.".

[Breeze54]

32. A new 'Help for the Homeless' forum - Jan. 10, '09 from 2 - 4 P.M. - Braintree, MA.

First All Souls Community Forum to Focus on Homelessness

http://www.prweb.com/releases/2008/12/prweb1687034.htm

Forum addresses issues of social justice and environmental responsibility.

Braintree, MA (PRWEB) December 2, 2008 --

All Souls Church, Unitarian Universalist, of Braintree is launching the All Souls Community Forum, a lecture/film series to inform and educate the general public about vital social and environmental issues. The first forum of the year, Help for the Homeless, is planned for Saturday, January 10, 2009 from 2 - 4 P.M. at All Souls Church, 196 Elm Street, Braintree.

The national mortgage crisis and rising foreclosures have sparked an increase in homelessness in Massachusetts. Social service organizations now struggle to serve the burgeoning numbers of the newly homeless throughout Massachusetts. The Boston Globe reported that as of the end of September, shelters are housing approximately 2,000 families and 2,900 individuals, an increase of 143 families and 93 individuals compared to a year ago, according to the Massachusetts' Department of Transitional Assistance. The state was also housing well over five hundred families in hotels and motels, up from 27 families last year at that time.

The Help for the Homeless Forum will feature two organizations that focus on homelessness in Massachusetts: The Massachusetts Housing and Shelter Alliance, and Father Bills & Mainspring. Guest speakers are: Joe Finn, Executive Director of the Massachusetts Housing and Shelter Alliance (MHSA); Caitlin Golden, Social Action Ministries Coordinator of the MHSA; and Tom Washington, Director of Community Relations at Father Bills & MainSpring.

The Massachusetts Housing and Shelter Alliance (www.mhsa.net) has revolutionized the ways in which people who are chronically homeless receive assistance. New programs provide permanent homes to these individuals, who also receive support services to help them deal with their medical and/or mental health needs. Cities throughout the nation have found that this strategy has proven to be more effective and much less costly than housing these individuals in emergency shelters.

Before the recent economic downturn, Father Bills & Mainspring (www.fatherbillsmainspring.org) also had successfully placed many chronically homeless individuals in permanent housing and had reduced the number of people housed in its shelters. Now, however, the Boston Globe has reported that its emergency shelters are overcrowded, with the average number of people housed per night exceeding the available beds by 50%. Shelter visits are up 30% from last year at this time.


The Help for the Homeless Forum will inform participants about the scope of homelessness in Braintree and neighboring communities, and generate suggestions for helping individuals and families that are affected by this crisis. Donations of toiletries, towels and blankets will be accepted at the Forum.

The All Souls Community Forum aims to broaden public awareness of issues involving social justice and environmental responsibility. The program has taken shape as a result of two successful workshops on economic justice that were presented in the last year by Jeannette Huezo of United for a Fair Economy. All Souls Church co-sponsored these programs with the Unitarian Universalist churches of Quincy and Milton.

The All Souls Community Forum on homelessness will be held at All Souls Church, Unitarian Universalist, 196 Elm Street, Braintree 02814. For directions, visit www.allsoulsbraintree.org

All Souls Church, Unitarian Universalist, of Braintree, MA: A beacon of liberal religion on Boston's South Shore - A Welcoming Congregation - A Green Sanctuary.

----------

All Souls Unitarian Universalist Church of Braintree

http://www.allsoulsbraintree.org/

Open Hearts - Open Minds - Open Doors

What Are Our Demographics?

[Neshanic]

34. I too live month to month. I work for myself, and since 2007 it has been..

a situation of barely making rent just in time.

On a related note, the complex I live in went from 98% occupancy to 80% in two weeks. People just walked in and handed the staff the keys and left. They said that they lost their jobs. Oh, and the complex does not "work" with anyone under any circumstances on rent. They are a smooth eviction machine/large corporation.

Perversely, they evict with such skill and rapidity it really is something to behold. But then they have a "give to the homeless fund" to help homeless people as a marketing ploy to get people to rent. They have little parties where no one shows up to get money to "stop the cycle" of homelessness, yet throw families out without batting an eye, or working with them on rent payments being late.

They even had Shaq sign a Suns jersey and they auctioned it off. I would think Shaq would check before doing something like that, knowing these are the very people that are eviction professionals.

[sarcasmo]

35. We have a move in with the Brother In Law plan as a backup.

I have been looking for work since April. My wife is on Disability and things are already tight, we have a back up plan when things get beyond tight.