One step from the street

Fear, anxiety and total hopelessness. This is what it has come down to in the horrid rental market.

After decades of living and renting the same place, we are now forced to move due to the owners selling.

I don't blame them, if you can make a killing on your investment, why not?

I blame the government. The cost of housing has risen so dramatically, almost everything is unaffordable.

Sure, we could rent something that is an outrageous price, but what happens if life circumstances drastically change? Perhaps you get ill or injured? Then your wage is cut by half and then you can't afford to live where you are. These are the things we think of before we rent, always making sure that we can pay for the roof over our head. Food can always be found, but a roof over your head is No. 1.

We are older, have stable, well paying, secure jobs. People suggest moving to a more affordable city, but that is not a viable solution at our age. We have worked long and hard to get our status at our current employer. People don't want to hire someone near retirement age and pay a living wage that we have worked diligently to get.

If it comes down to it I guess we will end up in a tent or our vehicle.

As I have scanned the ads for rentals for the last couple of months, hoping and praying that something will show, I feel sicker and sicker, reading the posts of people looking and begging for anything.

People saying how they have run out of time and now their belongings are in the alley for people to come get for free. When we write to ask to view, most of the time we hear nothing back or how they have hundreds of people already to go through.

I wonder how many landlords know that there are apartment buildings with 14-23 people living in a two-bedroom?

I hear our government say how they are sending money to other countries to help the people there, yet where is the help here? Sure, they say they are building more affordable housing, but it is too little too late.

Watching the ads on a daily basis, I see greed that has no limits. I have seen homes put up at one price and a week later the home is now $500 to $1,000 more than it was to begin with.

We are three respectful, wonderful people. Working full time, older and yes we have a small dog, which we wouldn't give up for the world. Yes I know that most don't want to rent to animal lovers due to previous bad tenants, but we are not all alike.

I can only hope we will be one of the lucky ones. It's like winning the lottery but even better. No one, except those of us out there looking will know the anguish that you go through when you realize that you might be living on the street.

L. Taylor