GREENSBORO, N.C. — The price of everything is up, so is it a big surprise your rent is going up? Folks are getting notices from their landlords of rent increases of not just $100, $200 or $300, but double the rent.
“A private owner does have the right to raise the rent, especially if they are doing renovations and upgrades to the unit, however, are they within their right, ethical and moral? Not so much, it is unconscionable for someone to raise the rent double which is what we're seeing here recently,” said Josie Williams, Executive Director of the Greensboro Housing Coalition, Inc.
Double the rent and usually, you're told this is going to happen in 30 to 60 days. We're talking seniors on a fixed income. We're talking families that are already housing insecure.
Williams said you should Google what is in your area and compare. If you are in a 2 bedroom 1 bath, what does it look like for a 2 bedroom 1 bath in your surrounding area?
When you start looking at that environment and you see you're paying $500, $600, $700 dollars and you see someone else is paying $500, $600, $700 and then your landlord wants to go up to $1,500, $1,300, $1,200 that should cause alarm.
“When you're already paying 30% more of income, we're talking about house burden and all the other necessities, food, insurance. We're just talking about the rent itself, so when you're talking about doubling someone's rent, in a very short period of time. We're seeing people get notices they need to vacate or pay the rent within 60 and 90 days. No, that's honestly ridiculous,” said Williams.
She warns, when you get a notice that causes alarm, you should notify someone very quickly, whether it's Greensboro Housing Coalition or Legal Aid of NC or a city official. She says you need to raise the awareness, so city and county entities can work on addressing it sooner rather than later
In Greensboro or Guilford County, you're going to call the Greensboro Housing Coalition. No matter what town you live in, you can call Legal Aid of NC. Make sure you have your lease in hand when you call.
