The real estate market is booming, while renters are being pushed out of their homes. We’re all feeling the squeeze.

Anyone that has the experience of applying for subsidized housing knows of the long waitlists and restrictions that prevent renters from accessing it. Shelters are perpetually at capacity and underfunded, and neighborhood residents are resistant to allowing new shelters in their area. Motels are being booked out for tourist season and, as a result, are not willing or able to accommodate people with motel vouchers from their local general assistance. People are being forced to pay premium prices for temporary housing while they continue the tedious search for available units.

While the moratorium prevented evictions due to non-payment of rent, no protections were put in place for tenants whose landlords sold their buildings. As a result, I receive calls from people all over the state, desperate to find affordable housing. This issue is further compounded when you need accessible housing related to your disability, you have a low credit score, or you have a large family. Some people are unable to meet the ever-increasing cost of monthly rent and utilities while wages remain stagnant, and generally, landlords still require a security deposit and last month’s rent on top of it.

For the average person, even if you are digitally savvy and literate, finding an available apartment that is near your place of employment or health care team, day care, or family members is a seemingly impossible task.

Housing is not as accessible as one would think. Availability notices are haphazardly scattered throughout printed and digital media. You may find one or two rooms available for rent in the classifieds, maybe a legitimate listing buried underneath the troves of scam listings on Craigslist, or reach out to an underfunded and overworked nonprofit to help you search and receive a call back days before you’re set to be evicted. Most of us are left to search on Facebook, use online listing services that are not frequently updated, or couch surf.

What can a person do?

These issues have been here all along, but are now exacerbated by this celebrated real estate boom and the pandemic. Landlords are itching to evict people who have not paid rent, real estate agents are itching to sell off properties, and jobs are itching to hire people without increasing their wages. Banks are merciless — they’ve had their greedy hands out the entire time we’ve collectively suffered, expecting us to squeeze blood out of stone, and there appears to be no oversight to prevent banks and mortgage companies from exploiting us from the top down.

I want to highlight, from a renter’s perspective, how cruel it is to evict people living in the building you’ve recently purchased. Where is your humanity? The people who rent your properties are the reason you’re able to live in your own home. The very nature of being a landlord involves skimming off the wages that your tenants take home. The least you can do is work with us to ensure we have housing before you evict us.

One solution I am hesitant to point out is multiple people from different families living together. It appears that living alone or with one other roommate is no longer a feasible option for the majority of people — it is becoming a luxury to have your own private space.

I wonder if we’ll see a boom of homes being purchased or rented by three or more people just to make ends meet. Will this be the beginning of more communal living arrangements and strengthened communities? If I’m to remain hopeful, I would say so.

We’re in for a long, hot summer, with a new kind of pandemic on the horizon — homelessness. The sooner we can collectively fight to house each other rather than jump on a juicy deal and cast people out into the streets, the better.

This isn’t going to go away. We need to take action to the best of our ability. At this point, trying any idea is better than nothing.

Coral Howe of Dixfield works for a nonprofit that connects Maine residents to housing, food, financial assistance and health resources.

Copy the Story Link