Carl D wrote on Feb 12
th, 2013 at 10:36am:
Well, Longy. You'll have to excuse me but I do have a personal axe to grind here.
In December 2008, my 80 year old aunt and I (I was 51 at the time) were private renting (at $215 a week).
We had a call from the landlord saying he was going to increase the rent to $300-$350 a week.
The reason? A scumbag real estate agent was trying to get him to sell (again) and when he said "no", the estate agent asked how much rent he was getting and when the landlord said "$215 a week" the agent said "Oh, you should be getting a lot more than that" (because every other landlord in the area was, apparently).
And, by the way... the place had been paid off for years.
We managed to get the landlord to settle for $300 a week but the message basically was: "If you can't pay it then you're out on the street". Nice. Especially for an 80 year old lady.
We applied for public housing the next day and, fortunately, we only had to wait two and a half years (got it in mid 2011). Fortunate because the landlord was about to sell the place anyway (because his 'financial advisor' advised him to). And, the rent was still $300 a week when we moved out but he was planning to increase it to $400+ if he hadn't sold.
and the fact that you agreed to $300 per week is proof that the market would meet that price and the agent advising them told them the right thing. Should your landlord be forced to pay because his tenant is 80yrs old? Since you are 55yrs old will you subsidise my 3 yr old? Your autie (without meaning to sound disrespectful) should have considered her rental situation when she was 30 or 40 .... not wait until 80 then say I cannot afford it. I have two tenants who just in the last month have bought a house because they are planning for when they retire in 20 or 30 yrs.
I doubt you really know if your landlord had the property paid off or the state of his finances, and you shouldn't assume that because he's had the house for a period of time, it is paid for. He may have mortgaged it to buy another property or to give to the salvo's ..... I'm sure he doesn't run his affairs by you.
The harsh reality is most elderly cannot afford to rent in the more popular areas, and need to move to lessor appealing areas or retirement vilalges, or as you did, dept. of housing (you were very lucky you only waited 2.5yrs). It is not up to landlords to subsidise for those that cannot afford ... thats govt.s job.