“I don’t have enough strength to work after my chemo,” he said. “At some point in my life, this terminal disease will kick in to where I can’t even work from a laptop.”
Keener, 58, used to earn about $6,000 a month, including tips. But he has now exhausted medical leave, and starting in August, his income will drop to $1,321 in monthly Social Security disability benefits. He has been looking for more affordable options, but he hasn’t been able to find anything in his price range. The Southern Nevada Housing Association is so saturated with requests for Section 8 housing benefits, a program that offers rental assistance to low-income households, that he cannot even register for the wait list.
In Tucson, Arizona, rents rose by 12.8% in May from the year prior, with the median rent price being $1,942 per month. Similar to Las Vegas, housing construction in Tucson slowed before the pandemic, worsening the rental shortage, Whitaker said. That led to more rent hikes after the city became home for more people moving out of Phoenix and California, he said.
Hana Cantral decided not to renew the lease on the one-bedroom apartment after her landlord upped the monthly cost. She worked out a deal to rent the guest house of a family friend for $750 a month, but the place will not be available until November. Until then, Cantral, 31, is staying on a month-to-month basis at her current apartment, and the rent keeps getting more expensive. Her bill rose to $727 from $640 in July, and is set to rise to $927 in August.
Cantral, who works doing Medicare appeals for an insurance company, is skipping her car loan payments and coping with interruptions to her water service. “Otherwise, I can’t pay my rent,” Cantral said.
Reynolds of the Urban Institute said she refers to this as the idea that “rent eats first,” which is when people put their money toward rent “even if it means that they can’t buy other essentials like groceries.”
Ballooning Debt
As rent, fuel and grocery costs rise, more people are turning to debt to cover their costs.
The Census survey from June 29 through July 11 found that about 30% of Americans said they used credit cards or loans to meet spending needs in the prior week, up from 23% in early January. And credit card balances jumped by $46 billion in the second quarter of this year, up 13% from a year earlier and marking the largest increase in more than 20 years, according to a report from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.
Affording rent is often a stretch for Nancy Capron, a substitute teacher in Holyoke, Massachusetts. Capron, 56, typically earns between $12,000 and $17,000 annually, but she worked less than usual this year because of Covid-19. After her rent went up two months ago by $170, or nearly 30%, she is taking on more credit card debt to cover her bills.
It mirrors a pattern she used to stay afloat before the pandemic: accruing credit card debt throughout the year and then paying off a chunk with her tax refund. When she received enhanced unemployment benefits during the crisis, Capron did something that felt previously unachievable — she paid off her credit cards, clearing about $7,000 in debt.
Now, she estimates that the higher rent bill takes up close to 60% of her pay. She doesn’t blame her landlord, who explained that he is facing higher fuel costs and his real estate taxes went up after property values jumped during the crisis. But she is fearful that she may have to leave the apartment she’s called home for almost two decades.
In the meantime, Capron is searching for housing vouchers and considering looking for senior housing or another apartment with roommates.
“There is no place to live for anybody,” she said.