What Will Happen to Us Renters?

I'm so stinkin' frustrated, it's not even funny! I have been stuck in my apartment for the last 10 years! I didn't even unpack my boxes for the first two of those years; only those things necessary to live day-to-day, as I was certain I'd get out of here well before now, and back into a house as an owner, not a renter. As the years passed, more and more boxes were opened and as of now, I'm reluctantly painting the inside of my apartment, as I don't think I'll be moving out anytime soon. My landlord refuses to change the old carpet, amongst many other things. So here I am...stuck.

What really ticks me off is that we, (my husband and I), decided that I should stay home with the kids shortly after the birth of my second child), and believe me, we took quite a lumping from the lack of my income, but it was that or fork out $1000 a month for our two little ones to be cared for by a stranger. We made the right choice, right? I wonder...anyway, let me get to what really ticks me off. What makes me really mad is that now I am back to work part-time, as a Curriculum Aide, AND my husband landed a new position, a promotion that increased our monthly income substantially, and we still CANNOT AFFORD TO MOVE! Why is this? Because of the flippin' housing market. That's why. Here we are, hard working individuals, who literally missed the boat to buying a home while it was somewhat affordable, and now we are unable to move, because landlords are taking advantage of us here in Burbank, California.

Let me give you an example of my landlord's greediness. She strolls around the building like a Queen Bee. Her husband passed away about two years ago, and after that she made some changes; changes that cost us all a heap of cash. Sure we thought she was wonderful when she added the beautiful flower pots around the pool, but that was about it. And it cost us renters plenty. She's got 15 of us in this building, and last year she increased our rent at unbelievable amounts. I lucked out. I only pay $100 a month more for this little gem of an apartment, but my neighbors across the way saw anything from $200 to $300 more a month. I freaked when I learned of this! How could she do this and show her face around the building? How could she do this knowing how bad the economy is for so many of us? The point is she didn't care, and probably was offsetting her own financial struggles by tapping into her tenants pocket books. One of the renters asked her why she did this and her response was that the City of Burbank had gotten on her about having such "low" rents and needing to raise them to keep up with the rest of the rents in the area. Is she for real?

Here's our struggle...no one is moving. None of us can afford to move. The average cost to rent an apartment in Burbank is about $1500 to $1650 a month. And believe me, these places for rent are nothing special. Many are quite old with a couple of "updates" to try and justify the high price they are asking for rents.

So what does this mean to me? I can't move. I get sick every day when I think about it. My landlord knows this. She raised it to just under the price to rent somewhere else. Unlike some people, there is no family to help us to get into a home. We're doing it all on our own. I pay $1300 a month to our landlord and she's living the good life as a result of it. She's brilliant and I'm the dummy, right?

So what do I do about it? Not only do I go back to work part-time, but I go back to school. It's never too late, right? It's never too late to get a college education? How the heck else am I going to get out of here without getting decent dollars coming in? I struggle and work hard while raising a family, going to school and working, and all the while I'm pulling off "A"s, but I can't help but feel sometimes like what's the point? Especially since learning of the bailout this weekend. I sent my letters opposing the bailout, but the government isn't looking out for folks like us people who didn't jump into unaffordable mortgages because we were logical enough to realize that we couldn't afford the price of homes. Here's where I get really angry.

WHY DID ALL OF YOU PEOPLE BUY HOMES YOU COULDN'T AFFORD?

That's what I want to know. It's a bunch of crap that you got talked into it. You were greedy. You wanted a home like everyone else. Maybe you became afraid that you may never be able to get home, like myself, so you took a chance, hoping against hope that some day down the road you would be able to afford more than an interest only payment, but come on! You knew you couldn't afford the home you were buying. Now you are making me and others who have never ever owned a home suffer as a result of it. I'm angry at you for this as much as I am the lenders and the stupid speculators that did this to us!

What is my government doing for me and all the other renters and first time buyers who can't afford to buy?

NOTHING!

So here I am...the logical one, the idiot who didn't take on more than she could afford. The one who stayed home and struggled for years in order to care for her kids, but cannot afford to move anywhere. We are hard workers, what about us government?

Instead, you are helping the rich, the speculators, the dummies, who bought homes that they couldn't afford. It's called greed, and you are funding it, and families like mine are suffering because of it. A $7500 credit is not going to help me buy a home. And your bailout is going to slow the lowering of homes values, which will only hurt families like us even more. Here's the point Uncle Sam. Please hear me:

We cannot afford the homes that are for sale, therefore there aren't enough buyers. The homes were never affordable in the first place, that's why we got into this mess. If the prices are too high for us to pay the monthly mortgage, the price of the homes has to come down!

It's simple. We can't afford the homes, and the "Mickey-Mouse" loans are gone, so the buyer pool has been virtually eliminated. Hello? Are you listening?

Please explain how the bailout plan is going to help us renters and want-to-be home buyers? Please explain this to me and give us some hope.