Welcome to DU! The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards. Join the community: Create a free account Support DU (and get rid of ads!): Become a Star Member All Forums Issue Forums Culture Forums Alliance Forums Region Forums Support Forums Help & Search

Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin

(107,085 posts)
Fri Aug 5, 2022, 07:45 PM Aug 2022

We've been living in a tent for 5 months because we couldn't afford our $1,200 rent. Now we're prepa

preparing for winter in Maine.

This as told to essay is based on a conversation with Lauren Bahre. It has been edited for length and clarity.

I used to work at a hair salon in our small resort town in Maine. Wealthy clients would talk away about the second home they'd recently purchased nearby.

They'd say that they wanted a blowout before having dinner at some fancy restaurant. I'd think, "I'm going home to a bowl of cereal."

My husband, Benji, and I live in a tent. And as we head toward winter, we're increasingly worried about being homeless.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/travel/news/we-ve-been-living-in-a-tent-for-5-months-because-we-couldn-t-afford-our-1-200-rent-now-we-re-preparing-for-winter-in-maine/ar-AA10mch3
32 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
Highlight: NoneDon't highlight anything 5 newestHighlight 5 most recent replies
We've been living in a tent for 5 months because we couldn't afford our $1,200 rent. Now we're prepa (Original Post) Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin Aug 2022 OP
Disgusting nt XanaDUer2 Aug 2022 #1
Affordable housing is a big problem in this country. everyonematters Aug 2022 #2
Largely due to poor city planning and design Yavin4 Aug 2022 #18
LACK of affordable housing, and LACKof will to address same. niyad Aug 2022 #20
Real estate became a speculator's playground + rentals NullTuples Aug 2022 #32
SO PROUD of our country. NOT. CurtEastPoint Aug 2022 #3
People think it can't happen to them Johnny2X2X Aug 2022 #4
Oh my ... Delphinus Aug 2022 #5
This is America. IrishAfricanAmerican Aug 2022 #6
Exactly. The bestest, richest, most wonderfulest country in the world, the niyad Aug 2022 #21
This is just so heartbreaking. Diamond_Dog Aug 2022 #7
Our social experiment of dehousing the working poor proceeds. bluedigger Aug 2022 #8
I'm dealing with several people I serve that are being evicted because of huge rent increases. erronis Aug 2022 #9
Airbnb is a big part of this issue. LisaM Aug 2022 #10
Bingo. You called it. shrike3 Aug 2022 #28
+1 Roisin Ni Fiachra Aug 2022 #31
didn't read the story... markie Aug 2022 #11
Sad story. Her mom evicted her grantcart Aug 2022 #19
"Volatile situation"... I am wondering if there was violence MerryBlooms Aug 2022 #23
Private equity, house flippers, investment groups ... Auggie Aug 2022 #12
This isn't right. I feel for this woman. Joinfortmill Aug 2022 #13
Winter palace, summer tent Warpy Aug 2022 #14
Both my parents grew up during the depression. Sogo Aug 2022 #15
OK, I never save references, so maybe someone can help confirm or correct my impressions from things LT Barclay Aug 2022 #16
John Oliver did a segment a while back on the mobile home industry. Appalling. niyad Aug 2022 #22
I hope we see more of these stories. calimary Aug 2022 #17
I live in a resort town where retirees phylny Aug 2022 #24
Not sure I buy the whole story... infullview Aug 2022 #25
It's tough to move if you have no money. shrike3 Aug 2022 #27
You just described capitolism. infullview Aug 2022 #29
I'm more than aware I just described capitalism. shrike3 Aug 2022 #30
I can only speak regarding where I live. But no one here wants affordable housing. shrike3 Aug 2022 #26

Yavin4

(35,357 posts)
18. Largely due to poor city planning and design
Fri Aug 5, 2022, 10:35 PM
Aug 2022

In most of the country, it's illegal to build anything other than single family homes which cuts out small apartment complexes, town homes, mutli family dwellings, etc.

NullTuples

(6,017 posts)
32. Real estate became a speculator's playground + rentals
Sat Aug 6, 2022, 11:10 AM
Aug 2022

In so many markets, it comes down to investor groups or banks bidding against each other. And since the property will go into an ever-growing rental portfolio they can afford to go above asking and outbid individuals. Then, to provide an adequate return on their investment, they raise rents and cut costs. They also bundle - remember that term from the mortgage meltdown? - rental portfolios into speculative investment vehicles.

A simple solution would be to strictly manage rentals, including prohibiting housing from being used as a gambling hall by investment institutions.

Johnny2X2X

(18,744 posts)
4. People think it can't happen to them
Fri Aug 5, 2022, 08:01 PM
Aug 2022

It can happen to almost anyone.

That being said, they make $2400 a month. Hopefully they’re saving most of it up for a place. They’re living very very cheaply so they should be able to save some. But maybe they have debt they’re paying off.

A mistake I see people make is when they’re in a home and not paying rent or their mortgage and waiting to be evicted, they fail to save up the money they would be paying for their home. Foreclosure can take years, if you know it’s inevitable, put money away that you would be paying for your home.

Delphinus

(11,808 posts)
5. Oh my ...
Fri Aug 5, 2022, 08:04 PM
Aug 2022

Seriously, there has to be a way to help folks like them. They are not the only ones - they were lucky, though, to be able to tell their story.

erronis

(14,952 posts)
9. I'm dealing with several people I serve that are being evicted because of huge rent increases.
Fri Aug 5, 2022, 08:55 PM
Aug 2022

Too bad this article is behind a paywall, but I totally understand the problem.

Just wait when the living conditions in half of this country force everyone to move north to escape the heat and flooding.

Just wait for when climate change brings millions of refugees to the US in search of life - not some glorified American ideal, just life. Just the ability to live.

Unless the world and every country starts to deal with this in a actual way, we're on the the "Don't Look Up" trajectory. It will be in all of our backyards, soon!

LisaM

(27,759 posts)
10. Airbnb is a big part of this issue.
Fri Aug 5, 2022, 09:01 PM
Aug 2022

It's completely dried up the long-term rental market. It seriously needs a lot more regulation.

markie

(22,755 posts)
11. didn't read the story...
Fri Aug 5, 2022, 09:07 PM
Aug 2022

although, I know... my daughter just started working for the Gov't, Kittery, ME and cannot find ANYTHING she can afford...

she is renting a room in a house for $850/month that is insane!!!

this is a serious problem

MerryBlooms

(11,728 posts)
23. "Volatile situation"... I am wondering if there was violence
Fri Aug 5, 2022, 10:53 PM
Aug 2022

In the home and the mom decided enough was enough. Might be mom was being abused in some way, and decided to end the situation.

In any case, the lack of affordable housing in this country is criminal. Any time something is close to being passed in our area, neighbors throw shit fits and fight like hell to keep apartments out of their neighborhood. Then, scream bloody murder at community meetings about homeless folks, even threatening to shoot them if they feel threatened. Fires are a big problem in the camping areas, which means our neighborhood is at risk.

There's so much more that could be done. I drive by a Huge parking lot of small manufactured homes, small, but new and nice. I think they're government houses. All sitting there for almost a year and a half now. Open land, especially at the north end of the valley, owned and empty by a mill out there. Could be put to good use. That land has been empty for more than 50 years! Time to use it for something besides high fuel burn weeds for the next fire!

Warpy

(110,908 posts)
14. Winter palace, summer tent
Fri Aug 5, 2022, 09:55 PM
Aug 2022

That sounds just like coastal Mass. 50 years ago. People lived in tents, campers, garages, or shared a shack during the summer when the tourists flocked in. At the end of September, when it got chilly, they'd find places to house sit or with caretaker cottages or just about anything suitable for tourists 4 months out of the year. It was a fucking scramble every single year. Boats weren't an option, either, since they had to be pulled out of the water before it froze.

I imagine the tourist towns in Maine are exactly the same. I also imagine it's gotten much worse as Air BnB has moved into areas and taken any affordable places off the market completely.

This lady has a valuable skill and it's a portable one. I have to wonder why she's trapped in a tourist trap.

Sogo

(4,963 posts)
15. Both my parents grew up during the depression.
Fri Aug 5, 2022, 10:18 PM
Aug 2022

My mom's family had it worse: They lost their farm, and their house burned down. The family spent an Iowa winter in a tent, because grandpa couldn't start building a new house until the following spring.

LT Barclay

(2,585 posts)
16. OK, I never save references, so maybe someone can help confirm or correct my impressions from things
Fri Aug 5, 2022, 10:24 PM
Aug 2022

I have read related to this problem:
First, if I remember correctly 11% of existing housing is empty and there is a scramble to build more new housing for some reason.
Second, Foreign investors are driving up the prices of homes for purchase and for rent. They are being bundled into packaged investments which drives up the prices and all but guarantees a good return unless they manage to crash the economy and I'm sure the investment firms doing this are betting on it and will gain there as well.
So if these things are true, why is our government allowing foreign investors to exploit and impoverish us to make foreigners wealthy?
Is there a way to exclude real property from this kind of speculation?

calimary

(80,694 posts)
17. I hope we see more of these stories.
Fri Aug 5, 2022, 10:32 PM
Aug 2022

It may be the only way to motivate people to demand change.

Nobody should have no place to live! Is that what we are now, America?

How ‘bout you, “Christian America”? The Guy you supposedly worship didn’t have a home either.

phylny

(8,353 posts)
24. I live in a resort town where retirees
Fri Aug 5, 2022, 11:36 PM
Aug 2022

have flocked to as well. Everyone complains that “nobody wants to work” and business es all have “help wanted” signs out yet opposed when an apartment complex was be being built and when “illegals” take jobs. Where will low-wage employees live and who will work if most people are retired with money and no need to work?

Complex is being built. I’ll be interested to see what they’re charging for rent.

infullview

(978 posts)
25. Not sure I buy the whole story...
Sat Aug 6, 2022, 07:46 AM
Aug 2022

They were evicted by her own mother???!! The family is obviously dysfunctional, and these two individuals are more than likely Trumpy anti-vaxers. I grew up in central Maine, and I know what the economy of the state is all about - a lot of people are poor and make less than these two, but you can find rents in the country that are much more reasonable than $1800/mo. . A car is an absolute necessity if you live in the sticks, but if you have one you can manage to live with a roof over your head and put food on the table.

It's absolutely true that you can't work a low wage job and live in a resort town, but you can move away from there, find another place to be, and not be homeless.

shrike3

(3,268 posts)
27. It's tough to move if you have no money.
Sat Aug 6, 2022, 07:53 AM
Aug 2022

I've done it, moved more than a thousand miles, away from everyone I knew. It wasn't easy, but I had a job to go to. Moving somewhere simply because they might get a cheaper apartment isn't feasible for everyone.

Our system is Darwinian. If you're poor and make even one mistake, it's hard to get back on your feet.

infullview

(978 posts)
29. You just described capitolism.
Sat Aug 6, 2022, 08:05 AM
Aug 2022

Which is Darwinian by nature. Nothing will change until we change to a better economic system. If only we had matter synthesizers a'la Star Trek. No one would go hungry, and money would be obsolete.

shrike3

(3,268 posts)
30. I'm more than aware I just described capitalism.
Sat Aug 6, 2022, 08:08 AM
Aug 2022

I'm extremely fortunate that it didn't swallow me up when I was younger.

Yeah, the matter synthesizers would solve a lot of things, wouldn't they?

shrike3

(3,268 posts)
26. I can only speak regarding where I live. But no one here wants affordable housing.
Sat Aug 6, 2022, 07:51 AM
Aug 2022

Because it'll bring in black people. They won't say that, but that's what they mean.

If there's a development of any kind, they warn that it could end up a Section 8. Section 8 is code word for black. Doesn't matter how expensive the development is. Any development, they say, could wind up Section 8.

Latest Discussions»General Discussion»We've been living in a te...