Rent hike unfair

I am compelled to write by the fact that I am told, unofficially, that my rent will be going up some $300 per month, making my rent payment well over my whole Social Security check. Some people maintain that this is a result of the insane housing market in and around Spokane. Others say it is due to the fact of a 1% occupancy rate, that 99% of the apartments in Spokane are rented out.

My perspective is a bit more speculative: that landlords, having been hung out to dry by the federal, state, county and city governments, are jacking up rents on those who did pay our rents diligently as a source of monies they know we’ll pay as we do not want to be put on the streets.

The deadbeats (there will be lots of indignation over this term) are waiting with open hands for the millions and millions of “rental assistance” put up by the federal government (our money by the way) and to be dispersed by state and local governments, much of it through charitable organizations and charities. So they get off the hook, landlords get most of their money, and we honest and responsible renters get A BIG JUMP IN ALREADY HIGH RENTS! In the vernacular, we get screwed. I wonder who I’ll vote for at the next (several) elections?

Larry E. Krueger

Spokane