What I would like to see is coverage on the Landlord/Tenant meeting to take place on Thursday, 9/5. I'm now a Tenant and have some questions not covered in the current handbook.
I've owned my home for close to 30 yrs. It was time to leave for warmer climes. I moved back, knowing that I would be looking for an apt.
Living in Cranston, there isn't much room on the eastern end to build a thing. The houses are close together and built when families had one car. With luck, you could squeeze in 2. Kids grow, families expand, and now there's no room for a 3rd car. We can't park on the street but we take our chances. People are putting cars on their lawns, if possible.
There is no "affordable" housing in RI. What we see and hear are "market rates". Who sets the market rates? The landlords/owners do. They define it by how much of a profit they can leach. Of course, they won't admit that! Using HUD guidelines, many of us older folks wouldn't qualify for this housing. We are just over the limits, especially if we live alone. The singles still have the same expenses - rent, utilities, food, medical, car insurance (which is outrageous in RI), along with all the other taxes/fee R.I. imposes on everything they can get away with.
Not everyone wants a ''house'' - it comes with so many responsibilities. Not everyone is a DIY. What they do want is a place that they can make into a home.
Developers and investors (some of them just a group that puts their money together) buy a tenement, Paint it gray, wash the floors, toss the trash and then they want $2000 for a 2 br. Leave it the way you found it and they will still withhold the security. They will find any excuse to keep it. Fortunately, the State has stepped up and told landlords to stop with the application fees - that was a true money-maker for some. The good ones gave the money back to applicants but there are always those greedy folks - it's free money.
There are some good ideas but how quickly the State will move is another. We need a committee and then a subcommittee to examine the committee, then a lawyer to exam and reject it, HUD gets involved, then it's another committee and this train never stops at a station.
If we can take the politicians out of the equation or, at least get them to take off their political hats, maybe things will happen. I'm not counting on it. Nothing happens quickly in R.I. Throwing money at it isn't solving the problem. It's a people problem called greed. The ARPA money is a good example as is the PPP loans. Everybody wants a piece of the pie but they don't want to account for it.
We'll be watching to see if this is another stop, stall and sputter out.
What I would like to see is coverage on the Landlord/Tenant meeting to take place on Thursday, 9/5. I'm now a Tenant and have some questions not covered in the current handbook.
I've owned my home for close to 30 yrs. It was time to leave for warmer climes. I moved back, knowing that I would be looking for an apt.
Living in Cranston, there isn't much room on the eastern end to build a thing. The houses are close together and built when families had one car. With luck, you could squeeze in 2. Kids grow, families expand, and now there's no room for a 3rd car. We can't park on the street but we take our chances. People are putting cars on their lawns, if possible.
There is no "affordable" housing in RI. What we see and hear are "market rates". Who sets the market rates? The landlords/owners do. They define it by how much of a profit they can leach. Of course, they won't admit that! Using HUD guidelines, many of us older folks wouldn't qualify for this housing. We are just over the limits, especially if we live alone. The singles still have the same expenses - rent, utilities, food, medical, car insurance (which is outrageous in RI), along with all the other taxes/fee R.I. imposes on everything they can get away with.
Not everyone wants a ''house'' - it comes with so many responsibilities. Not everyone is a DIY. What they do want is a place that they can make into a home.
Developers and investors (some of them just a group that puts their money together) buy a tenement, Paint it gray, wash the floors, toss the trash and then they want $2000 for a 2 br. Leave it the way you found it and they will still withhold the security. They will find any excuse to keep it. Fortunately, the State has stepped up and told landlords to stop with the application fees - that was a true money-maker for some. The good ones gave the money back to applicants but there are always those greedy folks - it's free money.
There are some good ideas but how quickly the State will move is another. We need a committee and then a subcommittee to examine the committee, then a lawyer to exam and reject it, HUD gets involved, then it's another committee and this train never stops at a station.
If we can take the politicians out of the equation or, at least get them to take off their political hats, maybe things will happen. I'm not counting on it. Nothing happens quickly in R.I. Throwing money at it isn't solving the problem. It's a people problem called greed. The ARPA money is a good example as is the PPP loans. Everybody wants a piece of the pie but they don't want to account for it.
We'll be watching to see if this is another stop, stall and sputter out.
I plan to be there, and I'll ask the chair these questions either during the meeting or afterward.
And we appreciate it!!