Comment Detail

Comment

My husband and I are in a unique situation of being renters after owning our home for almost 30 years. We recently sold our home and purchased land to build our retirement home on. But we are currently renting during this process. It has truly been a shocking experience. First, let me say that our landlord is wonderful. He is an individual who only rents a few homes, and he is very responsive. We truly have the best case scenario. But the issues that I became aware of while searching for our rental that shocked me was the cost of rentals and the amount of nonsense fees that appeared predatory when you applied for a rental.

We are paying $2950 per month for a two bedroom, one bathroom 1400 sq. ft. rental home in Charleston, SC. This is more than any mortgage I have ever had, but it appears to be the norm in this area. I'm not sure what the answer is, but if my husband and I were not comfortable there is no way we could afford to live here. I don't know how younger people can do it. And I don't think our landlord is raking in the bucks. But with land prices and interest rates, I believe he must charge this to make any profit at all.

Second, there were so many online rentals that wanted me to fill out all of this nonsense information and pay huge fees just to be considered! Luckily, I had heard that a lot of this was a scam, so I never would agree to pay. I never heard back from some, but one tried to pressure me into paying the fee to be considered and it angered me. I don't think these types of fees should be allowed for renters.

Again, we are blessed with the situation we found, but so many others are not. The landlord tenant law in South Carolina was passed in the 1980s and has not been updated. It needs a fresh look, and the only way I can see that happening is if the federal government gives some hard incentives to states to update tenant rights.

Thank you for listening,
Dena Byrum