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Hi I'm a long time resident of Louisville, KY a place where I have never been able to afford a safe, hazard free apartment of my own. Which is not surprising considering Landlords are raising rents at the highest rates in over 40 years and yet there are never any actual improvements made to these properties. It's hard for any tenant community to see building improvements when management companies change year to year and with each new management company you see an increase in rent. Median rents in the U.S. have risen nearly 20% in the last two years alone which has been met with a raise in wages. I mean nationally median rent has surpassed $2,000 for the first time ever.

In 2023, there is not a single state where a worker employed full-time at the federal minimum wage can afford a modest two-bedroom apartment and as tenants we are expected to accept worse conditions. If we take into consideration my family can't afford most available 1 bedroom apartments in the city. I'm disabled and depend primarily on my husband's income of 50k a year and a part time job where I make a staggeringly low 12k a year.

Last year the average rent for a one bedroom in my city is around 1200$. When you consider many of these places have strict income requirements of 3 or 3.5 times rent, we literally can't afford to live in our hometown. This is preventing us from starting a family as you can imagine we can't have even one child because we can't even dream of a two bedroom.

We need more tenant protections to help people like me to just start our lives. We need rent control, limitations on rent increases, standards for safe living, and so much more.