Woman Flabbergasted After Learning How Much Her Landlord Wanted To Increase Her Rent
The apartment is only just one big room.
Dasha Petrenko | Shutterstock A Chicago woman called out the biggest scam in the city — the cost of living. She revealed just how much her rent increased since moving into her studio apartment, and it is certainly outrageous.
The woman was flabbergasted after learning that her landlord increased the rent of her studio apartment to $1,850 a month.
In a TikTok that has been viewed over 500,000 times, Alexa Koiser called out the city of Chicago for the absurd cost of living and skyrocketing rent prices.
According to Koiser, the rent of her studio apartment increased to nearly $2,000 a month, despite the apartment itself not being much at all.
"It's small. It's a studio. I don't have a living room," she said. "And I just got the email telling me my rent was increased to $1,850."
"This is it," she said, panning the camera around her apartment, which consisted of only a bed and kitchen in one room and an off-camera bathroom. "There's no counter space, as you can tell. There's no dishwasher ... I don't even have a couch or anything."
“I don’t know how I’m gonna afford to live in Chicago anymore because I’ll tell you right now, for a girl who's been in the industry for two and half years, I can’t afford a $1,800 apartment,” she admitted.
In the caption of the video, Koiser added that it looks like she’ll be moving soon.
Others online agreed that the increased rent was unnecessary for the studio apartment.
“$1,800 for a studio without amenities is crazy,” one TikTok user wrote.
“Not sure about the neighborhood, but that seems too high for that studio just about anywhere," another commenter wrote. "Is there a unit washer/dryer and tons of building amenities? Parking? I can’t understand how they are charging that."
Other Chicago residents urged Koiser to look at apartments in different neighborhoods, revealing their much lower rents.
“I pay $850 for a small one-bedroom in the Rogers Park/Edgewater area that includes parking. My neighborhood is amazing!” one user shared.
“I instantly knew this was a flat. Chicago has so many better deals, high rise or not. Personally, I pay $1,300 in Bucktown for a two-bedroom inclusive of my own parking spot, central air, etc.,” another user shared.
According to A WBEZ analysis of census estimates, people can expect to pay around $1,488 in monthly rent costs for a studio apartment. Of course, the rent price varies depending on the neighborhood, view, and amenities that are included in the apartment.
An increasing number of Chicago renters are struggling to pay their bills and are spending far too much of their paychecks on rent and utilities. As of 2022, nearly 47% of Chicago renters lived in households, spending over 30% of their household income for rent and utilities.
With rent prices spiking, people like Koiser can barely afford to live in even the smallest apartments.
In a follow-up video, Koiser called out greedy landlords who believe that they can get away with charging people outrageous prices.
“It’s crazy that this is what they’re charging for this apartment,” she said. “My starting rent was $1,495. That’s just to say that that is how much the rent has increased.”
With an apartment the size of hers that has so few amenities, Koiser finds it unreasonable that she would be charged so much and worries that the next tenant will be charged even more.
"The fact that they're charging that much for the lack of amenities is the issue," she stated, "and that's probably happening across so many apartments right now."
Times are tough, and the cost of living is becoming a struggle for even the most financially successful people to afford. Although landlords also need the funds to afford to live, they should consider the number of tenants who will move out and end up homeless if they continue to jack up rent.
Megan Quinn is a writer at YourTango who covers entertainment and news, self, love, and relationships.