>> WHEN YOU CAN'T BUY YOU RENT. BUT EVEN THAT HAS BECOME A BURDEN FOR MANY PEOPLE. >> BEING PRICED OUT OF RENTING IS THE REALITY FOR NOT JUST DISCOURAGED HOME BUYERS BUT YOUNG FAMILIES, SENIORS AND ANYONE MAKING MINIMUM. HECK EVEN MEDIAN WAGES. >> CHRISTINA WATKINS FOUND OUT WHAT IT'S LIKE TO TRY TO RENT AND KEEP AN APARTMENT NOWADAYS. >> 6-MONTH-OLD ALESSANDRA PATTERSON, OR ALE - AS HER PARENTS CALL HER - IS ONE HAPPY BABY GIRL. HER MOM AND DAD, ANGELA AND JONATHAN PATTERSON MOVED TO ORLANDO FROM MIAMI IN JULY OF 2021 LOOKING FOR MORE SPACE TO MAKE SURE THEIR BABY WOULD HAVE ROOM TO CRAWL, WALK AND GROW. BUT THEY QUICKLY LEARNED DESPITE BEING COLLEGE-EDUCATED AND HAVING GOOD JOBS FINDING A HOME IN CENTRAL FLORIDA WOULDN'T BE AS EASY AS THEY THOUGHT. >> WE'RE LIKE, OK, LET'S TRY TO GET THIS GOING BEFORE SHE'S BORN. AND IT JUST IT DIDN'T WORK OUT. MONEY WISE, SAVINGS WISE, HOUSES ON THE MARKET WERE NOT REALLY WHAT I WANTED. I WAS TRYING NOT TO BE TOO PICKY BUT BUYING A HOUSE IS AN INVESTMENT, AND I DIDN'T WANT TO GO INTO JUST BUYING IT BECAUSE JUST TO HAVE THIS AND SAY, OK, WE OWN A HOME. >> SO THE PATTERSONS TOOK A STEP BACK AND EXTENDED THEIR LEASE AT THIS APOPKA APARTMENT COMPLEX GIVING THEM MORE TIME TO LOOK AND SAVE MONEY. AND THEN THEY WERE HIT WITH RISING RENT COSTS. >> IT WENT UP ABOUT $400 FOR US AND THAT WAS A SHOCK. WE WERE GIVEN NOTICE THAT IT WAS GOING TO GO UP BUT THE NOTICE DOESN'T CHANGE THE FACT THAT I'M STILL WORKING THE SAME JOB. MY HUSBAND IS STILL WORKING THE SAME JOB. >> HOW DIFFICULT IS IT TO TRY TO SAVE WHEN YOU'RE DEALING WITH THE RISING COST OF RENT? >> TO BE HONEST IT'S BEEN ROUGH. WHAT WE WOUND UP DOING WAS JUST TURNING ON AUTOMATIC WITHDRAWAL TYPE OF THING. WE DON'T SEE IT. IT'S GOING INTO OUR SAVINGS, BUT IT IS STILL HARD. AND THEN EMERGENCIES COME UP. >> ANGELA SAYS WHEN THEY FIRST MOVED TO APOPKA IN 2021, THEIR RENT FOR THIS 2 BEDROOM 2 BATHROOM APARTMENT WAS AROUND 16-HUNDRED DOLLARS - INCLUDING ELECTRICITY AND WATER. THIS YEAR - THEY SAID IT WENT UP TO ABOUT 2-THOUSAND - THAT NEW PRICE NOW DOES NOT INCLUDE UTILITIES. KNOWING THIS WAS TOO MUCH FOR THEIR WALLETS - ANGELA'S HUSBAND SUGGESTED THEY TAKE A CHANCE AND TRY TO NEGOTIATE WITH THEIR PROPERTY MANAGER. >> I WENT TO HER AND I SAID, LOOK, I ABSOLUTELY CHANGED MY JOB THIS YEAR. WE HAD THE BABY WE DON'T HAVE ANY FAMILY UP HERE. WE REALLY DON'T HAVE ANYWHERE TO GO. IS THERE ANYTHING YOU CAN DO TO HELP? >> ARE YOU GETTING ANY NEW AMENINITES? IS ANYTHING CHANGING? ARE THEY ADDING ANYTHING TO THE COMPLEX? >> THAT WAS A BIG PART OF MY HUSBAND'S REASON FOR US TO NEGOTIATE, BECAUSE NOTHING WAS CHANGING >> TO THE PATTERSON'S SURPRISE, THEIR PROPERTY MANAGER AGREED TO LOWER THEIR BASE RENT TO A PRICE THEY COULD SOMEWHAT AFFORD. IF THEY HADN'T ANGELA SAYS THEY WOULD HAVE MOVED BACK TO MIAMI TO LIVE WITH FAMILY. AND ANGELA SAYS EVEN WITH THE NEGOTIATED PRICE IT'S STILL EXPENSIVE. >> WHAT HAVE YOU ALL HAD TO CUT BACK ON, IF ANYTHING? BECAUSE OF THE RISING COSTS? >> I WOULD SAY GOING OUT MORE JUST LIKE TO EAT DINNER OR ON SUNDAYS WE'RE HUGE FOOTBALL FANS AND SO SATURDAYS OR SUNDAYS JUST GOING OUT TO SPEND SOME TIME OUTSIDE OF THE HOUSE. >> IS IT ALMOST PAYCHECK-TO-PAYCHECK? >> ALMOST. GROCERY SHOPPING LIKE WHAT DO WE BUY HERE WHAT DO WE BUY THEIR. >> DATA FROM THE SHIMBERG CENTER FOR HOUSING STUDIES AT THE UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA SHOWS IN ORLANDO, OUT OF EVERY 100 RENTAL UNITS, ONLY 24 ARE AFFORDABLE MEANING THEY COST 30 PERCENT OR LESS OF A PERSON'S INCOME. THE DATA ALSO SHOWS THAT WHILE THERE ARE ENOUGH APARTMENTS IN EXISTENCE IN CENTRAL FLORIDA, THE AMOUNT LANDLORDS ARE CHARGING FOR THEM MAKE THOSE HOMES UNATTAINABLE FOR MOST PEOPLE. AND DESPITE THE CONSTRUCTION WE SEE HAPPENING SHIMBERG DATA SHOWS NOT ENOUGH AFFORDABLE RENTALS ARE IN DEVELOPMENT. IN FACT, FLORIDA IS ON TRACK TO LOSE MORE THAN 66 THOUSAND AFFORDABLE RENTALS IN THE NEXT 20 YEARS. FIGHTING TO REVERSE THAT TREND ARE PEOPLE LIKE SHEENA ROLLE. SHE HEADS THE ADVOCACY GROUP FLORIDA RISING. THEY ARE FIGHTING FOR FAMILIES LIKE THE PATTERSONS WHO ARE GETTING PRICED OUT OF PARADISE. >> PEOPLE ARE RESILIENT. PEOPLE ARE RESPONSIBLE. AND SO PEOPLE AREN'T BEING PUSHED OUT OF HOUSING BECAUSE THEY SIMPLY DIDN'T PAY THEIR RENT. RENT IS BECOMING UNPAYABLE, AND UNFORTUNATELY, ORANGE COUNTY AND CENTRAL FLORIDA AND INCREASINGLY THE WHOLE STATE IS BECOMING UNAFFORDABLE >> ROLLE SAYS OUT OF THE DECADE SHE'S BEEN WORKING FOR HOUSING JUSTICE THIS IS THE WORST IT'S BEEN AND FAMILIES ARE SUFFERING BECAUSE THE WAGES DON'T MATCH THE INCREASE. >> YOUR RENT IS ABOUT 1,800 DOLLARS AND YOU GET A NOTICE THAT WITHIN A MONTH AND A HALF YOUR RENT WILL BE 2,500. WHERE ARE THOSE $700 GOING TO COME FROM? THERE'S NO JOB. YOU CAN WALK INTO THE DOOR AND SAY, I JUST NEED 700 MORE DOLLARS. IT'S NOT POSSIBLE. AND THAT LEADS TO DESPERATE TIMES FOR MANY WHO AREN'T USED TO LIVING CHECK TO CHECK. >> YOU START TO SEE MIDDLE CLASS, UPPER MIDDLE CLASS HOMELESSNESS WHERE FAMILIES ARE BROKEN APART. AND YOU PUT TWO CHILDREN HERE AND ONE CHILD THERE. AND THE PARENTS HAVE TO STAY IN DIFFERENT PLACES WHERE SOMETIMES A PARENT SLEEPS IN THE CAR. YOU SEE PEOPLE RENTING U-HAUL TRUCKS IN VANS BECAUSE IT'S MUCH CHEAPER THAN RENT AND HITCHING IT TO THEIR CARS, SLEEPING IN A OVERNIGHT APARTMENT IN A PARKING LOT AND DRIVING THEIR CARS TO WORK >> AT THE COMPLEX WHERE ANGELA LIVES SHE TOLD US SOME OF HER NEIGHBORS ARE MOVING IN TOGETHER, TO A BIGGER UNIT, TO SPLIT THE COSTS REGARDLESS OF THE CAPACITY LIMIT. >> IF IT'S THREE BEDROOM, YOU CAN ONLY HAVE SIX PEOPLE. SOME PEOPLE, I KNOW FOR A FACT, HAVE MORE THAN THAT THERE BECAUSE THAT'S THEIR ONLY OPTION TO MAKE THINGS WORK FOR THEMSELVES AND THEIR FAMILIES FINANCIALLY >> IT'S A STRUGGLE FOR MANY. BUT ANGELA AND HER FAMILY ARE TRYING TO KEEP IT ALLIN PERSPECTIVE. >> IT'S
