Recently, the entire world has been feeling the effects of inflation, with rates being at the highest level since 1981. Whether you’re filling up your car’s tank of gas, grocery shopping or paying your utility bills, these price increases seem inescapable. And especially in major cities, rent has increased exponentially. 

One TikToker living in New York City, Grace Pinegar, was recently informed by her landlord that her rent would be rising quite a bit, so she took to the internet to show viewers the apartment that has somehow shot up in value overnight. Below, you can watch Grace’s video, as well as read some of the responses, and let us know in the comments how you feel about this situation. Then if you’re interested in another Bored Panda piece featuring skyrocketing rent prices, check out this story next.

TikToker Grace Pinegar recently put her landlord on blast for increasing her rent by $700 a month

Image credits: vinegarwithap

Image credits: vinegarwithap

@vinegarwithap #greenscreen hey haha…. don’t move to nyc right now #fyp #comedy #comedyvideo #nyc #healthadepopit ♬ Its what the apartments worth – Grace Pinegar

The landlord’s reasoning was because “that’s the worth of the apartment”

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So Grace shared a video featuring all of the worst parts of her apartment

Image credits: vinegarwithap

Image credits: vinegarwithap

Image credits: vinegarwithap

Image credits: vinegarwithap

Image credits: vinegarwithap

Image credits: vinegarwithap

Image credits: vinegarwithap

Image credits: vinegarwithap

New York City has always been a notoriously expensive place to live, but it is quickly becoming impossible for many residents to stay. In fact, as of May 2022, Manhattan’s median rent price hit $4,000 a month, the highest it has ever been. What is even more concerning is that half of the New Yorkers who rent already spend more than 30% of their income on rent, while one third spends over half of their income on housing. Clearly, most people do not have any wiggle-room to budget for these increased prices. Sadly in Grace’s situation, the exorbitant rent prices were just too much to handle. She told The Daily Dot that after going back and forth with her landlord about pricing, they ultimately could not come to a price she was happy with, so she has decided to move back to Texas to be close to her family.

Grace is certainly not the only renter in NYC devastated by the current rent prices. 25-year-old Lauren Odioso told the BBC a very similar story, where her and her roommates’ rent was increased from $2,600 to $5,200 a month. “My first reaction was shock, and then immediately realizing that renewing my lease here was not an option,” Lauren said. “I felt pretty angry and helpless.” She ended up moving to a cheaper city as well. 

In a follow-up video, Grace addressed the larger issue of housing becoming a privilege rather than a right

@vinegarwithap Reply to @woahnyc88 I have so many more thoughts on this but here’s a short reply :-) #fyp #housingcrisis #nyc ♬ original sound – Grace Pinegar

Image credits: vinegarwithap

She also explained how heartbreaking moving will be, because it means leaving her community

Image credits: vinegarwithap

In theory, there are laws in New York to keep rent from being raised astronomically, but they don’t always work. Many apartments in NYC are rent controlled or rent stabilized, meaning landlords have limits on how much they can raise rent prices annually. The problem is that these regulations are slightly adjusted over time, and not surprisingly, the updates tend to benefit the property owners. For example, in 2019, a list of exceptions was implemented, causing many apartments to lose their status of “rent stabilized”. These included if the tenant earns a high enough income ($200,000 or more in 2019), if rent reached a certain threshold, and if the landlord had renovated the apartment.

In one of her follow-up videos, Grace said that she believes housing is a basic human right. Whether you agree with her or not, I’m sure nobody would enjoy renting the same exact apartment they’ve always lived in but paying hundreds of dollars more. We’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments. Have you ever been in a situation like this? How are the rent prices where you live right now? If they’re low, you might be seeing some new faces soon! 

Viewers echoed Grace’s frustration in the comments, agreeing that housing should never become unattainable