Testimony from local tenants on increased rental costs are infuriating, but WZZM 13 misses the fact that the current housing crisis is systemic and not limited to a few stories

The housing market in West Michigan has been unaffordable for more than a decade now, and it keeps getting worse.

Last week, WZZM 13 ran two stories which reflect the unjust and inhumane nature of the current housing market. On April 4, channel 13 aired a story about an 80 year old woman who has been living in the same apartment for the past 30 years. She was one day late with her rent and was charged an additional $225 because she was late by less than 24 hour hours. The 80 year old woman was quoted as saying, “I just, I want help. I want to know, why did they turn like this? You know, I’m a person, I’m human. And what can I do?” 

Then, on April 5th, WZZM 13 ran another similar story, this time about a senior citizen couple who has seen their rent costs increase significantly. The couple is on a fixed income and doesn’t know if they will be able to afford the rent costs any longer. They were also quoted in the story saying: “If one of us should perish, the other one couldn’t stay here. We lose our pension and social security of course,” said the husband. “You wanted to retire, but now you think ‘wow, maybe we should have waited until we’re 90 or something.'”

These two stories are both heartbreaking, but they are a reflection of the larger housing market, which is unaffordable for thousands of people living in the Greater Grand Rapids area. 

What is even worse is the fact that in both stories the channel 13 reporter cites rent.com as a source for rent increases, and in one of the stories WZZM 13 interviewed the Rental Property Owners Association of Kent County. The Rental Property Owners Association of Kent County spokesperson justified the increase in rental costs, because of the added costs that landlords have in repairs and supplies. In the other channel 13 story, they included the Grand Rapids Housing Commission and Housing Kent as resources. It’s too bad that the channel 13 reporter did not cite the National Low Income Housing Coalition on rent increases in Michigan, specifically because they would then know that for people living in the Grand Rapids/Wyoming area, they need to earn $25.50 an hour to afford the average cost of rent in this market. 

What is unfortunate is the fact that WZZM 13 did not include as a resource or interview anyone from the Grand Rapids Area Tenant Union (GRATU) as a resource, especially since both stories dealt with people confronted with rent increases. Equally frustrating is the fact that WZZM 13 probably doesn’t know about GRATU and their upcoming Tenant Assembly on Saturday, April 13. You can still register for this free event by going here tinyurl.com/GRTenantPower. For more details on the event, check out Grand Rapids Area Tenant Union Facebook event, where you we find out that the purpose of the Tenant Assembly on April 13 is to build tenant power and confront exploitative landlords and property management companies.