May 31, 2008 - The doorbell rang....

It's Saturday evening. My roommates M & G, and I had plans to go out on the town for some drinks and QT time. It was the first weekend after Memorial Day and it was about time we finally hit the streets of downtown Boston. G was working and planned on rushing home after her shift, throwing on some goin' out clothes and then we'd hit the town. We were all really excited about it, plus we were finally supposed to celebrate my birthday.

M & I had a few hours until G would be home and we were contemplating where to get dinner. Do we get sushi from the place around the corner (pick it up) or try the new organic sushi restaurant down the street (delivery).

Then the doorbell rang.

Ummmmm... we hadn't ordered dinner yet, so it wasn't the delivery person. Do we answer it or not... is it the apartment dwellers downstairs who forget their keys sometimes..... I was done with wondering and decided go to the door to see who it is and I hear our building manager. He was talking to the apartment dwellers below. As he walks up the stairs to our door I say the normal nice greetings and I get "Well, probably not so good news for you. I need to know in two weeks if you guys are going to sign the lease or not." Uhhhh... Okay.

I close the door and glance at our new lease, then stop. $3200/month for our apartment.
Our rent just went up $1200.
A 62.5% increase.

Holy !@#$!!!!!! I can't afford that.

Okay, so G, M & I have a GREAT deal right now. 3.5 bed, 1.5 bath, huge kitchen, dining room-living room combo, a balcony off of my bedroom and an outdoor room that we use for storage for a very good price. It's a great apartment in the heart of a great location near the city. I've lived in the area for four years now and it's really become home. Hell, last year I literally move down the street from my old apartment to my current one if that tells you anything.

Again, Holy !@#$! I can't afford that. AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!

M & I go into shock for a moment and then straight into "now what do we do" mode. A thought of a 4th roommate in the small back room was a thought. It was fleeting. Laptops came out and we both pulled up craigslist and started searching for a new place.

G got home earlier than planned and we showed her the lovely document that we had received.

Shock! Total shock.

Now we truly needed those drinks, so we donned our going out clothes and made our way downtown.

On our way back in we ran into a few of the apartment dwellers below us (along with a number of their closest friends...) and briefly spoke about the increase and how no one can really afford it.

Before I go to bed I e-mail one of my best buds who's a lawyer with fondness for real estate law asking if this was legal. One could only hope there'd be a loophole, one could only hope.