Justin's Perspective: Help Our Family Through an Unexpected Summer Move

My family and I are facing an unexpected financial crisis after being blindsided by a sudden series of events with our longtime landlord.

We have lived in our rental home for approximately six and a half years. We paid our rent consistently, built our lives there, and had every expectation that we would remain in the home while we planned our future at a reasonable pace.

Unfortunately, that changed very suddenly this summer.

I am a teacher, and like many educators, my income works differently during the summer. I do not receive my regular paychecks during the two unpaid summer months, so throughout every school year I carefully save enough money to cover our family's normal expenses until my paychecks begin again.

I had done exactly that this year.

I had a summer budget.

It was tight, but it worked.

Then, just as summer began, our landlord increased our rent by $400 per month with only 30 days' notice.

Because this happened after I had already received my final paycheck of the school year, there was no opportunity for me to simply work the additional expense into my normal monthly income. The money we were living on for the summer had already been saved and budgeted.

We adjusted as best we could.

Then came the much bigger shock.

After more than six years in the home (with perfect rent payments every single month), we were suddenly given notice that we had to move.

The circumstances surrounding that notice have made the situation particularly painful. It came after my wife publicly asked on Facebook (FB) for information and resources on how to deal with landlord concerns. This was not directed at our landlord, or a hit piece about her, but she took it as one. 

Long story short, she saw the FB post in the morning of June 10th, and less than 2 hours later she had her mother deliver a handwritten termination of lease and notification to vacate. (at the exact same time, landlord texted our neighbor that she "found the post")

(TL/DR: Landlord thought a FB post was critical of her, and she retaliated by terminating our lease.)

Regardless of how that dispute is ultimately resolved, the immediate reality for our family was the same:

We suddenly had to find somewhere else to live and somehow pay for an unexpected move during the only part of the year when I am not receiving a paycheck.

The savings that were supposed to carry us safely through the summer now have to stretch to cover moving expenses, deposits, utility changes, transportation, increased housing expenses, and the many unexpected costs that come with relocating an entire household on very short notice.

We were not financially irresponsible or living without a plan.

In fact, that is one of the hardest parts of this situation.

We did plan.

I spent the previous school year saving specifically so that my family would be secure during my unpaid summer months. Under ordinary circumstances, we would have been okay.

What we could not reasonably have planned for was a sudden $400 monthly rent increase followed almost immediately by having to leave the home we had lived in for more than six years.

We are now doing everything we can to establish a stable new home and move forward. I am incredibly grateful that we have found a possible path toward doing that, but the unexpected costs have overwhelmed the financial cushion I spent the entire school year building.

I don't enjoy asking other people for help, and creating a fundraiser like this is not something I ever imagined I would need to do.

But right now, even a small amount of assistance would help us cover the extraordinary costs of this unexpected move and make it through the remainder of the summer until my regular teaching income begins again.

Any money raised will go toward expenses directly connected with relocating and establishing our household, including moving costs, housing-related expenses, utilities, transportation, and other immediate necessities created by this sudden transition.

And even if you aren't able to contribute, sharing our story would mean a great deal to us.

We are simply trying to get through an incredibly difficult few weeks, put this experience behind us, and give our family a stable place to call home again.

Thank you for reading our story and for any kindness, support, or encouragement you can offer.


(There is an entire evidence supported timeline of events that I have compiled if anyone is interested, but I have attached a comic strip in an attempt to humorously summarize the saga. Fictionalized characters in the comic: Justin, Hillary, Landlord, Landlord's Mom)