Charging Fair Rent | Video

Jenny Castro | 8/10/2012

The cost of living in North Dakota has put a lot of people in difficult situations: paying way more than they can afford or even leaving the state altogether. This also means property owners can easily get away with charging in the thousands for a rental apartment.

For a few property managers, they believe in charging a fair price despite the temptation to hike their rates up.

When you`re on a fixed income, an affordable place to rent is something you rely on. But that`s changed for many residents and sometimes, they have to leave.

"The people here are terrific and really appreciated all the help we`ve had from people in our church and friends and co-workers and what not. But for us, it`s just to the point where we don`t have a choice,” said Ryan Mead, a renter who is now moving to Alaska.

Many people are leaving North Dakota because the cost of living. Apartment rent in the thousands seems to be the norm these days. But there are still some property owners in the area who believe in an honest bargain.

"You shouldn`t have to worry about how much you have to pay to have a roof over your head, so I think you should try to keep it under control. This is what we probably charged before the flood so it should stay that way,” said property manager Melody Poth.

Poth sees no reason to raise her rent. And not suprising, her tenants are pretty happy about it.

"Everybody says that I`m really lucky because $600, that`s pretty nice,” said tenant Katie Elston.

Six hundred dollars for a two bedroom apartment is unheard of in the area, but Poth says that`s all she needs to charge in order to turn a profit and maintain the building.

"We just feel that you don`t need to charge people an arm and a leg to just have a roof over their head and that`s just my opinion and I think that it`s the right thing to do.”

"There are people out there who are being fair and there are apartments that are renting at a reasonable cost they`re just far and few between,” said Mead.

Not over-charging can be a pretty big deal to some people, paying a reasonable rent even though someone else would pay twice as much.

And Poth says that in the last three years, she`s raised the rent twenty dollars in order to cover some extra expenses.

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