One solution for money problems: roommates
Two decades ago, St. Ambrose Housing Aid Center in Baltimore began matching up homeowners in need of roommates and people in need of an affordable place to stay. Now -- with rising mortgage defaults and recessionary job troubles -- it looks like that "homesharing" program's time has really come.
Scott Calvert reports today that St. Ambrose made one more match since July than it did in all of 2007. People are advertising for their own matches, too.
He tells the story of Laura Rogers, who is sharing her home in Southwest Baltimore because the $400-a-month rent makes a big difference financially. As in not losing her home and car."Thank God I was getting the money from my roommate," said Rogers, 45, a temporary worker on contract with the state. "I would have never thought about trying to live with anybody, except for this economy."
Posted by Jamie Smith Hopkins at 8:31 AM | Permalink
| Comments (3)
Categories: Landlording, Renting
Categories: Landlording, Renting
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Comments
Don't forget the draconian laws on the number of unrelated adults living at one address. Regardless of the number of bedrooms or square footage...
Even in good times when few with other options would even need to share space with another there has been the problem of these (relatively recent) zoning restrictions for an owner to legally have a roomie.
Posted by: MrRational | March 15, 2009 10:44 AM
Good point, MrRational. According to this link, Baltimore County law "prohibits more than two unrelated adults from living together unless the unit is authorized by the county as a rooming or boarding house."
Posted by: Jamie Smith Hopkins | March 15, 2009 11:27 AM
That's a county law ... is it the same deal for the city?
Posted by: whirrrp | March 16, 2009 9:30 PM