[Mezzie]

I'm only in my place because when I moved in, it was owned by a friend of my aunt's.

At the time, I was legally limited in the amount of money I could make because I was relying on Medicaid and subject to income limits. I have MS and not having access to MS drugs is very, very bad and risks permanent consequences. The drugs also are ridiculously expensive (I think my monthly medication is about $30k/dose).

I had money, it was just all earned under the table on the grey market. Not a situation a corporate landlord is going to deal with, but I never missed a rent payment and I'm a very good tenant (clean, report issues promptly, read and adhere to the lease, etc).

I'm no longer subject to those income limits and I have a W2 job now and could qualify for an apartment based on that, but for a long time that wasn't true. On the margins, you end up having to look for the small time landlords, employers, etc. because if you're decent and you can talk to them, you can get a shot.