He could have told her about the company that bought Conrad at Concord Mills, the Charlotte, North Carolina, apartment complex where he lived, in March 2022-the one that Kelly says installed a slew of "gadgets" he didn't need before raising his rent by nearly $400 a month. He could have told her about the eviction notices that the company kept filing against him-the ones that came, he says, with an onslaught of fees that virtually guaranteed he'd never fully get back on his feet.
DCC rents social homes at a rate that depends on the income of the occupants, known as a "differential" rent system. At the moment, rents are charged at 15pc of the principal earner's salary, with the first €32 a week exempt from this calculation, and subsidiary earners are charged in the same way up to a maximum of €21 a week. Up to four subsidiary earners can be included in the calculation, but the fifth and onwards don't count towards the rental figure.
She currently receives a €990 HAP payment which hasn't increased since 2017 despite her landlord raising the rent every year - she already works outdoors over 40 hours a week, and has found it financially hard to cope.
Christina Smyth stated, "We understand that this is a very difficult decision, and that this board is put in a position each year to the utter failures of the state elected officials and the city government to address the high cost of housing and the abject lack of supply."
