Memphis can be downright steamy. The average high in June is 89°F, climbing to 92°F in July.  In these conditions, air conditioning isn’t just a luxury, it’s a necessity. And not having it could render a home uninhabitable.

In the midst of such heat, one Memphis mother and her four-year-old son have been waiting weeks for her air conditioning to be fixed. She was cooling off in her car when WREG News Channel 3 Memphis spoke to her.

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When a home is uninhabitable

“My car feels way cooler than it does in my apartment,” Jada Robinson told the news outlet, adding that her efforts to have the apartment complex fix her air conditioning have gone nowhere. “They said they would fix [it], but nobody has [come].”

She’s been staying in hotel rooms but can’t afford to keep that up.

“I paid my rent for the month, I shouldn’t be going through this,” Robinson told WREG. “So I will have to go stay with my family.”

When her lease ends in July, she plans to move out so she can improve her son’s living conditions.

Robinson didn’t discuss her means, but if she’s like many Americans, she may find that an emergency expense — like having to stay in a hotel — is a strain on her finances. After all, six in 10 (59%) of Americans can’t pay a $1,000 emergency expense out of their savings.

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America’s housing affordability crisis

This isn’t surprising, given that residual income (the amount of money households have left over after paying rent and utilities) has fallen to record lows for some renters.

In 2023, renters with an annual household income of less than $30,000 had a median of $250 per month in residual income — down 55% from 2001 — and households earning $30,000 to $74,900 saw a 10% drop to $2,700, according to The State of the Nation’s Housing 2025 report from the Harvard Joint Center for Housing Studies (JCHS).

“Nearly two-thirds (65 percent) of working-age renters cannot cover their non-housing necessities,” the report stated, which means “many households are forced to make tough trade-offs to pay the rent, spending less on healthcare and food or relocating to unsuitable housing or neighborhoods far from transit, employment or social networks.”

This drop in residual income is driven by the ongoing housing affordability crisis in the U.S. This, in turn, is leading to a growing number of Americans having to pay more than 30% of their income for housing and utilities — making them what the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) refers to as “cost-burdened.”

In 2023, 83% of renters earning less than $30,000 were cost-burdened and two-thirds (67%) of these households were severely cost-burdened, spending 50% or more of their income on housing.

But it’s not just low-income earners who are struggling with housing costs. “Burdens have risen most dramatically for renters toward the middle of the income scale,” according to the report.

In 2023, 70% of renters with incomes between $30,000 and $44,999 were burdened, as were 45% of those with incomes between $45,000 and $74,999. And while renters are particularly hard hit, nearly a quarter (24%) of all homeowners were cost-burdened in 2023.

Tenants have rights to a liveable home

While Robinson plans to move, some renters in a similar situation may be stuck in substandard housing. Still, no matter how much they earn or how much they pay in rent, tenants do have rights.

Knowing and exercising your rights can help make your housing situation more tolerable.

Your rights as a renter vary by state, so you may want to familiarize yourself with what repairs your landlord is responsible for in your area and the time limit for completion. Websites such as iPropertyManagement.com can help get you started.

If you’re uncomfortable advocating for yourself or find your landlord to be unresponsive, you may want to seek legal help. Many cities have organizations that can provide advice and advocacy, even if you can’t afford to pay.

A good place to begin your research is USA.gov, which has a tenants’ rights page that provides links to organizations in each state. After all, nobody should have to live in an uninhabitable space.

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This article provides information only and should not be construed as advice. It is provided without warranty of any kind.