Maine Housing: The Saga Continues. Please read and share

2024 edition:

After last years debacles and not getting the security deposit or additional money back from the last previous landlord, it felt unsafe to pursue as a small claims (a Certified demand letter was sent, but not accepted) due to the owner’s instability, and drug use on the property by the felon who lives/d there.

Each time I have to move, which is every few months due to the issue with short-term rentals and seasonal housing in the area, I need a minimum of about $4000 upfront. It is impossible to save with the rent prices being astronomical and dedicating at least a month of my time each residence I move into or out of.  The summer was my slowest yet for WashAshore, and due to the area I had to move to also very slow for my pet care business, traveling 40 minutes each way to an30 minute dog walk just for the sake of knowing I at least had that stable income each week.

I am looking at a new rental option today since I have less than a month left where I am before it becomes a ski house and unavailable.  I don’t believe the owners of my current rental will withhold the security deposit, they seem like good people, the first kind and unintrusive landlords I’ve had about a decade.  I always leave the houses I rent in cleaner condition then when I moved in and always have record of that due to the issues I’ve had in the past couple years.

I need $4,200 to secure this text housing, which feels impossible, I’ve got to at least try to ask community for support. It feels redundant for me, so I’m sure it does for anyone who has been following along the last few years as well. I haven’t had a year lease since 2020, maybe I’ll just write a book about all this and sell copies six years and Maine next month, and I’ve moved over 20 times.  

UPDATE November 9, 2023:  First snow today.

November 2, 2023: Just had to get the front brake pads replaced after they delaminated and I was going right to the floor with the brake. Priority was supposed to be replacing the tires since they are over 50,000 miles and nearly bald but here we are. We need to get out of the car before it gets colder. Has been in the low 20’s the past few nights and we’re okay, but certainly colder and less daylight now.

October 28, 2023:  We are still living in/out of the car and desperately need financial support to find housing as we are expected to have our first snow fall this week.  I have been working most days but it’s barely enough to cover gas, car insurance and storage never mind save any fast enough to find housing.

October 11, 2023:  I am still living in the car with my 2 senior, mobility challenged large breed dogs Ember and Cleo.  Our landlord illegally broke our lease and is now also illegally withholding the security deposit, which I will have to go to small claims court to prove she didn’t pay in order to get that back.  Since we are in Maine it is starting to get colder and we still do not have any rental prospects in part because of the security deposit refund that has been withheld, and in part because there are so few options that would accommodate us due to the dog’s limited mobility and requiring first floor access to a main living space, in an area where I can also still work and have an income.

September 9, 2023: We had what seemed to be a perfect rental- location, set up, price, accessibility for the dogs, but unfortunately the landlord broke our agreement early (among other unforeseen issues that were very unnecessary and disregulating that I won’t get in to for our safety). We had 2 weeks notice to our rental would be ending 6 weeks early, and due to the constant stressors in that space impacting my income, short notice, and limited housing (coupled with needing a maximum of a few steps mac in to a living space for the dogs) we are currently living in my car.  That means very minimal income as I am unable to do my in home pet care or create/store or easily ship anything WashAshore Store.  Moving this often is a constant financial drain with not enough saved to secure the space so asking for support either by contributing, purchasing items and/or sharing this once again!

If you do not see the number you would like to contribute use the $1 or $5 for example to select multiple quantities. Ex $15 would be a quantity of 3 $5 or 1 $10 and 1 $5.

Choose whether to participate in a giveaway, or not.  Your support means the world to us. 

The original Situation 

The house we planned to live and grow in for a year was changed to Tenant at Will with 60 days notice just 4.5 days prior to taking occupancy.  With no time to find anything else, we moved in as had been the plan for months prior.  Unfortunately this put us in a situation of extreme housing instability, with the potential for the 60 days notice to come at any time.  On June 24th that notice came and we have to be out by August 31st with no prospects for anywhere to go.

The stress of the situation and move in April triggered my autoimmune and I ended up having severe vertigo again daily for the first time in 6 years; the vertigo lasted for 3.5 months, and days after it subsided and gave me my body and mind back, the notice to move since the house is being sold came.

In 2021 WashAshore Store had immense growth.  Everything was on track and going well, until we* were notified we would not be able to renew our lease where we moved July 1, 2020 with the intent to stay long term.  We were able to live there 13 months, which is the longest I have lived in any one place in 19 years; we have already moved 13 times in the 6 years since starting WashAshore Store (4 were full moves, 9 were intentionally temporary).

When our plan for the year was forced to change in January 2021, we had the opportunity to move in to a house for April 1 (when I needed to leave the place I was originally going to take over) that was easy enough to access for my two senior dogs with increasing mobility issues, as well as plenty of space for my business to operate and grow.  It is nothing like what we were hoping for, but feels like exactly what we need.

We need to secure housing with plenty of space for me to work enough to have my usual income, as well as a space that is comfortable for my dogs with hip dysplasia and degenerative myopathy to live with me comfortably.

If you have been following WashAshore Store for awhile you know it was “born” at the end of January 2016, a point in my life where I was so sick with my autoimmune issues I couldn’t work and had no financial assistance.  My health has been a struggle for 15 years, and drained any savings I would have had by now, well bills and providing for my animals.

*”We” is myself, my service dog Ember, mastiff Cleo; Pandora, my soul cat, passed while living in the house we were in at that time that was meant to be for a year.

📸Images by Jacqueline, aka “The Briny Babe” on WashAshore Store’s 5 year anniversary in January 2021.