Rent: Last Week Tonight with John Oliver (HBO)

This show is the most fun ive ever had spiraling into an existential crisis.

There’s an elderly woman at my apartment complex battling cancer who told me she’s going to have to live with her son now because they’re raising her rent by $600. She’s not ready to give up her independence but there are NO other places she can afford to go to. She’s been here for THIRTY YEARS and a new corporation buys up the community this year and does this immediately. It’s just downright evil.

The hilarious part is that the politicians and other people fighting against a cap on rent are the same people complaining about the increase in homelessness.

The line "people who think investments deserve more respect than basic human needs" explains so much about a scary part of American culture.

Getting harder for anyone to tell someone to pull themselves up by their bootstraps. No one can afford boots anymore.

This is why people in horror movies don't move out of haunted houses.

It only took a year and a half, but Kissinger finally kicked the bucket

We really need a Rent: Part 2!

You know we’re in real trouble when John Oliver’s main topic is a fundamental aspect of existence for most people.

The landlord I rent from hasn't raised the rent on me at all in the last 4 years. I asked her once how she manged to stay afloat and she said that she attracts low-maintenance renters who stay long term and pay on time. I've never been more grateful -- especially since watching this video.

I’m a US Army veteran who served in Iraq twice. After my second deployment I came back ill, so the Army sent me packing with medical retirement. The base I lived in allowed me to stay in military housing even after retirement. The rent was now paid with my disability compensation, which after a couple of years got cut due to one of my children becoming an adult. I called housing to ask them to give me some time to get the money together. Instead, I got served with an eviction filled federally. I was homeless for almost three years. I tried to get help from the VA, but I didn’t qualify because of being 100% disabled , which means a bigger check supposedly. They didn’t understand that it wasn’t about the money. It was about my record being tarnished. I got hospitalized for suicide ideation after I saw myself alone with my dog in my car with nowhere to go. The system is disgusting and it’s meant to set us up for failure. It doesn’t even matter that at some point I proudly served my country. I was useless to them once I got sick.

I'm 24 years old. I've worked full-time since age 18 and done my best to save my money and spend responsibly, and yet I still live with my parents. The cost of rent for some of the cheapest places in my area is still over half of what I make in a month. I love my family and I'm so grateful for them and that my parents are able and willing to continue to let me live at home, but it still sucks to be a grown adult who can't afford to leave their parents' house.

Who else is HEATED that our grandparents could work part time and buy a home and now we are dealing with this?

Ah the good old "well you should know what your rights are!" Argument coming from a lawyer, a person who studied law for half a decade full-time, and has a full-time job in the same field, telling others, with completely different day jobs, they should be able to do the same things he does. It never gets old, does it? 😒

My dad has owned a trailer park (with 2 apartments attached to his home) since the 70s. He worries a lot about raising the rent because he's afraid people can't afford it. We had to raise the rent this year though just to cover the increased costs of the insurance and taxes. The rent is still about half the price of the market and just barely breaks even (except in years with big repairs), but the tenants have been there forever. My dad ended up homeless as a teenager in the 50s and ended up living in the car wash where he worked until a little old lady offered him a room in her boarding house in exchange for helping her mow the grass and keep the place tidy. He's 81 now and is baffled by this housing bubble.

The comments for this video where people share their personal experiences and views from all over the world has been one really good learning experience Thank you!

That attorney who screams about people not knowing their legal rights should get disbarred. It's literally your job as an attorney to inform people of their legal rights, and not scream why they haven't been to law school before.

"They shouldn't sign the contract if they're too stupid to represent themselves in court" Honey, that has nothing to do with intelligence. Not everyone goes to law school. Whether I study quantum physics or flip burgers I need a lawyer the same way I need a doctor. I'm not gonna perform heart surgery on myself. Some people have truly rotten souls.

And do not forget scammers: People who advertise seemingly affordable rental units, only to make you pay a down payment to see it (claiming they are out of tow and coming to show it is very expensive to them) and then ghosting you. I almost got caught in one of those scams, before my husband told me the truth. Yes, here in Germany we have the same issue...

rent should be 30% of what you make? That was the funniest joke I've heard on LastWeekTonight in a while