STUART, Fla. — High rental fees are putting a strain on renters across South Florida, according to renters who connected with WPTV.
“All this starts to accumulate,” said Nicholas Baumann, from Stuart. "At the end of the day, it eats up most of your paycheck.”
WATCH BELOW: 'It's always going to be community dependent,' Realtor Kelley Decowski tells WPTV's Tyler Hatfield
WPTV started asking renters about these fees after getting an email about a woman in West Palm Beach concerned about the rental fee for the washer and dryer in her unit going up from $45 to $60.
"It's just things that they tack on that you're not prepared for,” said Baumann.
Baumann said the fees weren't always like this.
"Maybe five or six years ago, rental fees were okay, depending on where you were,” said Baumann. “But now, the rental fees are so absurd that I’ve actually had to move in with my brother."
Baumann said he also got hit with a trash fee increase.
"That went from $10 to $40,” he said.
I took these concerns to Kelley Decowski a realtor with RE/MAX on the Treasure Coast.
"It's always going to be community dependent,” said Decowski.
She said some companies may add fees to make base rent seem like a deal.
"It might not look so bad, but after you add in all the fees, then you might be looking at a pretty decent chunk of change,” said Decowski.
She said ask companies what your full rent price would be month to month. Her best piece of advice is read your lease.
"Your lease agreement is going to say whether or not the community has the ability to raise that fee during the lease term," said Decowski.