Americans Outraged Over Rent Hikes: 'Legal Thievery'

Americans are calling out decisions by landlords to raise rent prices as inflation remains high and the country faces an uncertain economy.

Landlords routinely increase rent prices because of inflation and changing housing and rental markets. However, the last few years have been especially difficult on renters, and the uptick in prices often forces people to moves in search of better prices or get priced out of the market.

Roughly one-quarter of American renters said they can no longer afford to pay their rent, and around one in five said they'll have to move back in with parents or friends, according to a new study from Intuit Credit Karma.

And while rents have fallen on an annual basis over the last eight months, the median rent in the U.S. is just 3.5 percent below its 2022 peak. So that means while rental prices aren't generally climbing nationally, renters haven't seen much relief from the pandemic-era climb in prices, and rents are still 22 percent higher than four years ago, according to Hannah Jones, a senior economic research analyst at Realtor.com.