"My Rent Doubled Overnight": Tell Us Your NYC Apartment/Rent Horror Story

Pandemic-era rent reductions are gone. Inventory's at like 1%. The struggle is real.

Renting an apartment in New York City has never been cheap or easy, but as anyone who's attempted to move recently can tell you, the current "post-pandemic*" rental market is straight-up bonkers.

Travel Wild / Getty Images/iStockphoto

*And no, we don't mean the pandemic is over; we're merely referring to the pandemic-era rent reductions that have given way to bidding wars for rentals.

In fact, rents are up 33% year over year — with many units renting for more than before the pandemic — and the vacancy rate in Manhattan is hovering just above 1%.

BusàPhotography / Getty Images

So, if you've attempted to move to or within NYC in the last year or so, we want to hear your pandemic-era apartment hunting horror story. (Seriously, everyone's got one.)

Pm10 / Getty Images/iStockphoto

Maybe you got a hell of a "deal" before vaccines were widely available, nabbing a one-bedroom in Chelsea — in a doorman building with in-unit washer/dryer — for less than $2,000 a month... but then you got your lease renewal, which jacked the price up to $4,100.

Anouchka / Getty Images

Or maybe you made an appointment to see a place, but when you showed up, there were 50 people already inside, and the broker revealed that she'd actually already received nine applications, so your showing was only a backup anyway.

Xavierarnau / Getty Images

Or perhaps, after finally getting a place all your own with a significant rent reduction last year, you were forced to move back in with your ex because both of you were in the same awful boat, given sky-high prices and super-low inventory.

Tetra Images / Getty Images/Tetra images RF

Whatever it was, we want to hear about it. So share your NYC pandemic-era apartment horror story below, and we'll share the best — er, most shocking — ones in an upcoming BuzzFeed Community post.