Hello,

My name is Alexis Jimenez. I am a 21-year-old and have been put in a very difficult and frankly scary spot. I have been renting a 2-bedroom apartment with my father for the past year and 2 months. On October 10th, he had been arrested for multiple charges, a few of which had caused my vehicle he had taken, to be impounded. It was $840 to recover it from impound, so I can continue to get to work. Thankfully, a few family members were able to help me with the money to retrieve my vehicle. Unfortunately, that is only the first big hill I have to hurdle over.

Since my father was arrested, I am unable to make the monthly rent payments to keep my apartment. I do not make enough money to cover both portions of the rent plus the other expenses (electricity, wifi, food, etc.). I also own a black cat named Crowley, so he has his own expenses that I would not be able to cover now. I have two options: terminate my lease early, which will cost a total of $7,041. That's 2 months' rent plus a penalty fee for breaking my lease early. Per the lease policy with my landlord, I must give a 60-day notice prior to my lease termination. Meaning, I will still have to pay for the next 2 months' rent and be responsible for the unit until December 9th. Then pay a penalty fee of another 2 months' rent.

My second option is to just let myself go to collections. I will not be able to pay the total of $7,041 as I am not even able to make enough money to pay for the upcoming month. Unfortunately, my family has helped as much as they can and will not be able to help me with this either. I do not want to go to collections; I'm sure most people don't. I am 21, and I have worked extremely hard just to get to where I am.

I have struggled for most of my life due to the selfish actions of my biological parents. At 18, I sacrificed going to college to go straight to work to make something of myself. I worked hard, and with the support of my mother figure, who has been the only parent and support I had when my biological parents weren't, I was able to get my first car and work on my credit score. At 20, I had saved enough money and worked hard on my credit score to afford an apartment. But due to my monthly income, I was not able to lease on my own, so I had decided to rent with my father, as he was struggling with housing at the time. Unfortunately, he was still not ready to be a responsible adult, it seems, and continued to cause issues, which led us to the present. His reckless, selfish decision is now the consequence I have to pay for.

I am trying to move in with my mother figure as well, and planning to do so by November 15th. That in itself will cost some money, but if I could just be able to pay what I have to so I can break my lease, then everything else I can figure out. I am not one to do this kind of thing, ask for financial help from friends or strangers, much less my family. But I have no choice, as going to collection would ruin my credit, and I would struggle even more. I would not be able to get an apartment on my own for quite some time, or finally further my education and become a graphic designer.

Any bit helps, any amount would allow me to support myself, my cat, and hopefully be able to pay my rent and penalty fee so I can move to somewhere safe and stable.