Kay Griffith works two jobs. Her son works when he's not in school.

She's making ends meet, and now expects a 59 percent rent increase in a city with almost no vacant apartments. She doesn't think she can pay the new charges, but has no where else to go.

Griffith isn't alone.

Utah-based Apartment Management Consultants LLC now manages three of Casper's largest apartment complexes -- Mountain View Apartments, the Casper Village and Sunridge Apartments. Altogether, the facilities have roughly 400 units.

In the Mountain View Apartments, rent for a large, two-bedroom apartment is $440 each month and the renter pays electricity, Griffith said.

Within the next couple months, rent for an apartment that size will increase to $590 per month, and at the end of each renters' six-month lease, payment will be $700, excluding all utilities, said Lori Layton, the Mountain View Apartments property manager.

The management consultant group assumed control of Mountain View Apartments on Jan. 11, according to a letter written to tenants from Stephanie Brooks, the regional property manager.

The apartments were built in the 1970s, Griffith said, and are beginning to show their 30 years worth of wear.

Layton said she believes the company plans to make improvements to the properties.

Some of the residents won't be able to pay the increase, Layton said. Six apartments have been vacated since she began giving notice of the changes.

"It's unfortunate, because some of the people are young mothers with children," she said. "It tears your heart out when these people are having to go somewhere because they can't pay the rent."

Those people won't have many options in Casper.

A winter 2007 survey showed just 44 vacancies out of 4,117 rental units in Natrona County, said Cheryl Gillum, deputy director of the Wyoming Community Development Authority.

That's a 1.07 percent vacancy rate in the county, compared with 2.82 percent the same time in 2004 and 4.49 percent in 2002.

"It's going to have a huge effect," said Robin Mundell, the city's Housing and Community Development manager. "What's going to happen to these people who live there now and can't pay the rent? They have no where to go, and they are going to start looking at other parts of the country."

Representatives of Apartments Management Consultants LLC did not verify the rent increase and declined to give further comment. The company does not own the apartments, but rather manages them on behalf of separate legal entities.

The Mountain View Apartments are owned by Mountain View Partner LLC, according to Brooks' letter. Apartment Management Consultants LLC manages properties for either individuals or groups of investors.

According to its Web site, the company works to, "establish a long-term management plan that includes recommendations for capital improvements and enhancement opportunities that will enable the property to maintain a steady net operating income growth from year to year."

Contact city reporter Christine Robinson at (307) 266-0639 or christine.robinson@trib.com