First Gen Z member of Congress struggles to find housing in D.C.

Dec. 8 (UPI) -- Maxwell Frost made history by becoming the first Gen Z member of Congress, but he has struggled to find a place to live in the tough Washington housing market.

Frost said Thursday that his application for an apartment was denied by the landlord due to a really bad credit score.

"This ain't meant for people who don't already have money," Frost tweeted.

He added that much of this debt came as a result of his campaign.

"For those asking, I have bad credit cause I ran up a lot of debt running for Congress for a year and a half," Frost said. "Didn't make enough money from Uber itself to pay for my living."

A report from Experian found that members of Gen Z had an average credit score of 679 last year. The national average was 714.

Born in 1997, Frost had just met the age requirement to run for a seat in the House. Lawmakers in the lower chamber must be at least 25 when they are sworn in. Those born between 1997 and 2012 are considered members of Generation Z.

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., the youngest woman ever elected to Congress, faced a similar housing challenge in 2018. She had been working as a waitress and had three months without a salary before being sworn in.

Frost was adopted, did not finish college, does not come from wealth and has never held office, according to his website. Instead, he spent his time volunteering in the community and speaking out about abortion rights and gun control, while driving for Uber to make ends meet.

Frost is an ACLU activist and was the national organizing director for March for Our Lives, a student-led demonstration in Washington to support gun reform legislation in the wake of the Parkland, Fla., school shooting in 2018.