Outlaw all landlords
this post was submitted on 04 Sep 2023
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One thing I’ve learned on reddit is that you never tell people on platforms like that or even this one that you’re a landlord. You could be the best landlord, never raise a reasonable rent, keep a well and promptly maintained property, and LanDlOrDs aRe The ScUm of ThE Earth!!1! is all you hear.
The very idea of being a landlord is pretty evil though? Like in a housing shortage you're hoarding property and profiting off it.
Where would people live then? Those don't want to buy. Under the bridge?
Not everyone is able or willing to own their property, what would they do if landlords didn't exist?
Make it illegal to rent out property you don't live on.
If you want to rent out your basement, or build a seperate dwelling on your property then you are adding to the available housing and can rent that. Most people would rather build their own equity given the chance, and this would provide rentals for temporary living situations.
Privatizing the right to have shelter is pretty scummy to be a thing to exist.
What if I build a house on a piece of land I own and want to rent it out?
The second construction is completed I'm all of a sudden a scumbag for privatizing someone else's right to shelter? Even though it's a house I built on my land? Doesn't make much sense to me.
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Like in a housing shortage you’re hoarding property and profiting off it.
Housing shortages are caused by bad government policy: namely, low-density zoning. Direct your anger towards the entity that deserves it, and make them fix their fuck-up.
(Note: I'm not making some kind of Libertarian "all government is bad" argument here. I'm saying that in this specific case, the laws need to be changed.)
There is enough empty property to house every homeless person 30 times. Some of those empty property are summer houses and shit, but even then the problem isn't the lack of housing, it's treating homes as a mean to make money out of people's basic needs. You can build the best walkable city in the world, but if it will be bought by professional landlords immediately it will not solve shit.
Your assuming everyone wants to own property over renting.
House and property ownership has a lot of responsibility and expenses involved. Your water heater breaks well there is $1000+ your roof needs replacing there is 30K. All of that goes away when you rent as it isn't your responsibility.
If you own property it can be harder and more risky to relocate. I know a few people that bought in 2007 and then were stuck as they couldn't afford to move because they were upsidedown on their house.
Not saying renting is all sunshine and roses. I personally would rather own then rent but home ownership isn't for everyone.
But I do think it is a major problem when you have a few companies buying up all property so no one else can afford it. But I don't think being a Landlord is inherently evil.
Rentals should be socialized, not owned by corporations or private citizens.
Don't forget food too. No one should profit on necessities.
Correct, but only one mountain can be climbed at a time. We have more reliable food sources than housing sources right now.
I actually recently learned about housing co-ops. Basically an apartment complex led by a committee of residents. It's non profit high density housing, so you can buy a share (meaning rent an apartment) at much lower rates. As an example, in my area the co-ops are at 1/2 to 2/3 the cost of traditional rentals. The downside is, from what I hear, the folks managing the apartment complex can be even worse than an HOA if you're unlucky.
IMO this is the sustainable way forward for housing.
I would love a co op
In a perfect world sure, government is fully funded and runs smoothly people care about the everyone etc.. etc..
But in reality I really would be very hesitant to want to live in that world. It is very scary to have a single organization control all your housing. At least with the way it currently is if you don't like your landlord you can go somewhere else. If the government owns everything your kind of stuck dealing with the same organization no matter where you go. Governments are not immune to corruption and can screw you over even worse in some cases then an organization.
In my opinion the best solution is many private citizens and small rental companies combined with government enforcing laws protecting both parties. However one big issues I am seeing is huge companies buy up everything in a small area and build a monopolies on rentals. That isn't good either.
Governments are not immune to corruptions, but in the democracy there are ways to influence the government. Private companies that buy all the property are doing the corruption by design, in this case it's not even called corruption, it's normal profit-driven business, it's supposed to be like that. And you can't do shit about that, there is no ways to influence them
Threw down over 20k in fixes so far in our first year of homeownership, and due to interest rates and closing costs, we don't really have the opportunity to move anywhere else without taking a significant financial hit.
You bet it's not for everyone.
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I think everyone in your replies is conflating being a full time landlord and a part time landlord. One of them is definitely more evil than the other.
Idk my previous landlord was part time and was still hell.
My previous landlord was amazing. Dealt with every issue that arose in a timely fashion, never raised my rent (which was already very fair based on the location), and even installed central AC after my first kid was born since the house was old and could get pretty hot in the summers.
And she wasn’t the only good landlord I’ve had.
Sorry your experience has been bad with renting, and I agree that most landlords are terrible (I’ve had plenty of those as well), but just because you haven’t ever had a good landlord doesn’t mean they don’t exist.
What's the alternative here? Only letting big companies without any ethical regards rent housing?
Sure, there's a good argument to be made that housing is essential to survive and as such should be provided by the government, but that's not the world we live in. In this society, it's likely someone is going to have to rent it out and I'd rather it be a person who actually gives a shit and can be held responsible rather than some faceless corporation.
Actually in my experience faceless corporations tend to follow the rules much more stringently.
Like you’ll ever buy a house yourself and support all of the taxes and upkeep with your nonexistent pay
If the rent is covering the taxes and upkeep then the renter is paying it anyway through a middle man.
If the rent isn't covering costs then the landlord is bad at this and won't be a landlord for long.
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Small-scale landlords also usually have full time jobs and use rent to supplement their income. Not every landlord is just rolling in cash.
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I am my hamsters land lord. Ask me anything
my cat and I started as roommates but now I'm pretty sure he's my boyfriend.
As a landlord I provide homes to people who need them, and in exchange I don’t have to toil away at a job. It’s a fair trade
You hoaed housing and create an environment where people cannot afford to own their own home because of it, during a housing crisis, and you leech off their wages. That's theft and greed.
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