Even the best monarchs do not justify monarchy; it is a position inherently created for abuse. You may have a good king, or two, or ten - even kings who WILL put your wellbeing before their own interests - but invariably they will always be outnumbered by those who seek the position for the sake of abuse, or who succumb to the structure of the position which encourages abuse. Likewise with landlording. The problem isn't with individuals, the problem is with the system.
I realize that I may be in the minority here, but I used to be a landlord. I never charged full market rate, and I always took care of my tenants. I never kept any security deposit money. One tenant had a breakup, and I showed up that evening with a locksmith to change her locks so he wouldn't be a problem. That cost me some money but it didn't cost her anything. I mean, they're paying for service you need to provide service.
But also many of them will make someone homeless just because they couldn't provide an extra ten percent of profit this year.
So yeah.
My landlords wife yelled at the plumber for sealing our bathroom wall back up when the shower spigot was still leaking, and then her husband comes in and says "honey stop we don't need to pay to fix the valve if we don't have to". So my shower still leaks and they really fixed nothing because they didn't want to spend $1000 (less than half our rent) to redo the shower.
They are also a bad person
There sure are a lot of landlords on Lemmy.
And so will you.
That's just a good thing to remember in general: no matter how good of a relationship you have with someone, whether it be a coworker or a friend, at the end of the day, most of them will put their own interest over yours.
Some of them won't, but they are rare.
"They might not treat you like shit, but when push comes to shove they will put their income before your wellbeing." Yes, you know, just like any business. Just like you do for them. Would you pay them extra rent to improve THEIR wellbeing? No? Why would you expect the opposite?
Just because you have a more personalized relationship with your landlord than the McDonalds down the street, why would you expect that they let you stay in their house for free when you lose your job? Do you expect McD's to give you a free meal if you walk in after you've lost your job? For a month? For 6 months?
I own a 2nd house across the street from mine that I rent to my parents. After I pay mortgage, taxes, and insurance, I probably lose about ~$100 each month in that arrangement. (This is cash flow. Increasing equity means I'm making money overall, but not a ton). I charge them $3000 per month which is actually below market rate here and they have good retirement savings so they can easily afford it.
If they were a normal tenant and they quit paying mortgage I would lose $3k out of pocket each month. $18k if they didn't pay rent for 6 months. $36k if not for a full year. For my parents I would just eat those costs. It would hurt, but I would get by. Do you all expect that I should do that for any random person I'm renting the house to? Should I also continue working for my boss also if he quits paying me? Do you pay rent for your neighbor if he loses his/her job?
I really don't get the landlord is evil view. The landlord has an asset (a building and property) and they're renting it out. It's a business, just like if they're a restaurant or a construction company. Unless they have a monopoly on the land and buildings in your area, I don't see how they're any more evil than the other businesses you're dealing with every day.
I rent my house to a woman who worked as a server in a restaurant until Covid. When restaurants were forced to close she offered me half of the rent as that was all she had. I told her to keep it, not worry and stay safe. This was when there was still a lot of uncertainty. After 3 months she started paying me again without me asking. Do you think I'm a terrible person?
Image Transcription:
X/Twitter post by user 🎇 K8 is a Danger to The Republic 🎇 @K84UnitedLeft reading:
"The point of class analysis isn't to say that your landlord is a bad person, it's to say that your landlord has class interests that directly oppose your own.
"They might not treat you like shit, but when push comes to shove they will put their income before your wellbeing."
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There shouldn't be a conflict. We should want new landlords to enter the system and provide cheaper housing.
Cheaper housing aligns with renters interests.
There is no limit on the amount of housing that can be built.
I'm struggling to understand this. What class of human puts other people before their own income? I'm not a landlord and I'm not putting my income in jeopardy to help a hobo out.
