Landlord system morally unethical, contribute nothing to society
photo used with permission of Kurt Bauschdart, Flickr Commons, ShareAlike 2.0 Generic (CC BY-SA 2.0)
Landlords are social parasites that profit off of working-class incomes and exploit the human need for housing and shelter.
May 6, 2021
The depiction of landlords in the media, to put it lightly, is less than appealing: a scruffy old man furiously pounds against his tenant’s door, demanding that the rent be paid up. Ignoring the fact that his tenant is struggling to even put food on the table, the landlord writes up an official eviction notice giving them a maximum of two weeks to get their things and leave for good.
While only a small percentage of landlords embody this portrayal, all landlords, regardless of how nice they appear or behave, perpetuate a system that marginalizes the working class.
“Landlords can be very unfair and often have a power imbalance against the tenant,” freshman Dishitha Dhakshin said.
First things first, landlords in general are greedy. They actively partake in and directly benefit from a system that commodifies a necessary element for survival: housing. Just like food and water, everybody deserves a roof over their head; thus, landlords who purchase rental properties with the sole intention of exploiting other people to simply live in them are immoral and corrupt.
There’s no actual need for landlords. Besides the case that a tenant genuinely wants to temporarily rent a home rather than buy it, those who do want to purchase and own a home of their own but can’t afford it must rent out from someone who happens to have the excess funds to own more than one living space. Available housing is already extremely scarce as it is. By buying up houses to rent out, landlords not only decrease the opportunities others have to own a home, but also restrict the supply of housing and increase their profits at the expense of others.
“Housing should be a universal right,” senior Sneha Nagarakanti said. “Landlords are one of the reasons why housing [often] is not accessible for people with minimum wage jobs, even though they have minimum facilities and space.”
Most landlords don’t do any actual work—the work put into building the home is done by constructors and property developers, while the work put into maintaining the home is done by plumbers, exterminators, etc. In the case that individual landlords do their own maintenance repairs, the amount of money and work put into those repairs is rarely the same quality as the work put into a landlord’s own home.
Landlords are being paid for simply having ownership over an item that another does not have, which is absentee ownership. And because landlords are profiting off of someone renting out their private property, in which they do virtually no labor upon, they are rent-seeking, a practice that allows a party to gain wealth through manipulating economic conditions.
While a tenant must work extra hours to receive a higher income, landlords can simply raise the rent and acquire more properties to rent out, creating an endless cycle where the rich get richer and the poor get poorer.
“[A landlord] takes advantage of the tenant like a parasite while not helping the tenant,” Nagarakanti said. “Although [the landlord provides] housing, the housing cost doesn’t correspond to the quality of the housing available in regards to space and immunities.”
Byron Dickey • Jul 19, 2023 at 4:36 am
I have rented for over 10 years. There are some incredible benefits to renting. – ability to move without the burden of selling home. Not having to pay home upkeep costs. Not paying property taxes. Ability to invest funds to grow money at a better returns than home ownership. Not having to deal with the risk of home ownership. I feel this article doesn’t provide the whole picture.
Kate Durbin • Apr 4, 2023 at 6:51 pm
Brilliant article.
Also not Dave • Jan 20, 2023 at 11:52 am
I love reading the rationale of landlords on this post. The amount of utter nonsense coming from them is amazing. The fact they solely benefit from their investments never falls from their tongues. Some do a great job in here convincing us of their moral bankruptcy though. Calling renters peons. Claiming that picking up trash after college students some how makes them not a parasite on society…hilarious stuff. Nobody believes you try as you may 99% of you are greedy…you didnt get into investment properties for altruistic ideals thats for sure.
Jim • Nov 4, 2022 at 2:29 pm
Your statement here is false. Housing is not” a necessary element for survival”, shelter is. There is a significant difference between the two. Housing is the product of people’s ideas and labor that they should be compensated for based on the value it provides to the market.
The basic human need for shelter means being out of the weather. There are a number of ways to seek shelter. Requiring one person to pay for and provide housing to another is not what shelter means.
Nick • Dec 28, 2022 at 10:35 pm
Call it whatever you want, housing and shelter is the exact same thing. You’re just playing word games.
Leroy • Jan 12, 2023 at 6:15 am
What other alternatives of shelter do you suggest? Do you want people to live in a cave or something like a cardboard box? In my opinion I believe people have the right to warmth, shelter, food and water, those are best provided in a house. I also believe its inhumane to suggest people should settle for less. We didn’t advance as a society so people can live like cavemen again, we advanced to create better comfort and opportunities in our lives, which housing can provide. Furthermore, its basically impossible to positively contribute to society without a house, as the first thing most places of employment ask for is an address, so without a societally recognised place of residence you can’t progress in life. Housing and shelter should be synonym as housing provides shelter and is the only real humane shelter that exists in our society.
In the UK we have enough houses and space to accommodate the population yet because you view housing as not a necessity you thing it shouldn’t.
Marcus • Nov 1, 2022 at 12:22 am
It’s not easy being a landlord. You have to call plumbers, carpenters, roofers etc when there’s a problem. And you only get 50-70 percent of the wages of your tenants, who invariably hate you and you have to face these people once or twice a year.
Robert What • Dec 15, 2022 at 10:35 pm
Hi, Marcus. Was that actually a sarcastic comment against Landlords, and their inherently antisocial parasitic practices? It’s so hard to gauge tone online.
Real • Oct 25, 2022 at 2:22 am
REAL ESTATE AGENTS.
Real • Oct 25, 2022 at 2:40 am
Real Estate Agents run businesses which have profit margins of 15x their initial investment. Landlords get 1.5x-3x their initial investment. Who is more greedy?
They are directly involved in finding housing. They also have the legal and professional capabilities to oversee the entire transaction, they can not say anything you have not said yourself but that is pretty easy to get around…
Oh and they really don’t care what you bought or what you sold it for, they just pretend to so you pay them $10k-$120k for giving you some (protected) information…ITS THEM! Trust me this is just the tip of the iceberg that I have seen and continue to see from these generally pitiful ignorant people (there are a few cool ones, they don’t last though…)
Source: Professional Real Estate Photography Business owner for 5 years
Real • Oct 25, 2022 at 2:44 am
Real Estate Agents run businesses which have profit margins of 15x their initial investment. Landlords get 1.5x-3x their initial investment. Who is more greedy?
They are directly involved in finding housing. They also have the legal and professional capabilities to oversee the entire transaction, they can not say anything you have not said yourself but that is pretty easy to get around…
Oh and they really don’t care what you bought or what you sold it for, they just pretend to so you pay them $10k-$120k for giving you some (protected) information…ITS THEM! (Yes, I am screaming) Trust me this is just the tip of the iceberg that I have seen and continue to see from these generally pitiful ignorant people (there are a few cool ones, they don’t last long or stay cool though…)
Source: Professional Real Estate Photography Business owner for 5 years
NoSuchThingAsAGoodLandlord TheyAreAllParasites • Oct 7, 2021 at 9:28 pm
Beautiful and well written article Irene. I whole heartily agree with your assessement and came to these same conclusions myself as the longer I’ve lived in an apartment complex and seeing the actions of these slum lords from not only my perspective overseeing where I live at but many other families as well from their testimonies and from others availvable on video such as YouTube.
There’s no such thing as a good landlord whatsoever. The very concept comes from an era of feudivel times. That combined with the satanic ideology of capitalism has together created all what we are witnessing today. Slum lords contribute absolutely nothing positive to society let alone to any community.
Instead they helped create homelessness, lack of new homes at affordable prices, and high rents. While corporations have done their part to stagnate living wages, slum lords together real estate and banks have come together to continue this circle and keep people as perpetual renters. Prices for homes are intentionally set high and if a family is barely to afford that’s where government comes in to tax them to hell till they steal back that home repeating the cycle.
In addition, let’s not forget that slum lords have bribers to buy loyalty and get certain laws passed or reject in their favor to these politicians. And in turn many of these politicians are parasitic slum lords themselves.
Reading the comments by these parasitic demons have only confirmed to me the faucade they’re attempting to paint. A few with pathetic vain attempts to justify their existence like a parasite cleaving on to their host with soothing words while gloating on how many rentals they’ve acquired. Yet claim to be insulted. What a bunch of monsters.
One of them have the nerve to write that their tenants don’t want to have the responsibility of having their own home and whatnot treating them as if they’re children. That’s some high level delusions right there as I’m certain those tenants if given the opportunity to rent to own a home at an actual affordable price they would no doubt ditch him or her.
To the one comment where they did not raise rent for 12 years while claiming to also put the tenant first while those words and actions may seem admirrable and all you never said anything about whether you have ever asked your tenants if they like you have accumulated wealth building for their families and generational wealth that could be passed down to their families particulary one to own their very own home. But I highly doubt you’d discuss things like that but want to claim to put the tenants first so they can stop renting from you and increasing YOUR wealth and not themselves. Maybe instead of talkin about your 8 rentals perhaps you could care enough of your tenants to ask them if they even acquired enough to have their first home.
When these evil governments forced people to shut down. Many slum lords in sheep’s clothing showed their teeth kicking people out and into the streets when people could not pay rent. Many videos such as on YouTube of landlords telling other dogs not to show understanding but to kick them and methods oin how to do it and go around the law. While I will at least credence to those who hearkened and attempted to have some humanity does not change my viewpoint nor will it ever.
For all you slum lords, if you’re doing all this in the USA just remember whose land this was before it was stolen. Indigneous people. My ancestors. And as their descendant I have to pay rent to foreigners to have a roof over my head. Working next to nothing and have no wealth remaining poor under a systematic system that was never for us. There’s plenty of land in the USA to fit everybody on Earth and still be left with extreme amounts of empty livable spots to live in.
But the people in charge are purposely preventing people from having their own homes. Otherwise, there would be no such thing as a landlord to name one of many aspects that would not exist. It’s not a coincidence that this concept only exists within the west. How else would a people want to bring in heaps of cash while doing as little work as possible than the very society that enslaved black and brown people. In order for capitalism to prevail it needs a host. And they are the poor and the unfortunates who support everybody at the top. To the middle class, to the police and other proffessional workers, government entities, brokers, hedges, and other millionaires, to the one percents at the very top of the pyramid. The US government will never allow a socialist country to exist especially in the Americas as it will show how evil capitalism really is.
Max Lee • Jun 20, 2022 at 2:52 pm
Thank you for speaking the unadulterated truth about the slumlords of American who also are large property mgmt monopolies of how many of their CEOs sit on the affordable housing boards in many towns in the US. One of those slumlords forced my family out by not renewing our lease of a place we lived 5 years prior to COViD. DeSasantis playing golden boy of American supporting these big Corp capitalist to acquire more power by not only passing laws to protect the slum lords but allow them to be on housing boards all collaborating together. This is no different than the Wild West and railroads during the industrial revelation enslaving and oppressing people taking all the land for themselves and then playing the heros like they are doing is the favors. The property mgmt company that refused to renew our lease basically are collaborating red lines. They are pushing hr minority and what they classified as lower class all into pockets near fast foods and highways and big corp chained packing us all like sardine so they can continue to feed off of us. I live in Tampa Flordia. You can’t find a 1 bedroom to rent under $1800 that isn’t roach infested or filled in an unsafe over populated place. They advertise less then add all kinds of fees. The list of organized criminal tactics go on and on and the corrupt politicians and government laws protect them. It’s designed to protect the modern day monarchs of society. It’s ans evil beast system alive and well and it sucks on the blood of people who they tread like mere peasants that should be kept down.
david edmunds • Oct 6, 2021 at 9:55 am
The aurthor makes total sense. The only people that spout clap trap about working hard, getting rich, where would people live without us etc etc need to grow up & they certainly arnt renters or on low pay. Its the poor paid workers that stack your shelves serve your gas, clean your streets etc. If they all demanded a huge pay rise and went on strike youd soon feel the pinch. Yes its up to you what immoral poinless jobs some people do like commodity tradres, investment bankers, hedge fund workers but when they and their ilk also control your home thats very sad. You can quit your job when you find a new one or if you can afford to before you find one, but if your landlords wants to up his rent sell up that takes a lot of money and time and stress to move. The reason people invest in property it doesnt take any brain cells its just access to capital thats gets the property. Its neither new novel or entrapeneurial. I guess Landlords go into were amazing mode as they know what they are doing is legal sadly and cuases untold missery for millions around the world. Go get a proper job or go start a real business that truely benefits society.
pesach kremen • Sep 26, 2021 at 10:15 pm
The landlords here omitted something. When they pay their mortgage part of that payment, less at first, more later goes to building up equity in the property hence they are getting richer. When that is calculate din to the rent it already makes it profitable. when rents are raised due the “market”the landlord does not have any added costs unless property tax is recalculated each year based on the property value (rarely done). On top of this mortgage interest is often deductible, something that is never shared with the tenant. A person can rent for years and have nothing to show for it while equity in the property has increased for the landlord. Since those who have the money can buy places to rent out the system fees on itself making the rich richer and the poor poorer. The compromise as long as we have this feudal based system is rent control similar to how we control utility pricing. The cost of the business plus a reasonable rate of return. If there is a housing shortage that is NOT a reason to raise rents but an orderly system of first come first served can be set up to who gets the available housing first taking in to account the needs of the applicants (i.e, a senior with medical issues would have more trouble moving to another city to look for housing than a good healthy younger person and this should be a priority). Perhaps all properties should be converted to rent to own so that ones rent builds up equity (after maintenance, taxes, and management fee s are deducted). In summary the poorer should have as much influence on the housing situation as the rich!
Dave • Nov 5, 2022 at 1:48 pm
After reading this article, I am inspired to go buy more homes in addition to the 134 single family we have.
Investors saved the cities in 2010. Homeowners don’t come in and buy up heavily distressed homes and rehab them. That’s rare.
Homeowners and bad landlords will run property into the ground over time.
Life isn’t fair kids. Your wealth is a direct result of the value you provide to society. The more value the wealthier you can get. Landlords are housing providers. If you don’t like it, there’s tons of land out there. Go build a house.
Quit crying and contribute to society.
Not Dave • Jan 13, 2023 at 3:52 am
After that comment it’s bizarre you’d be calling anyone “kid”… while you carp on in some ego driven circle jerk of smug ignorance and embarrassingly naïve postulations. It’s like each sentence is attempting to beat the others for the title of “The least accurate and or most obnoxious statement” I for one am torn between these two absolute gems… “Investors saved the cities in 2010” and “Your wealth is a direct result of the value you provide to society”. They both truly represent the very essence of being an evil cancerous societal parasite and either would make a worthy champion… you should be proud!
Kathy • Feb 4, 2023 at 2:29 pm
Do you really think Dave understood the word “postulation?” I never met a landlord or real-estate agent that could read past the 5th grade level. That’s why they got into real estate. It’s a business venture that requires no education whatsoever and one of the few things a person can do with no education. I guarantee he didnt know what that word meant. Nor did he care to improve himself and look it up either.
Lynn • Mar 17, 2023 at 10:51 pm
I have been a landlord and I have a master’s degree. I didn’t earn the master’s degree by writing papers at a 5th grade level. I have nearly paid off my student loans while raising 6 kids, part of that time as a single mother. I didn’t ask others to pay my loans off for me. You can toss big words around to feel smarter and throw your social class above others if you choose to. However, it is the actions you take and what you are willing to do and what you are willing to go without that will ultimately make a difference in your life and the live’s of others.
Tee Kay • Aug 25, 2021 at 9:49 pm
This article reeks of a narrow-minded academic who lives in a bubble.
There are millions of good landlords around the world. Some of them posted on this thread. A blanket statement labelling them all as “bad” is laughable. It’s as incorrect as me labelling all tenants, and academics such as yourselves, as lazy and financially immature- which obviously isn’t true.
Your article references that landlords are taking part in a capitalistic system, which apparently “makes them bad”. Perhaps, they’re just smarter than you for doing so. They recognize that they can’t change the system, and decide to learn how it works. You, on the other hand, prefer to cast judgement and complain. Perhaps you don’t realize, that you’re taking part in this same capitalist system. By chasing higher education, buying goods from overseas, and writing (rather than focusing your efforts on labor), you’re taking part in this exact same capitalistic system that you cast shade on. Think about that for a minute.
Kathy • Feb 4, 2023 at 2:36 pm
Youre just jealous that Academics are smarter than you and they are exposing capitalism for what it is. I mean sheesh…who talks of academia as though education were a bad thing. Capitalisms mantra is: keep ’em stupid, keep ’em poor.
And THAT is why capitalists hate academia and put little to no funding into education and why China and Japan outrank all Western countries in intelligence and technology and invention. Because education is their #1 funding venture.
Sit down capitalist. Go back to you trough and eat your fill. You gorge yourselves at the trough of other’s labor and skill, and contribute nothing back to society except to tarnish it with the defecations of your overindulgence. And you wonder why you’re called capitalist “pigs.”
Human being • Aug 23, 2021 at 11:56 pm
Make all landlords live in a cardboard box in January and February
M B • Aug 12, 2021 at 5:38 pm
I know that this article was written by a young person with limited real world experience, but:
Did her school teach economics?
If she researched and took time to understand the investment landlords must make (saving for purchase or mortgage [which typically requires a 20% down payment for investor financing], required payment of taxes and insurance [a big expense, especially in states where taxes are high], repair and maintenance, the required payment leasing fees [typically equal to 1 month rent, payable when the lease is signed], required payment for utilities/no rent while vacant, etc.); risks landlords take/issues they face when tenants do not uphold their end of the lease agreement (property damage/theft, failure to pay, skipping out early in violation of the lease, sneaking unauthorized pets and people in, holding over and forcing eviction through legal process which requires the payment of court costs and legal fees, etc.); and the time and energy involved to manage the property and deal with tenants (while still working a FT job for most of us), she might start to understand reality.
And when did the American dream of working hard to get ahead die? Who wants socialism???
Though she rephrases her proposition repeatedly, she provides no support for it. That causes me to again question what all is NOT being taught in school any longer – surely schools still teach writing in a manner which requires support for each claim made???
I truly hope the author will continue to learn and grow, and look back someday, realize how far from the truth her stated position is, laugh at her young self and move on. Most of us (I hope) can relate.
Steve • Jul 10, 2022 at 9:40 pm
Nice attempt at gaslighting. “Landlords take risk, you dont know how the ecomony works.” This is basically victim blaming. Its like saying a “rapists take risks! you don’t know how much a rapist risks when he rapes someone. “
Real • Oct 25, 2022 at 2:20 am
REAL ESTATE AGENTS.
Penny • Aug 9, 2021 at 8:12 pm
You come off rather strong for someone who obviously knows nothing about the responsibilities and commitment a landlord must take on. Owning a home is a lot of work. One may not perform all of the upkeep his/herself, usually for good reason, but coordinating the work is very challenging. You have probably never had to work with contractors.
Really, you should move somewhere that you don’t need to pay so much if you can’t afford it where you are. Capitalism is here to stay. Get over it or go find a Socialist society. Our laws should protect landlords too. Renters would like to take advantage of the current situation, but not likely to be for long.
Joseph Yates • Aug 2, 2021 at 4:52 pm
To the landlords commenting on this article,
Yes, your behavior of renting out places for your profit is part of the problem of worsening conditions for society. You cannot really justify yourselves. Feudalism ended several hundred years ago in western societies and in a truly capitalist society, property ownership should be restricted. Residential housing pricing would then be in line with its true supply and demand. Restricting residential property ownership to one per adult person or family household would be a good way to start. All the properties that landlords currently own could then be put onto the housing market and working people would be more able to afford a home as opposed to handing over a chunk of their income (that they worked for) each month to a landlord. They would be able to look after their home as they see fit by carrying out repairs and maintenance themselves or by hiring qualified professionals to do so.
A lot of landlords seem to think that people who are resentful of landlords feel like this simply because they cannot afford a home themselves. This is not true. I own my own home and I don’t leech of other people to pay my mortgage. I am fortunate enough to earn a reasonable living through my work and I am contacted continuously by financial advisors asking me to invest in buy-to-let properties as a means of reducing my taxes. I refuse to do so because I do not want to take part in cornering the housing market thereby things more difficult for other working people to afford their own home. Many other property owners feel the same way that I do.
chris • Jun 12, 2022 at 2:04 pm
Hey Joseph, you have no clue what you speak of. Housing and rental prices are high because the US has a shortage of 7 million houses and the demand continues to climb because we are not building housing fast enough to keep up with the growing demand. The fact is the country needs more houses built and provided as rentals for people that need them. Homeownership rates sit at 65%, meaning 35% of people rent. This is the 2nd highest homeownership rate in the history of our country, surpassed only in 2004 when loose lending to unqualified borrowers crashed the world’s economy. Since we already have a shortage of 7 million housing units, “restricting residential property ownership to one adult person/family” would be a catastrophically damaging thing to do. A laughable suggestion from someone who clearly has no understanding of the housing industry, it’s demographics, or basic economics.
Rental
– 74% of renters are single (not legally married), 26% are married couples, and 38% of renters are single occupant households.
– 42.5% are single women and 31.5% are single men.
– 39% of units are occupied people 30yrs or younger.
– Only 28% of rentals are single-family detached units but they house 42% of the renter population.
– 72% are multifamily.
Homeownership
– 60% of homeowners are married with 40% single, 25% are single females, and 15% single males.
– the highest homeownership rate is among people 65yrs or older with the 45-65 age segment owning the largest % of homes.
So, what have we learned?
1. Housing and rental price increases are caused by the 7 million unit housing shortage the US has, which is a long-term result of the 2008 crash, which was itself cause by looser lending standards “so every American could own a house.”
2. The US is currently not building enough houses per year to catch up to the shortage much less the growing demand, thus the demand will continue to outpace the supply for the foreseeable future.
3. Since supply does not meet demand, price goes up. Basic economics here.. increase in the demand of materials, labor productivity, financing, etc in attempt to build enough housing units to meet society’s demand increases the end cost of the housing units, raising housing prices.
4. If we artificially reduce supply by banning renting and then limiting housing ownership, as you brilliantly recommended, to a single person or family you will make upwards of 44 million people homeless overnight. I suppose this is more humane than a rental property owner making $100/month on a rental house.
5. The 2008 crash have had large, long-term affects on the millennial generation (of which I am a part of btw). People worked longer vs retiring which reduced the amount of good paying jobs for millennials. They have stayed in their existing homes longer and not “moved up” to a nice house as much as previous generations, thus reducing the supply of more affordable housing that would be available for millennial buyers.
– Most damaging is the the long-term affects it had on the construction industry and supply of housing. The housing supply, when taking population growth into accounts, has actually contracted by .2% since 2000.
– Housing production has slowed, only producing approximately 50% of the amount of housing units it has averaged in the past.
– there is significant labor shortage in the construction industry which limits production capacity and increases cost of output.
The Solution?
1. We need to build MORE housing units, as fast as we can to balance the supply/demand and help make housing more affordable.
Thus the US needs MORE RESIDENTIAL INVESTMENT in-order to build more housing units.
2. We need to modernize the construction industry and bring it into the 21st century by adopting technology, encouraging & training more young professionals to enter the industry, and adopting lean & modular manufacturing processes. Construction lags all manufacturing industries in productivity by a significant margin. If we can increase the efficiency of production we can build more housing units in a shorter span and at a cheaper cost, thus making housing more affordable for all, especially for the people that need it most.
3. We need to produce more sustainable housing, not only is this good for the planet but it will also reduce long-term operating costs for owners/renters, thus making housing more affordable.
4. We need to update the existing housing stock, retrofitting houses to be more energy-efficient. This will help reduce operating costs for owners/renters, especially for lower income renters/owners as they statistically own/rent more of the outdated, worst performing housing units.
5. We need gov’t support by:
– updating zoning ordinances to increase density, reduce permitting red tape (i.e. it can take 5yrs+ and hundreds of thousands of dollars to get a building permit issued in some places of California. This makes it cost prohibitive to build for all but the largest companies who’s focus is generally on profit first over all other stakeholders.).
– Allowing the building of ADU’s. Homeowners can rent garage apartments & backyard ADU’s to long-term or short-term tenants to help off-set their housing costs (are rentals and “landlords” bad when with the realization that YOU TOO can benefit?). ADU’s are very popular with millennials and Gen Z.
– Create programs to help fund the retrofitting of our outdated housing stock and other housing infrastructure initiatives.
Last but definitely not least, we need to rid our society of slumlords. How, I do not know, but there are unethical operators in every profession in our society, regardless of how noble that profession may be conceived. The US and its people need good “landlords” to help improve our outdated housing infrastructure, produce more housing units for people to have shelter, and to help provide affordable housing to every citizen regardless of income. Just my $.02
Nick • Dec 28, 2022 at 11:02 pm
LOL this is the biggest BS I have ever heard in my life. There is no 7 million housing shortage. That’s the same BS they said 15 years ago.
Real estate is a highly manipulated market. It’s not true supply and demand.
Dominique Stone • Jul 31, 2021 at 12:04 pm
No one said all landlords are bad, and to those is the comments YES you may have been a good landlord. We are talking about the millions of apartments or duplexes or studios, for like half of your income, but have outdated amenities and units, poor insulation, little or no heat, laundry not in unit and gross. I work for a supplier of these places and they are cheap. Most landlords are cheap parasites who don’t give back if it were required there be an actual mutual benefit yall would have a defense. But y’all the 1%. 99% of landlords make things worse for an unfair amount of money.
Renee • Jun 30, 2022 at 4:52 am
You described it perfectly. I am a lifelong renter, not by choice, but because I was born into poverty and fate crapped on me. But every month, my landlord sucks up 1000 dollars which is 70 percent of income and in return, I get to live in an apartment with moldy, dripping ceilings, no air in summer and no heat in winter; twenty plus year old carpet; no working oven nor ceiling fan nor dishwasher nor kitchen lights nor garbage disposal. Every time it rains my living room floods because the windows were installed all wrong. The floorboards are creaky with rot. There’re bugs galore. Clogged air ducts, black mold, led paint, led pipes, asbestos . . . Oh, and the wiring is bad. More than bad, downright dangerous. The pool is always closed and the laundry room is a fire hazard. We’ve had three close calls/ near burn downs. The dryers are clogged. Landlords know it. Think they care? The parking lots have more trash than parked cars.
Rent is raised 75 to 100 dollars a year. And these slumlords refuse to update until you move out. Even then, the update is merely slapping a fresh coat of paint on the walls and calling it move-in ready.
Yes • Jul 25, 2021 at 10:52 pm
“They actively partake in and directly benefit from a system that commodifies a necessary element for survival: housing.”
And many spend their lives doing a whole bunch of mental gymnastics to convince themselves and others that they are “good” — that their individual way of [partaking in and directly benefiting from a system that commodifies a necessary element of survival] is noble. Humanity is still young.
Excellent job naming and describing what you see Irene. Eyes are the gateway.
David S • Jul 25, 2021 at 3:53 pm
Funny I have been called many things in my life but a parasite is not one of them. I am a landlord in a college town and when I walk down the street and pick up all the trash the college students leave all over the place and spend weeks cleaning up after my college student tenants after they move out I count that as labor. You honey and your college student cohorts are the true parasites.
Lauren • Jul 20, 2021 at 12:23 pm
I agree with everything I just read. The landlords that comment, represent a very, very small percentage. The rest are the unethical. The common idea to get rich is to buy cheap, don’t invest any money in fixing up the place, and rent high. The other side to this is the tenant with a meth lab in the closet. It’s either one horrible money hungry landlord or horrible tenant.
Renee Flores • Jul 20, 2021 at 9:12 am
This is a kid that doesn’t know what she’s talking about. There are 1.5 million vacant homes in the US. Therefore, if someone wants to buy a house, they can. So, whoever is renting it’s because they want. Or they’re just starting to save up because they just finished college, or never wanted to go to college. If someone is older and renting, it’s because they don’t want to deal with the repairs or maintenance of a house. My husband and I have our 9 to 5 jobs and a couple of properties that we rent out. We have a great relationship with our tenants because we always look out for them. Right now we don’t make money out of our properties because of the mortgages, but we hope it will help us by the time we retire, so we don’t have to depend on anyone when we’re older.
DC • Jul 18, 2021 at 9:43 am
What an ignorant, intellectually bankrupt series of words you cobbled together there. I would encourage you to do some research before painting with such a broad brush. Your assertion that “all landlords, regardless of how nice they appear or behave, perpetuate a system that marginalizes the working class” is particularly offensive, lacking any substance.
By your logic, many workers are paid for adding absolutely no value to the transaction, thus making them “Greedy”. For instance, a clerk who scans your can of Mocha at the convenience store produced nothing, yet expects a paycheck for transacting your purchase in between watching TikTok videos on their phone. This then raises the selling price of the product, further eroding the wealth of the “working class”.
As a landlord, I purchase neglected properties that are unsuitable to live in. I hire and pay professionally trained plumbers, electricians, and other skilled workers to repair and improve the property. This supports the local economy, helping local entrepreneurs support their families, and improves property values for neighboring homeowners. Landlords also contribute to the local tax base more than homeowners, as non-owner-occupied homes are taxed at a higher rate. These taxes support schools, libraries, fire stations, police, and other local community services. I provide clean, functional remodeled living spaces at affordable prices while providing my tenants with timely resolution of any issues that they may have. Many of my tenants don’t want to own their own homes due to maintenance and repairs that they don’t have time or expertise to handle on their own.
Your inclusion of words such as “exploiting”, “immoral”, “corrupt”, and “parasite” to depict property owners who provide housing is particularly offensive and without substantive facts to support the claims. It’s sad that you even have a forum such as this to spew such irresponsible pablum.
Keith L. Smith • Jul 17, 2021 at 8:30 am
No matter how offended the “landlords” are who’ve read this article. housing is a human right.
Katie Lane • Jul 12, 2021 at 9:04 am
This is a ridiculous article. Move to a communist country where housing is a universal right and then tell me which society you prefer.
Caleb M MacKenzie • Jun 30, 2021 at 2:03 am
I would like to start by saying that this article is very well written and is very thought provoking. I too hold many of the stances that the author takes. But I believe that this article only shows half of the story. In the current system of capitalism there must be rental properties. It is a very privileged perspective to say otherwise because due to the effects of capitalism many people cannot afford to buy a house. Home ownership is much more costly than renting. This article makes me think of a quote, “there is no ethical consumption under capitalism” this meaning that even if you find all ethically sourced products where you can trace all the cotton back to the farmer and to the factories and even to the shipping company that product, whatever it may be, is still not 100% ethically sourced and that’s because the vast majority of the people who had to work to bring you that product did it solely because if they didn’t they wouldn’t have basic things. I think that this same approach must be taken to residential landlords. In neither scenario can you get rid of them because they are not ethical because in both scenarios you need clothing and housing.
Also if you would like to get into the deep theory under communism about personal property which is the perspective that I believe this article was written from. Even home ownership under capitalism is unethical because choosing to buy over renting is a selfish decision which benefits oneself and not the larger community.
All of that to say yes if you boil it down landlords are bad but they are a necessary evil under capitalism so until we get rid of that you either have to rent from someone looking to profit off of you, join a very limited number of apartment co-ops, be homeless, or buy a house which is extremely hard to do and plays into and supports capitalism.
Charles S • May 8, 2021 at 8:49 am
So, what’s one to do when buying a home isn’t possible? What about apartments, aren’t they like corporate landlords ? Lastly, nobody has a right to my property except me
Joe Newmen • May 7, 2021 at 4:46 pm
So with no landlords “exploiting” the masses, where exactly is housing for those peons who aren’t able to afford to buy supposed to come from in this utopian pipedream of hers?
Gary Drown • May 7, 2021 at 3:27 pm
My wife and I have been investing in real estate for over 20 years. We have done vacation rentals as well as long term rentals. We take excellent care of the properties we rent to others. We provide quality homes because we want quality tenants. We have one tenant that has been with us over 12 years now. He doesn’t have to worry about repairs to the building or grounds. We hire plumbers and electricians when necessary because code requires it. In twelve years we did not raise the rent. We usually don’t raise the rent on an existing tenant but may go up on rent when we have a new tenant coming in. We have never evicted a tenant. We were out doing yard work at one of our properties this morning. It’s funny the article said that landlords put themselves ahead of their tenants. We have never felt that way. Our tenants have always come first. Our tenants know that if they have an issue it will usually be looked at the same day. We may have to wait for a carpenter, electrician. Plumber, or other specialist but the job gets done as fast as possible. We had a power outage at one property this last winter. It looked like the power would be out for several days so we purchased a generator so our tenant didn’t have to move. Before we purchased the generator, I asked our tenant if he would like to use our downstairs apartment until the power came back on. He chose not to.
I’m not sure if I should be insulted by this article or take it as an opportunity to purchase more property! We have a good relationship with all of our people.
Gary Drown
Hans Hansen • May 6, 2021 at 3:15 pm
As a small town landlord I am disappointed to read such a closed minded opinion article. I have a full time job and have spent 12 years buying, remodeling, maintaining, and renting single family houses. I’m now up to 8 rentals. I rent to retired individuals and couples living on social security. They don’t want the responsibility of changing lightbulbs or performing repairs. They also probably couldn’t afford the out of pocket cost for a new roof or new furnace if insurance didn’t cover it. I keep the rents as low as I can so that I don’t have turnover. I take my monthly cost of the mortgage, insurance, and taxes plus $150 to determine the monthly rental rate. $75 goes into a repair fund and the other $75 is my profit. I do this to supplement my retirement and help the community.
I just wanted to show that we aren’t always the mean man banging on the door, sometimes we show up after we get off work to change that kitchen light you text us about not working.
George Georgeson • Feb 21, 2023 at 4:34 pm
So you’ve taken away 8 houses other people could have potentially owned, gauge their paychecks to allow them the privilege on living on your property, and all in all you make 75 dollars from it? Maybe you should have spent your time doing anything else.
Caitlin • Feb 21, 2023 at 5:56 pm
Your profit is much more than $75; you profit in equity every month. That $75 off the top is just the extra for lining your pockets that you squeeze from your tenants. Your 8 rental properties represent 8 families that are locked out of the market and trapped in a cycle of perpetual renting. Replacing a lightbulb every now and then does not make you a good landlord, especially if, as you point out yourself, your tenant is paying for it on top of their rent ($75 repair fund contribution per month!? expensive lightbulbs!); the only thing that makes a good landlord is one who SELLS their rental units to individuals who want to actually live there.