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I agree that this is nightmarish and gross, but I have another question. > But we all know landlords are, by default, shitty. What is with journalists for nor

I agree that this is nightmarish and gross, but I have another question. > But we all know landlords are, by default, shitty. What is with journalists for normal/non-political publications and Marxism/Maoism, particularly recently? I have literally never had a problem with a landlord. While I'm sure unpleasant landlords are as common as unpleasant people, I can't help but think that the only way to have had exclusively bad experiences with landlords would be where the tenant inherently sees the nature of their relationship as exploitative.

ThePadawan 6y ago
I can only congratulate you and offer a huge "YMMV". I personally have made really very bad experiences with multiple landlords so I can 100% of the author's sentiment. I certainly wouldn't consider it a political stance. I would say it's as much of a satirically accepted ground truth as "gyms generally try to screw you into an auto-renewing yearly contract."
Broken_Hippo 6y ago
I've had more than one landlord that insisted on stopping by once or twice a month. "stopping by" was usually hanging around outside the property, sometimes just knocking to "make sure everything is OK". And weirdly enough, I've never had this while living with a man - only when I was living alone or with another woman. It makes me feel unsafe and like I had no privacy in my private home. And my problems were pretty mild. The places I lived in were fairly well-kept. Lots of folks have issues with roaches, leaks, and a slew of other issues that fall on deaf ears. Lots of folks are actually unsafe. Lots of folks get overcharged for things that come out of a security deposit (oh, a nail hole... that'll be $300 plus paint - nevermind that we'd paint anyway). And so on. This is, of course, because in many areas, there is little to no oversight of landlords and no one really to help a tenant with issues. Decent folks being landlords are the exception, not the rule.
- ByteJockey 6y ago
  > Decent folks being landlords are the exception, not the rule. This sounds like you're generalizing the experiences of you and those around you just as much as the person you responded to. Do we have any data on this? Or is this just a "we don't know, so everyone goes with their own experience" sort of thing?
daniellarusso 6y ago
In the area I live, the majority of rental properties are owned by two landlords. The tactic I see most often used is to get a tenant and say that they can ‘do work’ on the property to fix it up, and that will reduce their rent. They are then evicted, and a new tenant is moved in to pay a higher rent (b/c of the improvements). The prior renter was warned by multiple homeowners on the street this would happen.
- crazygringo 6y ago
  I'm just curious... how are they evicted? Eviction is generally extremely difficult. Do you just mean they jack up the rent on the next lease renewal? Regardless, making improvements to a rental is something that ought to always be explicitly negotiated and in writing. It baffles me anyone would be so gullible to pay out of pocket for improvements and expect the landlord to pay that back... gradually in the future in good faith? I mean, if you want to go that bizarrely circuitous route anyways, then do it together with signing a new lease at the lower rate. And if your landlord tries to evict you, take them to court because that's illegal as all hell.
Der_Einzige 6y ago
re: the marxism questions Several reasons. 1. Unemployment is at 8.5%, and was double digits until recently. Wingcuck ideologies are more popular when the economy is poor. 2. The US is going through another red scare right now. Lots of evidence for this between BLM protestors, the rise of "antifa", and (finally) a right-wing reaction to institutional left-wing post-modernism and critical theory (e.g. https://www.marketwatch.com/story/trump-wants-white-privilege-and-critical-race-theory-purged-from-federal-employee-training-materials-2020-09-04 https://www.marketwatch.com/story/trump-wants-white-privileg...) 3. In the early part of COVID, when there were policies put into place by the feds to prevent people from being kicked out, there were viral campaigns for people to do "rent strikes" and refuse to pay any of their rent. Such forms of economic organization are Marxist and were successful for some of the participants. This feeds into my 2nd point. 4. Trump has strong reasons for drumming up his image as the law and order candidate. He's likely instructed the spooks and glowies within the intelligence agencies to do something similar to Operation Mockingbird for manipulating public opinion to be in his favor. Maybe the intelligence agencies are doing it on their own initiative. Right-wing journalism about "google engineers who are antifa members" is shocking good at swinging undecided voters who care about law and order. Also, I think even most Capitalists concede that landlords are shitty (unless they are a landlord) - but they don't advocate for expropriation or putting them against the wall...

ThePadawan 6y ago

I can only congratulate you and offer a huge "YMMV". I personally have made really very bad experiences with multiple landlords so I can 100% of the author's sentiment. I certainly wouldn't consider it a political stance. I would say it's as much of a satirically accepted ground truth as "gyms generally try to screw you into an auto-renewing yearly contract."

Broken_Hippo 6y ago

I've had more than one landlord that insisted on stopping by once or twice a month. "stopping by" was usually hanging around outside the property, sometimes just knocking to "make sure everything is OK". And weirdly enough, I've never had this while living with a man - only when I was living alone or with another woman. It makes me feel unsafe and like I had no privacy in my private home. And my problems were pretty mild. The places I lived in were fairly well-kept. Lots of folks have issues with roaches, leaks, and a slew of other issues that fall on deaf ears. Lots of folks are actually unsafe. Lots of folks get overcharged for things that come out of a security deposit (oh, a nail hole... that'll be $300 plus paint - nevermind that we'd paint anyway). And so on. This is, of course, because in many areas, there is little to no oversight of landlords and no one really to help a tenant with issues. Decent folks being landlords are the exception, not the rule.

ByteJockey 6y ago
> Decent folks being landlords are the exception, not the rule. This sounds like you're generalizing the experiences of you and those around you just as much as the person you responded to. Do we have any data on this? Or is this just a "we don't know, so everyone goes with their own experience" sort of thing?

daniellarusso 6y ago

In the area I live, the majority of rental properties are owned by two landlords. The tactic I see most often used is to get a tenant and say that they can ‘do work’ on the property to fix it up, and that will reduce their rent. They are then evicted, and a new tenant is moved in to pay a higher rent (b/c of the improvements). The prior renter was warned by multiple homeowners on the street this would happen.

crazygringo 6y ago
I'm just curious... how are they evicted? Eviction is generally extremely difficult. Do you just mean they jack up the rent on the next lease renewal? Regardless, making improvements to a rental is something that ought to always be explicitly negotiated and in writing. It baffles me anyone would be so gullible to pay out of pocket for improvements and expect the landlord to pay that back... gradually in the future in good faith? I mean, if you want to go that bizarrely circuitous route anyways, then do it together with signing a new lease at the lower rate. And if your landlord tries to evict you, take them to court because that's illegal as all hell.

Der_Einzige 6y ago

re: the marxism questions Several reasons. 1. Unemployment is at 8.5%, and was double digits until recently. Wingcuck ideologies are more popular when the economy is poor. 2. The US is going through another red scare right now. Lots of evidence for this between BLM protestors, the rise of "antifa", and (finally) a right-wing reaction to institutional left-wing post-modernism and critical theory (e.g. https://www.marketwatch.com/story/trump-wants-white-privilege-and-critical-race-theory-purged-from-federal-employee-training-materials-2020-09-04 https://www.marketwatch.com/story/trump-wants-white-privileg...) 3. In the early part of COVID, when there were policies put into place by the feds to prevent people from being kicked out, there were viral campaigns for people to do "rent strikes" and refuse to pay any of their rent. Such forms of economic organization are Marxist and were successful for some of the participants. This feeds into my 2nd point. 4. Trump has strong reasons for drumming up his image as the law and order candidate. He's likely instructed the spooks and glowies within the intelligence agencies to do something similar to Operation Mockingbird for manipulating public opinion to be in his favor. Maybe the intelligence agencies are doing it on their own initiative. Right-wing journalism about "google engineers who are antifa members" is shocking good at swinging undecided voters who care about law and order. Also, I think even most Capitalists concede that landlords are shitty (unless they are a landlord) - but they don't advocate for expropriation or putting them against the wall...