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I know multiple people who just didn't pay rent last year. They didn't need to and decided they weren't going to. They took trips to Vegas, bought GME, etc, etc

I know multiple people who just didn't pay rent last year. They didn't need to and decided they weren't going to. They took trips to Vegas, bought GME, etc, etc. I also know landlords who haven't been paid in 18 months. They don't even want rent, they just want them to leave. Based on what I've seen, I strongly suspect there are people who legitimately couldn't pay. I'm also confident many (perhaps a majority) chose not to pay. The landlords I know aren't trying to recoup their losses (one landlord I know has ~100 families living on his properties and 1/4 haven't been paying him and it's nearly bankrupted his operation). This is a very complicated situation, but from what I've seen the government should have stayed out of it. The checks could have covered peoples rent to a degree, landlords were / are pretty understanding in many cases, unemployment should have been more than enough... If not, unfortunately, that's life. Now, we have these sob stories and the cascading issues to landlords. We also have a mass movement all at once, WITHOUT them having unemployment or much support, etc.

spaceflunky 5y ago
WTF was the point of pay people unemployment and stimulus checks, if not to pay their bills/rent? I can't believe we as society just laughed and robbed all the landlords. This is truly shameful.
- lettergram 5y ago
  Big investment firms are taking advantage of it https://slate.com/business/2021/06/blackrock-invitation-houses-investment-firms-real-estate.html https://slate.com/business/2021/06/blackrock-invitation-hous... Note, Blackrock is also getting a ton of FED money https://www.wsj.com/articles/fed-hires-blackrock-to-help-calm-markets-its-etf-business-wins-big-11600450267 https://www.wsj.com/articles/fed-hires-blackrock-to-help-cal... Remember, "by 2030: You'll own nothing. And you'll be happy." https://rumble.com/vdgi1h-world-economic-forum-by-2030-youll-own-nothing-and-youll-be-happy-about-it.html https://rumble.com/vdgi1h-world-economic-forum-by-2030-youll...
  - effingwewt 5y ago
    Also cars. The bus line is the only public transportation in my city. They went from being so full you may have to wait for the next bus to almost empty. I've also noticed a lot of people got 'new' cars (financed I'm sure), and are letting their old ones collect dust rather than selling them. I'm guessing a lot of stuff is going to wind up being sold here shortly.
    - booi 5y ago
      I find that hard to believe. Between the chip shortage and the supply chain issues, new car supply has been constrained and the used car market has gone gangbusters.
      - effingwewt 5y ago
        You don't have to believe it, but why would chip shortages impact used cars. You were the one who assumed it was new new cars. Part of the reason that used cars are in such short supply is that so many bought the used ones up. We had an epidemic in my city of people with cars who never had one before, accidents everywhere. Paper plates were all you saw for months. The bus lines speak for themselves. The used cars didn't increase in value until well into the pandemic. Blah blah sometimes explaining the real world to people in bubbles gets so old.
- iratewizard 5y ago
  Nonstop agitation propaganda meant to rile the have nots against the haves.
  - JAlexoid 5y ago
    You can look at it like that. But you could also realize that landlords in these areas have had government assistance for ages. They got tax abatements, low financing and protections against competition. That's not even close to a free market. They benefited from that government interference, but now they are annoyed that their tenants are getting that support.
    - cinquemb 5y ago
      When people are ok with moral hazard being ignored for so long, these types of things are inevitable…
- tjr225 5y ago
  This is one of the strangest things I have ever heard anyone say. Landlords buy something, and then charge someone else more than it is worth to use it- because it is necessary. They are essentially home scalpers. Don’t feel bad for them.
  - rrrazdan 5y ago
    You just described commerce as scalping. A grocer is a scalper according to you. So is a meat distributor.
    - ihsw 5y ago
      Communists look at any fruit of labor as inherently exploitative.
    - tjr225 5y ago
      I happily pay to buy directly from local sources. Also; people don’t need meat, they do need housing. You’re missing the point of what I am saying entirely though. If you treat housing as an investment and the investment goes sideways for whatever reason, why should anyone feel bad for you? It sucks, but that’s how investing works! You don’t think other legislation/govt intervention impacts non-housing financial investments? Thems the breaks. They took the risk, let them own it. That’s literally the entire freaking point!
    - JAlexoid 5y ago
      Except that retail is a service you pay for. Modern landlords are mostly government subsidized (tax abetements, low financing rates for "business", etc). There are definitely landlords that provide a valuable service, but there's a reason why profiteering landlords are almost universally disliked. PS: Remember where we get the term "landlord" - the feudal lord that collected tax(aka rent) while providing a very specific service to the peasants on the land plot that was grated to him by the superior nobleman. It's nothing like that today... Even the losses in their income get socialized - how do you think Donald paid only $750 in federal taxes? The whole system is setup to protect "landlords".
    - unethical_ban 5y ago
- Ar-Curunir 5y ago
  The only thing shameful in society is the existence of landlords.
fortran77 5y ago
This should be easy to sort out for many landlords. See who was still employed and yet didn't pay rent. Prospective future landlords should be able to tell this easily when they do a credit check. Good luck ever renting again! And if the landlord sues for the rent owed, and the person was still employed and making the same salary, many tenants will get a judgement against them. I think in the future, landlords will only deal with two types of tenants -- those who paid rent during the pandemic, and those on Section 8.
- icelancer 5y ago
  > This should be easy to sort out! See who was still employed and yet didn't pay rent. > Prospective future landlords should be able to tell this easily when they do a credit check. Good luck ever renting again! This is illegal in Seattle. Basically impossible to enforce, but illegal all the same. You are supposed to take the first renter that qualifies and passes a standard pre-screen - not with in-depth looks like that.
cozos 5y ago
I don't know about this take. We're supposed to shed tears for the landlord managing properties worth probably 8 figures but for the families if unemployment checks and the generosity of their landlords isn't enough... then that's just life? That's not exactly what I want to hear from policy makers.
WalterBright 5y ago
Meanwhile, back in Seattle: https://www.seattletimes.com/business/real-estate/want-to-raise-the-rent-give-six-months-notice-seattle-considers-new-rental-rules/ https://www.seattletimes.com/business/real-estate/want-to-ra... This was proposed by Sawant, an economics professor.
throwaway9980 5y ago
Better still: sublease but don’t pay the landlord! I know someone in New York who tried to buy their neighbor’s apartment. The deal fell through because the tenant was nearly a year behind on a rent and couldn’t be evicted. Except the tenant didn’t live there anymore. They subleased the apartment and pocketed the cash instead of paying the owner. Obviously this is fraud and maybe this person could be prosecuted for it, maybe, but it seems like the kind of thing that just slips through the yawning cracks.

spaceflunky 5y ago

WTF was the point of pay people unemployment and stimulus checks, if not to pay their bills/rent? I can't believe we as society just laughed and robbed all the landlords. This is truly shameful.

lettergram 5y ago
Big investment firms are taking advantage of it https://slate.com/business/2021/06/blackrock-invitation-houses-investment-firms-real-estate.html https://slate.com/business/2021/06/blackrock-invitation-hous... Note, Blackrock is also getting a ton of FED money https://www.wsj.com/articles/fed-hires-blackrock-to-help-calm-markets-its-etf-business-wins-big-11600450267 https://www.wsj.com/articles/fed-hires-blackrock-to-help-cal... Remember, "by 2030: You'll own nothing. And you'll be happy." https://rumble.com/vdgi1h-world-economic-forum-by-2030-youll-own-nothing-and-youll-be-happy-about-it.html https://rumble.com/vdgi1h-world-economic-forum-by-2030-youll...
- effingwewt 5y ago
  Also cars. The bus line is the only public transportation in my city. They went from being so full you may have to wait for the next bus to almost empty. I've also noticed a lot of people got 'new' cars (financed I'm sure), and are letting their old ones collect dust rather than selling them. I'm guessing a lot of stuff is going to wind up being sold here shortly.
  - booi 5y ago
    I find that hard to believe. Between the chip shortage and the supply chain issues, new car supply has been constrained and the used car market has gone gangbusters.
    - effingwewt 5y ago
      You don't have to believe it, but why would chip shortages impact used cars. You were the one who assumed it was new new cars. Part of the reason that used cars are in such short supply is that so many bought the used ones up. We had an epidemic in my city of people with cars who never had one before, accidents everywhere. Paper plates were all you saw for months. The bus lines speak for themselves. The used cars didn't increase in value until well into the pandemic. Blah blah sometimes explaining the real world to people in bubbles gets so old.
iratewizard 5y ago
Nonstop agitation propaganda meant to rile the have nots against the haves.
- JAlexoid 5y ago
  You can look at it like that. But you could also realize that landlords in these areas have had government assistance for ages. They got tax abatements, low financing and protections against competition. That's not even close to a free market. They benefited from that government interference, but now they are annoyed that their tenants are getting that support.
  - cinquemb 5y ago
    When people are ok with moral hazard being ignored for so long, these types of things are inevitable…
tjr225 5y ago
This is one of the strangest things I have ever heard anyone say. Landlords buy something, and then charge someone else more than it is worth to use it- because it is necessary. They are essentially home scalpers. Don’t feel bad for them.
- rrrazdan 5y ago
  You just described commerce as scalping. A grocer is a scalper according to you. So is a meat distributor.
  - ihsw 5y ago
    Communists look at any fruit of labor as inherently exploitative.
  - tjr225 5y ago
    I happily pay to buy directly from local sources. Also; people don’t need meat, they do need housing. You’re missing the point of what I am saying entirely though. If you treat housing as an investment and the investment goes sideways for whatever reason, why should anyone feel bad for you? It sucks, but that’s how investing works! You don’t think other legislation/govt intervention impacts non-housing financial investments? Thems the breaks. They took the risk, let them own it. That’s literally the entire freaking point!
  - JAlexoid 5y ago
    Except that retail is a service you pay for. Modern landlords are mostly government subsidized (tax abetements, low financing rates for "business", etc). There are definitely landlords that provide a valuable service, but there's a reason why profiteering landlords are almost universally disliked. PS: Remember where we get the term "landlord" - the feudal lord that collected tax(aka rent) while providing a very specific service to the peasants on the land plot that was grated to him by the superior nobleman. It's nothing like that today... Even the losses in their income get socialized - how do you think Donald paid only $750 in federal taxes? The whole system is setup to protect "landlords".
  - unethical_ban 5y ago
Ar-Curunir 5y ago
The only thing shameful in society is the existence of landlords.

fortran77 5y ago

This should be easy to sort out for many landlords. See who was still employed and yet didn't pay rent. Prospective future landlords should be able to tell this easily when they do a credit check. Good luck ever renting again! And if the landlord sues for the rent owed, and the person was still employed and making the same salary, many tenants will get a judgement against them. I think in the future, landlords will only deal with two types of tenants -- those who paid rent during the pandemic, and those on Section 8.

icelancer 5y ago
> This should be easy to sort out! See who was still employed and yet didn't pay rent. > Prospective future landlords should be able to tell this easily when they do a credit check. Good luck ever renting again! This is illegal in Seattle. Basically impossible to enforce, but illegal all the same. You are supposed to take the first renter that qualifies and passes a standard pre-screen - not with in-depth looks like that.

cozos 5y ago

I don't know about this take. We're supposed to shed tears for the landlord managing properties worth probably 8 figures but for the families if unemployment checks and the generosity of their landlords isn't enough... then that's just life? That's not exactly what I want to hear from policy makers.

WalterBright 5y ago

Meanwhile, back in Seattle: https://www.seattletimes.com/business/real-estate/want-to-raise-the-rent-give-six-months-notice-seattle-considers-new-rental-rules/ https://www.seattletimes.com/business/real-estate/want-to-ra... This was proposed by Sawant, an economics professor.

throwaway9980 5y ago

Better still: sublease but don’t pay the landlord! I know someone in New York who tried to buy their neighbor’s apartment. The deal fell through because the tenant was nearly a year behind on a rent and couldn’t be evicted. Except the tenant didn’t live there anymore. They subleased the apartment and pocketed the cash instead of paying the owner. Obviously this is fraud and maybe this person could be prosecuted for it, maybe, but it seems like the kind of thing that just slips through the yawning cracks.