undefined | Better HN

0 pointscj2y ago0 comments

This may be hard for HN readers to believe given the anti-employer sentiment in many threads here, but...

My friend owns 15+ apartment buildings in "not so desirable" neighborhoods. He deals with a lot of tenants who don't pay rent and eventually he has to evict them.

3 months ago he was evicting someone for not paying rent for 12+ months, and a week before the police were going to help get the tenant out of the apartment, his employer stepped in and paid the landlord his back-rent in full.

The tenant was employed at a local roofing company. Apparently he was a good roofer, and the owner of the company didn't want to see the worker homeless, so he stepped in and paid a year of the guy's back rent. (And here's the twist... after his employer stepped in and settled his back rent, the tenant still refuses to pay rent, and will be evicted again 6-9 months from now)

Maybe debt collectors have had similar luck as the landlord in this story, but that's probably a secondary motivation. Primary motivation for the debt collector is intimidation. Debt collection agencies are ruthless in all ways imaginable.

0 comments

flangola72y ago

Landlords that own entire apartment buildings are parasites, so there's not going to be very much sympathy. Most parasite species are mitigated much more directly once detected by a human host.

wongarsu2y ago

It can be a mutually beneficial relationship: you want to live somewhere, but with the flexibility to be able to move on relatively short notice with minimal hassle, and without all the work, capital requirements and risk that comes with owning a house or condo. Somebody else owns an apartment building, and is already taking care of maintenance, paperwork etc. A perfect match.

The problem in the current market is that in many places there's far more demand than supply, so there's little pressure on the landlord to actually be a good landlord. If people could actually find other apartments at a similar price point in the area, people would just move out when the landlord doesn't uphold their part of the bargain, and competition would drive prices down to a point where the financial difference between buying and renting is a reasonable fee for the conveniences and flexibility of renting. But that's not the world most American cities live in. Instead tenants are stuck because there are no viable alternatives on the market, and some landlords shamelessly exploit that.

antisthenes2y ago

What's your address and how soon can I move in?

DM is okay, if you don't want to post it on the internet.

orestarod2y ago

Why should they welcome you in the house they use to LIVE in? As opposed a house they use to make money out of, without contributing anything to society, like landlords do?

2 more replies

BasedAnon2y ago

I'm kind of tired of this thinly-veiled socialist sentiment.

aaomidi2y ago

Then offer a proper argument that supports making profit off of owning property.

1 more reply

j / k navigate · click thread line to collapse