The paper value of the building is what matters to them. It is an asset that they use to get cheap loans which they turn around and buy more assets with. That's how being rich works. There's really very little of any tangible value in how they make money... Basically just moving numbers around and skimming off the top. Financialization is the fancy word for it.
Especially if they've owned the building a long time ago and don't have that on a,. This is essentially making sure that inflation doesn't eat up their money. They really don't care about the tenets or why the building is dilapidating
@treygarver7791 that's one way of doing it. Increase rents steadily, never spend on upkeep, squeeze and squeeze until it's entirely unlivable then sell the land to a developer to build a shiny new building on the lot
I agree. And, also, insanely ... in any big city there are hundreds if not thousands of investment condos sitting empty collecting dust while thousands sleep in the street or shelters.
@@Ddub1083 The thing they talked about was the tenant blacklisting. If you speak up, you may end up in a blacklist, which basically means that not only your rent won't be renewed and you'll have to move out in a certain time, it would be very much harder for you to get a new rent, because landlords could simply look you up in the blacklist, and find you there, and they could simply say sorry, we won't rent you, because you've been blacklisted, we don't want any problems, obviously you wouldn't get blacklisted if you were following housing code, and we want to avoid getting into trouble if we were to rent you an apartment. So if you can't find a new rent in that 90 days notice period, you'll essentially be homeless. And that's the issue they talk about. And New York City doesn't really treat homeless people really well.
My sister's friend was threatened by her landlord with a knife. When reported, she was sued for defamation and eventually evicted. The part that stuck out to me is that a lawyer friend of hers defended her and the prosecution and judge were so smug the whole time. Focusing more on telling that young lawyer that he's "doing good" and "should be careful as he's just starting his career".
@@Aera223 It depends, if it was in her apartment and the state she is in has stand your ground laws or similar then most likely. Although some require you to retreat before you can fire. If it was not in her apartment then most states you also have to retreat before you can fire, iirc you have to be in fear for your life to use deadly force (or faced with deadly force i think). Also she could just not have a firearm.
My landlord raised my rent over 500% to get me out via unlawful detainer case and violated AB 1482. When i went to court, the judge had no idea what AB 1482 is and literally told me. “Take 5 minutes to decide weather you want to get out and owe rent or have an eviction on my record”. I was baffled to see that gang up of the landlord, their lawyer and system towards me that i realised….you have “law for sale” here. Highest bidder gets the win.
Good example of how multiple "competing" companies within an industry can still act as a monopoly. Price fixing, black listing, lobbying for policy outcomes.
That's what cartels are. Oh sorry, cartels are illegal by law, so we can't call them that, right? Also that's a key argument against Mexican immigrant so we DEFINITELY can't call it that way... hahah...
@@evangrey4737 we don’t have capitalism though, just go read the only book ever written defining capitalism by the inventor of the system. It’s called An Inquiry Into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations by Adam Smith. What he laid out as Capitalism is so far removed from what you’re referring to as “capitalism”. Most of the things these massive corporations flout as “fundamentals of capitalism” like multinational corporations or even conglomerates, division of labor, vertical integration, the corporate control of the government, etc are called out as anathema to a capitalist nation. If you do some reading into the different types of economy, you’ll realize we have a crippled socialist country, missing the things that make socialism work for everyone, but still technically socialism. True capitalism as laid out by Adam Smith would not have these things. You cannot have a free market and a heavily weighted market at the same time. It’s physically impossible. The answer isn’t to end capitalism, since that doesn’t exist anywhere on earth. The answer is to end the money system. The competitive hell. Humans are all family, all related if you go far enough back, hell we share so much dna with each other and with every living creature. There’s no good reason why we live like this.
I'm a reporter covering mass evictions in Burbank California. Most of the landlords engaging in a recent wave of just cause evictions are under LLCs, and its been a tough search for me and the tenants to try and confront them.
Some of the landlords in California are justified in seeking mass evictions after the courts and the CDC screwed them over by letting deadbeats tenants remain in the units without having to pay rent while fully employed. On the flipside, the deadbeat landlords are taking advantage of very good tenants in order to lined their pockets.
The problem with California is the no-fault evictions. That needs to be eliminated. Landlords can evict you for anything they want including racism, misogyny, anything they want can be hidden behind a no-fault eviction. And we also need rent caps. And stop allowing foreigners who live outside the country to own any rental property in the US.
It all boils down to three words: private equity firms. They buy up real estate, drive up rents to increase their portfolio profits, and run folks out who can't afford the new rents. The land will be considered more valuable due to their price fixing, so if they have to, they sell it off to a developer for a profit. Developer "renovates" the property and starts the whole thing up again. Lather rinse, repeat.
They don't even need to sell it to a developer to make a profit. By increasing its value, you can take out loans against it, and those loans can be dumped into a hedge fund.. which sees profit from economic instability and collapse, which provides and even greater incentive to make things worse.
The world is increasingly owned by faceless inhuman constructs of capital that exist only to increase prices and buy more of the world. Nobody is driving the machine anymore. AI has already taken over. So many of us are slaves to a self-optimizing system of incentives, a vast machine. When we act in service of it, we are forbidden from making human decisions. Its prime directive is shareholder profits, and the shareholders aren't even people. They're just more constructs of capital too. We no longer own capital. Not even the capitalists really do. Capital owns everything, including our time, and therefore our lives.
@@johnowens5342 everyone who isn't Bezos or starving thinks they're middle class, the term barely means anything. Whether you consider yourself to be a private equity firm or not, you are acting as one. Stop leeching off of those who are poorer than you. You're being usurious.
The worst is that private equity funds are doing the same to hospitals. They did it to 3 hospitals in my area and now ambulance rides are ranging over an hour and ERs are overflowing with not enough beds. So they have been doing this across the countries but the playbook is basically, buy hospitals, then claim that the company owes some parent company X amount of money. So through massive layoffs, not paying invoices, etc they raid the hospitals for all the cash to pay the imaginary debt to the parent company and (shocker) guess what? The executives are the same! Then after destroying the hospital they file bankruptcy and pocket even more cash after selling off the property to developers. All completely legal, wonder how that happened . 🤷♀️
@@yournan6546 its not dubious at all. They gave the renter the notice as required in the statute that the renter themselves pointed out. It is only the renters assertion that the reasoning for the non-renewal is because they brought up the law... thats not necessarily the actual reason for non-renewal.
If you look at the date the letter was sent, the tenant was actually given more than 90 days. This video was produced to show a partial narrative and leaves out many factors that caused this industry to be this way. For someone who is unfamiliar, it seems that landlords are manipulating the system but there are regulations that if not abided by are strictly enforced.
"Why don't tenants have negotiation leverage ...?" Well, in Sweden we do. We have an actual forceful tenant's union. The landlords are currently trying to raise the rent again this year, breaching this year's agreement with the union. They won't legally be able to, in the end, because they've signed a contract with the union about it.
In Belgium we have an "index", that's a number that essentially tracks inflation, and puts a cap on how much rent can increase. So the last increase was pretty rough at ~10%, but before that it's usually just 1-2% a year. The contracts are also required to follow a strict pattern if it's for longer than 3 years (which most places are). A long term contract (3+ years) is always 9 years, which get implicitly extended in chunks of 3 years afterwards. The notice is always 6 months, and they can only do it "for free" after those 9 years. They have an opportunity to end the contract after 3 or 6 years, but that will cost them 9 or 6 months of rent as compensation to the occupant. The only other exceptions are if they or their children want to go live in the unit themselves for at least 2 years, or if they want to do major improvements (which have to cost at least 3 years of rent). So really, as long as you take care of the place and pay your rent, there is easy way to kick you out. Either you have to wait for the full 9 years, pay a significant sum of money, or actually make it your legal residence for 2 years. And when there is doubt, judges will tend to favor the occupant in disputes. Housing is still expensive here, but once you find a good place you can at least settle there.
It amazes me that they would even try. So it begs the question, what is the repercussions for trying something illegal on tenants? For example from the video the man gave gave 30 days instead of 90 days. They should be fined for every mistake that is deemed illegal to teach them a lesson. Without repercussions they will try every illegal thing in the book to make it work.
THIS type of thing where these unscrupulous people are called out BY NAME also serves an important purpose. Sunlight is the great sanitizer. Keep exposing them!
You expose them but will the right people care, the way I see it. People are mad that rent keeps going up, but everything including taxes food and most everything is doing the same. The pressure holds no force when it's to be expected, tell your politicians to stop raising taxes and make cuts. Rising costs will incentivize a increase in rent, just make it cheaper for landlords to operate. We only pass the cost over to the consumer like most successful companies.
@@Canbutcant THIS! Exposing them is but part of the solution. VOTE for those that will affect the change YOU want to see!! VOTING is the other part of this! VOTE!!
@@Canbutcant If it were simply a case of costs increasing with inflation than rent increases would not be far outstripping inflation rates. It's greed, at least be honest about it.
Our old landlord changed the time frame to inform them that you aren't going to renew from 60 days to 30 days without informing us then told us they were gonna increase our rent by 30 percent. When we obviously informed them that we weren't gonna renew, and they not only told us that due to us being "late" that we'd not only forfeit our security deposit they were gonna charge US for the renovations to the apartment. I pulled out all the emails and the copy of the lease we signed basically said " try me bitch". We never got the deposit back but they backed out of the additional charges. Fucking crooks.
I love how the generation that’s always talking about “bootstraps” is the same generation that got housing, education and lifesaving medical technologies for dirt cheap and then turned those things into the most broken for-profit systems imaginable.
Fun thing about those bootstraps: the original usage was used to describe something that is literally impossible. Because of leverage angles, pulling yourself up by the bootstraps is literally physically impossible.
shouldn't be able to hold on to the property without being liable for it. since if some one dies when the building falls apart you can't just laugh it off.
explain to me how it is fair when the cost of living is over 15% per year but I cannot raise tenant's rent by 10% per year according to the stupid california law.
@@nightingale7178 so what ur saying is u want to be able to increase rent 15% a year because ur cost of living is higher, and u dont see the problem with that? How to make sure ur tentants cant afford to live in 1 easy step. If ur cost of living is up 15%, so is theirs, and raising rent by that same amount then makes their cost of living now 30%+ higher. If not raising their rent means u cant afford to live, how do u expect the people who have to rent from u to afford double that amount? If this is the case then u dont need to be a landlord and should probably just sell the property to buy a sandwhich. Instead of forcing people into homelessness.
@@verakoo6187if you cannot afford, it is may be time to move to a cheaper place. It is the economy that is fuc*ed. May be it is also time to raise your income/salary.
The Health Department is an important ally in fighting slumlords. I had two vacant mouse-infested garbage filled apartments on each side of me, and manager refused to clean it up. The mice ate the electricals in the oven/stove. I kept my place clean, but the smell was nauseating and unhealthy. The day after i called the health dept. management sent workers to pull apart the cabinets, give me a new oven/stove, and clean up the vacant apartments. This was after months of refusing to act. I wish i had called sooner.
@@whatarewaves Hes saying the landlord replaced everything, The health department was the one who pushed the landlord into action IE Health Department: "You have a tenant who is citing you are not fulfiling your duties as a landlord and legal action can be taken, this will be our first contact and any further contact will be to schedule a court hearing" type shit lol
I’ve been dealing with this since I was 18 and moved out for the first time, I’m 27 now and still dealing with this bullshit and nobody wants to hear it. Everybody says I’m crazy and people get their deposits back and know who their landlord is and their maintenance requests always get handled……like am I living in another reality or something??? Thank you for validating my experiences and bringing me comfort in knowing I’m not crazy and I’m not one of the only few out here dealing with totally corrupt corporate rental situations.
Its a real situation but one thats easily avoidable with basic research and planning. I mean why would u rent anything without even finding out who owned it first?
It depends on the situation. I did some property management for my parents several years back. We strived to be very good to our tenants, but had quite a few that would abuse the wheels off of that kindness. Got plenty of money for beer, cigarettes and pot, but are three months behind on rent. Punch holes in the walls and literally crap in the floor when they finally get evicted. One lady locked about 20 cats in her unit and left. No idea where she got them. That sort of thing. We struggled just to break even, and frequently didn't. These corporate entities have learned how to game the system though. They treat these properties like investments, and the tenants get screwed. We need fairness all around.
I've noticed that different tiered services ARE alternate universes. If you go for the services that target poorer people, you get a COMPLETELY different treatment than if you go for the services that target upper middle class people. Cheap tear tax prep? Expect scams in your mail. Upper Middle tax prep? Expect them to call you once a year to make sure you get your taxes filed.
The apartment we used to live in was owned by some company. They did not respond to any of our concerns or requests. We had to buy tokens from their office to use the laundry, but their hours were very inconvenient, and often the tokens would break in the machines without the machine counting them, so we would have to use more. When it would rain, water would come in from around the window frame and from the ceiling above the windows. We were not allowed to take a bath because the water would leak into the unit below us. We literally had water come into our bathroom from the unit above us through the light fixture in the ceiling, but nothing was ever fixed. Now we rent from people we actually personally know. Its not totally perfect, but its much much better. Its good to actually know the person you are renting from, instead of having to deal with some faceless corporation.
As someone put it to me earlier, "It's always better to be able to talk physically with your Leaser. It's hard for them to ignore the Leasee when there are issues. They can both also negotiate prices and if theft know eachother that gives just a bit more trust between the two that can let a leasee ask for a rent extension, with more ease. And when they actually pay in that in good faith it helps the relationship. A corporation is faceless. They can ignore you with hardly any repercussions."
What a difference a few decades make. Growing up in an Apartment house(24 apartments on 4 floors ) from 1965-1995 in Bay Ridge Brooklyn NY and all those years my Landlord/owner of the building lived on the floor below mine. So, of course the building was always kept very nice and utilities always worked because this guy lived right there with me. When i had a problem i just went down 1 flight of stairs and knocked on his door to get it solved. As soon as he sold the building it all went to crap. I recall him coming up to my apartment and talking to me about it and saying he couldn't say No to the offer the firm made, it was just too good. Firstly, the rents went up by 35% and then it was impossible to get them to fix anything, the utilities would go out and we would call and nobody would do anything. But if you were 1 day late with your rent Oh Boy did they respond quickly!!
That's how everything is now. Especially after 2008. It used to take three months before a utility company would harass you about your unpaid bill. Now, one day late and they are threatening to come cut it off.
At least here in Minneapolis you can file a legal complaint for non-repair. You have to pay rent into escrow with the city, but the landlord doesn't see a dime until they address the issue and they also can't evict you in the meantime.
Pretty sad that he took the money. Too many people do that as good landlords and small businesses. Then we all complain wondering how this happened in our country when too many people are willing to be bought out for money. We need new laws, but people need to have more of a sense of community responsibility, rather than always having individual opportunity take precedence.
Pretty sad that he took the money. Too many people do that as good landlords and small businesses. Then we all complain wondering how this happened in our country when too many people are willing to be bought out for money. We need new laws, but people need to have more of a sense of community responsibility, rather than always having individual opportunity take precedence.
I'm surprised there isn't a bill to disincentivize empty apartments, especially rent stabilized ones. It should be ridiculously expensive to keep so many units of housing empty for more than a few months
In some states there are. These are state by state level issues, and while the housing crisis is largely a national problem the causes of it aren't uniform. In California for example there are restrictions on multi tenant buildings making new construction of apartments and high rises difficult, while in NYC the tax laws such as the 421-a abatement encourage slumlords to own large square footages of low income housing, while other laws provide tax breaks due to lost income if a dwelling is empty.
@phonyalias7574 tax breaks if a dwelling is empty? That's the opposite of how it should work. Tax should rise on unoccupied property, aggressively. If a landlord leaves buildings empty they should be hemorrhaging money.
@@undead_corsair I agree to a point, this could have the unintended consequence of making renovation/upkeep difficult though. Too me there should be a set amount of time a unit can be empty over a given period of time kinda like how paid family medical plan policies work. You can't get a tax break on a unit unless it has been rented out for 5 year, and then you have 6 months of a break or something like that. This way maintenance can be done, but leaving units open for extended periods of time is not feasible, further more there absolutely should be a tax that increases month by month following a 'maintenance phase' to prevent maintenance from being an excuse to keep flats empty. Oh and any vacancy for more than say 2 weeks is included in the 6 month time. (FYI these are spitball numbers just an idea).
@@adambuchbinder2791 often the losses they can declare on a property have significant benefits for them such as shifting their tax bracket along with local considerations like Phony Alias mentioned in NYC where there's other financial benefits to them.
Corporate landlords are the worst. I wish we could cap the amount of single family homes and apartments/condos that a single person or corporation could own. Keeping it small makes for better accountability and more robust home ownership.
No one is stopping you from buying/building a home. Do you want your income/salary capped? What about your 401K profits? They can not regulate and tax everyone out of poverty. You want to see affordable housing? Offer a tax incentive to builders of housing at "affordable"/Lower i.e...smaller/more efficient price points and watch the market get flooded with lowered price housing! Deport the people who have come in illegally, they dont move to Beveryt Hills, they move to the most affordable housing available. Supply and Demand...Rent goes up! Fine the shit out of any company that hires undocumented workers or even workers with fake paperwork! Issue tempiorary work permits for the jobs that americans do not want to do or can not do, and the fruit will get picked too!
The landlord kicks you out, raises the rent to the stratosphere, then doesn't rent the place. So, theoretically, he's losing money...right? Not necessarily. Every month the place isn't rented at the exorbitant price, he writes it off as a tax loss against his other business interests. Also, don't forget that commercial real estate in places like New York City are classic vehicles for money laundering.
"Every month the place isn't rented at the exorbitant price, he writes it off as a tax loss against his other business interests." Interestingly vague, as if you don't really understand how this works. What amount do you think they "write off" monthly? The whole market value of the property? The market monthly rent? You don't get to write off missed potential gains as a loss. They can at most write off actual monthly expenses on the property, such as maintenance or utilities. They can also generally write off property taxes from federal income tax, but this is essentially a 20-40% (or more or less, not sure what the extremes are) return depending on their effective tax rate.
In New York there are actual million dollar parking spots. Imagine having so much money that you would buy one. Imagine being surrounded by all the suffering and starvation that a million dollars could fix, but just driving past it all because you can't be burdened to pay for a Taxi or park somewhere else.
@@Addlibs I believe they do get to write off tenant's nonpayments who don't pay their rent. I can imagine that with a little definitional finagling, they might be able to write off empty apartments.
How does one launder money through an unrented apartment? lol... Also, the tax code is clear that you can only write off your expenses in maintaining the property, you cannot write off the lost rent. Please learn the law before you pretend that you know it.
There seems to be a record number of homeless people at the same time there's a record number of vacancies. Also, there seems to be little incentive for landlords to actually compete with each other, particularly with the housing market being what it is today. The real estate corporations seem think and act as one body. Perhaps it's time to amend the anti-trust laws.
Most of the Leaser's don't want to lose profit. So when the one large llc raises the rent, others will follow the same. That forces the smaller "mom & pop" rental businesses to try and match our lose enough that they end up selling... to their competitive LLC. It should be illegal but... you know how that goes.
that's true, but there is value in being able to find a punchable face at the end of all of it, and even landlords will respect that dynamic. Even if there is never an intent to "cash in" on that. It puts an upper limit on how "fucked over" a person can be, if a landlord literally ruins someone's life, there is no delays in court that will protect their sense of safety.
If you sue an individual that person must then go to court even if they have a large amount of financial and legal resources, if you sue a corporation they can just use the legal firm they were already paying to then do all the bullshittery and stalling they do for a living without any individual held responsible because its the companies lawsuit not the person actually fucking people over.
@@dddaaa6965for the last time: you aren’t 12. You have Alzheimer’s. You live with us in our basement. You need to stay off the web before you start calling African Americans bad names again. Please remember this time
Do you know what's funny about this entire situation? We were told about it. All of us, but we just dont know it. Monopoly (the game) was originally about Land Lords. And how did that game ended? Everyone loses except one person who holds everything, the land lords or large companies like black rock.
Australian here, living in a 80 year old house with mostly 80's features and no temp control, was hit with a $100 rent increase, second increase in a year. Emailed back the real estate place requesting maybe $60 increase and was immediately refused. We'd asked them to relay our message to the landlord as we were told by the shop owners next door they they were a nice old couple who would listen, I feel like there's no way the real estate guys passed on our message as they replied so quickly. Feeling so angry and defeated, if theres a rally or protest point me in the direction and i'll wheelchair my way tf over
What's the total rent amount previously.? You did not mention details to get a fair view. Like my rent was 925 for yrs and the landlord did a 40 increase or 1150 for month to month. The month to month was high too me. Which I would prefer... Bit I took 4o. And decided if I break I'll just pay whatever
Neighborhood centers and community legal centers have advice for Tennant's I think. In your state there may be a limit to how much rent can be raised per year. I think it's ten percent in qld? Not sure. There should be a tenants or housing association in your town that may be able to advise you. I've found my state member of parliament helpful in the past. All the best.
Hi! I'm an Australian too, have you reached out to your state's tenancy authority? I live in Victoria and our state tenancy authority is consumer affairs victoria, who I've reached out to before when I got hit with a rent increase (during covid no less lol). They can be kinda bad sometimes, but they helped me and they could help you too?
@@minifalda6611 RAHU as well, and I'd strongly advise looking at them for everyone renting since they've been doing a lot of good work for tenants dealing with crap landlords since they started up.
The fact that renting a house is so prevalent in the urban areas in the US, only serves to see that your system is made to be sure that you are always in debt with someone and technically own nothing. Wew, that is a lot and scary.
It is worse than that. Many people choose to rent because they enjoy being free of the burdens of home ownership. Plus for people with a brain they are better off investing their money elsewhere and rent instead. Not everyone wants to or needs to own a home. What does suck though is that those who do buy a home or property have to pay property tax, and that includes taxing of gains that have not been realized yet. They punish us to own instead of rent.
Here in Vancouver, Canada, our government has implemented a "Vacancy tax" in order to encourage landlords not to unfairly drive up prices with an artificial supply problem. A "Vacancy Tax" essentially significantly increases the owners yearly property tax if the owner does not rent out the property.
No wonder there is such a lack of investment in affordable housing! Combine that with 'tenants can stay for free up to a year before Tribunal will kick them out', and 'tenants can trash the place without consequence' = affordable rental shortages will only get worse! ......why can't people understand that Communism DOESN'T work?
This has been floated in the States recently and would help here a lot. There are tons of single family homes and apartments sitting vacant because investment firms own them and it is better for their bottom dollar keep them empty and hike up the rent on their other properties because of the "shortage." A vacancy tax and a limit on how much rent can up would be really helpful here. Unfortunately part of the problem is that rent is already too high. Tough to make it come back down at this point
@@tylermartin988 I am always amazed how how small minded humans are. Rent is high because Property Tax + Inflation + Insurance + Maintenance is so high! ....but people complain about the landlord instead of focusing on WHY rents are so high. Landlords are not slaves!
@@natetaylor9002 rents are high because landlords will charge every penny they think they can get. My personal example, I used to live in a house that was split into two apartments. I lived there for 5 years years, admittedly under market rate due to my elderly landlord. She sells to an investor. Investor immediately hikes rent up to market rate, 39%. I take no issue with this as it's roughly in line with the 5 years of inflation I hadn't seen increases for. That brings us to year 6 and I'm notified that I'm not being renewed. I ask why and she says she wants to renovate and I can live there during renovations. 2 weeks later, the apartment is listed online for 50% more than what I had been paying. The "renovations" were that she painted the walls a neutral grey instead of neutral tan. She didn't think I'd pay more as a young professional, but she can rent one bedroom to 6 college kids and charge 50% more
@@JKSSubstandard I am NOT your slave! I worked hard my whole like (became a dual tradesman), saved up + did without. I purchased a building.....had to get a mortgage for $250,000 to bring it up to code......I'll be paying that mortgage for a long time! I charge rates that are below the going rate...and I provide good service. And then I see people like you who call me a horrible, greedy man! I have to pay ever increasing property taxes, insurance, maintenance....and each year, the rent I get is less because of high inflation rates. My tenants stay usually until they die or have to move to an old age home....THAT is the indicator of my service and fair rates! And YOU call me a cheap, greedy monster! I am NOT your slave!
The fact that this video takes place in NYC, a city with some of the best landlord-tenant laws in the US, makes me really worry about what's going down in the rest of the country
Oklahoma here 70% or more of rentals are owned by corporations and a lot are out of state. They bought up a lot of apartments that needed a tiny bit of fixing they fixed nothing and about 20 years later theres mold and water damage and bugs in nearly every complex. No matter the price point I know people on housing people paying low end rent and people who rent luxury condos. It's all the same at this point just different paint and prices but all the same problems.
Ive had landlords deny security deposts when i lived with my relatives. Unfortunately for the landlord we took pictures of move in day and move out day and it was cleaner when we moved out. Threatened a lawsuit and shared the pictures and suddenly they had a change of heart. A lot of these companies fold at the slightest pushback, but 90% of people dont push back at all.
@bc1969214 Just because you live somewhere for X amount of time doesn't mean squat. People do their own repairs all the time, not everybody sits on wear and tear. 🤨
@@Shinycelebi “Normal Wear and Tear” refers to deterioration of the property that happens when the property is used as it was meant to be used, but only when that deterioration occurs without negligence, carelessness, accidents, misuse, or abuse by the tenant or guests of the tenant. Example, fading paint is not security deposit item vs. hole in wall is. Worn carpet over time from foot traffic vs. pet stains and so-on.
@bc1969214 I'm not sure you're smart enough to follow my words. I'm well aware of what wear and tear is and to what extreme. I'm also well aware the tennant can fix the place up as much as the land lord can, or you telling me the land lord is going to rent the property with wear and tear. I'm not sure you're really dense or lack critical thinking, but if the person tells you they left it better then they got it, and can provide proof, then you can shove the wear and tear crap way up your arse. Thanks.
We went for the lawsuit for our security deposit because they claimed they had to patch paint some parts of the house. We didn't even put nails on the walls to get our deposit back. We went to small claims court and they came with an army of lawyers and told us that if we lose the case we'll be paying all these attorney costs. We ended up dropping the case but I think we're already on some sort of a blacklist since we can't get an approval from anywhere, with a perfectly clear rental/credit history.
Last year, when my landlords raised my rent, the leasing agent looked across the desk at me and actually said, “We have to do this to remain competitive”. My jaw practically hit the floor. Since when does raising prices make you more competitive?!? Has capitalism been inverted? I didn’t say anything to the woman-it’s not her fault n she has no control. Still I found it absolutely shameless. They’re raising it again $250/month(im in Portland, Or) so I’m moving n downgrading to a one bedroom.
It's bad everywhere, I wish there was a massive movement of people just refusing to pay. The Real Estate market needs to crash and burn. Costs too much to rent and way too much to buy a home, I just can't believe this is where humanity is at. I hate to say it but I think the only way we are getting out of this is a French Revolution 2.0 on a global scale. Greed does not know fear and that is the fundamental problem with so much in the world today.
Something is completely broken on NYC if someone finds it better to have essentially 2/3 vacancy on a building than to lower the rent. Clearly, supply and demand are very disconnected and it's only possible when market distortions are artificially put in place.
Wow. Both rly smart comments. I agree-we don’t have capitalism exactly anymore. It’s state supported and crony-ized now. Seemed to happen not long after the stock market decoupled itself from the real economy. Question is, how much do they think we’ll take? Pretty soon, there will be more unhoused folks than housed. I agree w the revolution idea, sadly. Power never gives in without pressure
They raise rent to be "competitive" with the inflation rate and the interest rate on the mortgages they hold--if the profits from rents don't outpace the interest on the loans by the rate of inflation times some arbitrary number, then the shareholders don't get "growth profits" over the quarter or the year and then the fund shares go down in value and some very rich people have a mild sad because the one thing they can never have is Enough.
@@jmcnally647 You missed it cost too much to build too. Also, building a new place is maze of difficulties. Also, we keep letting people move into the US so there is even more pressure on supply...IF the housing market corrects, I will be seeking new rentals! Keep your credit clean and save and being a first time buyer you will get first crack.
This reminded me of the time I tried to get my security deposit back after leaving the place spotless. We shampooed the carpets, cleaned the walls, went all out. It looked better than when we moved in. Our request for the deposit back was denied. When we asked why, the landlord claimed he found "rust" on the refrigerator shelves. The shelves were plastic.
Did you take pictures? When you moved in vs when you moved out? Edit: Do you have that reason in writing? If you so just sue them for the deposit they can't deny return of deposit for a little rust they can't even prove you caused it. They try this outrageous nonsense because yall won't sue them
@gokublack8342 If you do somehow have a photo of the inside of the fridge, they could pivot to another superfluous detail. Also, I knew a friend (and their roommates) who tried to sue a landlord for their deposit back. The landlord abused the judicial process and effectively extended court dates over a year past their move-out. He ensured that if my friend was going to get their deposit back, he would force them to burn as much money and time as possible. And with all of this frustration, it is aggravating to know how powerless we are. I do not condone violence, but I will say, it would be quite a world if landlords collectively lived in fear of eating lead. From the mafias willing to serve it to them for breakfast. Or what if we just went the way of the French and de-anonynize names and threaten them with death until they back down? Again, would be a totally super whacky scenario. I do not condone the fiction stated above.
The rental company came through the day of as a "free" pre-check to "help us" make sure everything was clean and nothing was missed. After taking notes of all the "things" this person found, we cleaned it all again and check it off the list. The next week, we were notified that the ceiling fan wasn't cleaned and half the deposit would be withheld. I cleaned that fan in front the the person who did the walkthrough. What I didn't clean was actually under the stove, but that was never brought up or listed as the reason for the withholding. Its clear the rental company just picked a random thing to list so they can keep some money. If we known that the deposit was being withheld, we wouldn't have spent 2 days cleaning and washing the carpets. The last place we rental, we just left it as is. expecting no deposit back, we actually got half. Everyone should just accept they will hold some or all of the deposit and not clean when you leave. Waste of time.
I own six rental properties, and my tenants have lived in them for over a decade. I've only raised the rent once, by 5%, and that was five years ago. I charge $1,350 per month for each three-bedroom, two-bathroom house. The reason I don't increase the rent more often is that I have reliable tenants, and I don't want to lose them. I made a deal with them - they handle minor repairs and maintenance within reason, such as fixing a broken water pipe, and in exchange, I keep the rent low. This arrangement has allowed me to maintain great long-term tenants that I hope to keep for years to come.
If you left the place spotless, how could they justify the cleaning fee by law?? Absolute pigs, these landlords. I'm lucky to live in Vienna, where we have strong tenant protections and more than half of all available flats have severe price ceilings which keeps down the prices of the non-price cealing flats too. Every city should have laws like these.
They usually can't justify it, and he technically probably could have gone to court and gotten that money back - but the time and costs associated with doing so will just end up costing you more in the long run. Making excuses to keep people's deposits no matter what and large "application fees" are just another way they milk tenants and even prospective tenants for more cash. If he left the apartment as shown and free of trash, a basic cleaning before re-renting is part of the LL's costs of doing business. But as always they must pass those on to everyone else out of greed. Then the application fees, most places now will charge $50-$100 per resident. So a family of 4 could pay 200-400 just to be told they weren't accepted to rent there. Looking for an apartment and applying to a handful of places can cost them well over $1000 alone without actually even residing anywhere and no real reason for those fees. Many property owners will just keep "taking applications", getting the money from these fees, but never placing any tenants - and end up making more than if they actually rented the place out. It's insane. I can keep going lol... Then there's pet fees too. Why do I have to pay another $100 month because I have a cat? She hasn't damaged anything, she sleeps 14 hours a day 😂 and if they did shouldn't I just be charged for repairs when moving out? Extra $100 month for literally nothing, times that by the other 200+ residents in my complex who likely have pets. $$$$
Unfortunately, far too many in the US vote against their own interests and keep voting for Republicans. When they say they are for deregulation, they literally mean deregulation of everything that generates more profits for the fat cats.
I fought it the last time I was assessed a $500 cleaning fee. I provided pictures showing that it was professionally cleaned and noted spots of 'normal use wear and tear'. They backed down.
Finally somebody who's beginning to uncover the absurd greed, corruption and extortion that's been destroying the lives of millions. Thank you, please do not stop, we need more of such content!
NO, he didn't come Close to showing how it works, how its allowed to go on. And its been going on for 2 centuries. Stop and look at how many retail and office spaces are vacant in NYC and nearly every other city. Louis Rossman has been pointing it out periodically for near a decade. All this vid did is to trigger a bunch of low hanging fruit. None of the "proposed" solutions have a hope in hell of fixing anything (since they've been done before elsewhere) because they want you target fixated on the one hand while the other reaches into your pocket. "You will own nothing, and be happy"
@@vicw9223 it's fricking job is representing the people whose donations fund politicians campaigns, increases the value of their friends stocks and gives them a golden parachute once their term is over. The state never has and never will represent both workers and capitalist leeches.
I'm a disabled veteran living in a retirement apartment complex. When we got a rate increase from SSA last year, they immediately raised our rent 2X of our income increase. I hope things work out for you.
America overall has an accountability problem. Modern technology has made it easier to put distance between owners and customers, in nearly all situations, and these changes have always led to greed winning out which is always bad for consumers. This is what capitalism looks like when played out alongside depersonalizing technology. It will only get worse until either major laws are passed or violent protests make it no longer safe to be a greedy fatcat.
Branching off somewhat (but still completely agreeing with you), the next generation of "distance profiteers" is already making noise on social media---saying that as ChatDPT-type AI is "inevitable" and a *GOOD* as far as they're concerned, I've already exchanged chats with younger people than myself who want to do with all printed media what landlords do with places to live.
This is an issue of political will. We don't have representatives that are going to help us. This is why there is activism. The apathy of the exploiting party cannot be corrected without actual, physical, action. They are too removed, intellectually, and have to be confronted in reality.
They're too removed morally, ethically, and socially. I try to take comfort in the fact that the common people are finally starting to push back and fight.
Being a landlord and choosing to stay anonymous is both an admission of guilt and one of the most cowardly moves a human being can make on this planet. That's so pathetic, Jesus christ.
then you clearly are not cut out to do business then as a landlord. These people do this because they don't want to hear what excuses you have just that money is flowing in and you not becoming a problem to their investments.
This made me cry MORE. My slumlord in another state refuses to fix broken underground water pipe. For years I paid $30mo. Last bill was$108!! Now he demands rent increase and for me to sign new month to month lease and is threatening "serious consequences" if I don't. I'm on social security, old and crippled without family or friends to help move me. I live in old trailer. He's been selling condemned trailers to meth addicts. Maybe if i learned how to make it I'd have a good business here to pay him and fix everything he won't fix.
I wouldn't mind organizing a landlord blacklist, credit scores should always work both ways. A city wide tenants union could twist a very silly knife into the side of equity holders failing to consider what their investments are based on.
it's not a very good idea but i'm grasping. really tired of credit being a one way street and seeing people i know who are working hard, working smart, and constantly getting dicked over by capital
@@skiplogicgg I agree with you. And I don't understand what someone's ability to pay back a loan has anything to do with paying a required bill like rent. The landlord doesn't loan me $12k+ for the year and I slowly pay them back for it.
would be great but at the end of the day people still need to live somewhere. Strikes work but with labor you can easily stop working for a few weeks or months but for people who need a place to live being homeless for a few weeks or months isn't really an option. The only way I can see doing this is organizing people to suddenly stop paying rent for a month but they can still come after you for this as often it is legally owed.
This is what happens when the rich aren't heavily taxed and allowed to grow so rich, that they can buy up everything in sight and then rent it to you so you can make them even richer. They even bought our government, in case you haven't noticed.
Yes, they own our government but taxing them isn't going to help. Especially since the tax money goes to the politicians anyway. If their tax goes up then your rent goes up. I wouldn't be surprised if some LLC's operated out of a different country either. We first need to stop lobbying, corruption, the monoparty, and the fixed elections. Those need to be done first for any real leaders to be voted in to actually fix the problem. Unfortunately the monoparty is currently in power and they're killing our society.
They use tax loopholes anyways, let’s instead just get rid of all landlords, what are they good for? Nothing. Nationalize Housing. Workers of the world Unite!
Supply and demand. If people didn’t pay these prices, there would be no choice than to lower it to keep customers. The problem is people choose to pay these prices.
@@donovanberserk4993 They're price fixing and not participating in fair trade. Also they're houses/apartments. Sure they can move but that's not always so easy.
As a german I always wondered why americans hated their landlords but after seeing the laws or rather the not existing laws for tenant protection i understand them. Here in germany these laws are already established as far as i know and i have never heard anyone talking about a lease for their home. I feel like they don't exist so you never have the fear to be kicken out. Hope your family now has a nicer landlord
Leases exist in Germany, and so do bad landlords (and seemingly on the rise from what I've read recently), thankfully though it's harder for them to prevail in your courts so 3 month notices while they exist often don't go well for a landlord without good cause to want the premises vacated.
Proposals like this in the US usually generates a lot of fake worry over property rights. The landlords tell everyone else if the government can tell them what to do with their property then the government can tell anyone what to do. Between that and scary words like communism being used, it's extremely hard to get anything passed.
I have heard the part about landlords in NY not caring if a significant percentage of their units are empty from several people over the years. If this was simply about extracting as much money from working people as possible, that would not be something that they do, they would lower the prices to keep the units full, cause a unit pulling in less rent is better than one pulling in no rent. My best guess is that these companies don't actually care about the income from charging rent as much as they do about capital gains from buying and selling the buildings themselves, and that raising rents at the cost of letting units go empty, is just a method of inflating the theoretical value of the building since value of real estate is largely determined by how much people think they can charge for the rent now.
Many of the buildings are used to get huge mortgages. That 63 unit building with just 18 units rented probably can get the owners millions and the rents they collect are used to just satisfy the bank wanting to show their profitability. It's happening in our area of WNY now that corporations from Toronto Canada and NYC are buying up buildings. They don't really care to collect rents after they add it to their portfolio. When things go wrong and they have issues with housing courts for violations they sell quickly or transfer the ownership.
They almost certainly _can't_ lower the rent. Commercial real estate is weird. The short version is that if they lower rent, the loan on the property most likely goes into default. However, the portion of the payments which would have been paid by vacant units can be tacked back onto the mortgage. And they can't reasonably get the terms of the loan modified because the loan is owned by dozens to hundreds of different parties which would have to agree to the changes to some majority stipulated in the CMBS documents.
Spot on. Additionally these individuals, use their inflated theoretical value of the building, as an asset for collateral when taking out loans to purchase more buildings/complexes. This allows them to recieve a loan that is of a greater amount and a lower interest rate than would be typically given thus, increasing the propensity of the issue.
Also if there are no tenants in a flat then they can't damage the property, so you might actually lower your repair bills if you keep the units only half occupied.
For New York, specifically - The building owners all over NYC are refusing to rent out their spaces for less than the "Market Value" for years on end because lower rent means their building has a lower value. The government is also not being helpful with this problem because a LARGE portion of the budget is driven by property taxes. If the value of the buildings goes down, the budget goes down. So the owners are letting both businesses and rentals sit empty to maintain their value. It is a vicious cycle that will only be broken when NYC goes bankrupt or enough owners default on their property loans to force a change.
I can't believe I"m going to say this, and I very well could be wrong. I wonder if it might almost be a better scenario if the govts used eminent domain and snagged these apartment buildings from the landlords/companies for the "betterment" of the areas. At least there'd be more housing units available that way, and affordable ones at that. By no means a fan of ED or govts either. It's kind of like which is the lesser of the two evils. And in this case, it seems the lesser is the damn govt.
@@Christy.1 stocks would absolutely tank. And I wouldn't care. The boomers retirement living way beyond their means by means of generational slavery was never ok.
@@Christy.1 The fact you think the goverment doesn't already own these buildings is adorable. Blackrock and other companies (some HQed in China) and the current administration are all bedfellows. Or let me put it this way. The current effective government are the lackeys of these multi-trillion dollar companies. What do you think will change when their goals are aligned?
That's like going "I'm starving and I have all of this gold, but I won't sell it because what if I'm paid less than it's worth? Better hold out until I get a REAL payout" and starve to death anyways.
Tenants - including those who live in manufactured home parks - need to have protection from greedy corporate landlords and from slumlords period. Rent needs to be affordable - not just lining the pockets of the owners. Yes, property rights are important, but landlords need to remember their tenants are human and as such have a human right to a decent place to live.
Capitalism doesn't care about "humanity". Capitalism commodifies people as human capital to be rented by the hour, and to be squeezed by rents and interest rates. Capitalism is made for capital, not humanity.
As a landlord, I can tell you this much: if you don’t put the squeeze on your tenant, you retain them for a long time. You don’t have to pay a realtor commission to find a new tenant, your maintenance costs are lower as the tenant is likely to be more conscientious about their place, and you might actually make a friend. Also if the tenant can continue to save while paying a reasonable rent, they may one day buy the place from you, and again, you won’t need to pay realtor commission, or staging costs or significant upgrade costs. It’s not as high a return as putting the screws to the tenant like real page makes you do, but you can look yourself in the mirror without being ashamed, and it’s a lot less of a headache. And yeah, you won’t need to pay some attorney to form a shell company and hide behind the curtain.
Great video, It's absolutely a kick in the face when they withhold or refuse to return your security deposit. Especially if there's no damage and a clean apartment. Our last landlord (which is also an LLC) said they would give us ours back, but has failed to do so since February. I know it's slow and intimidating, but don't forget to take advantage of the legal system. We saved all of our emails, text messages, documents, and recorded out apartment on move in and move out and are currently in the small claims process. Some people may say there's no point or think of it as to much work, but its absolutely necessary seeing as we worked for that money, they have a legal obligation, and not doing anything just confirms to them they can get away with it.
You know who gets hit the most with rent increases? the elderly. Twenty-five years ago when they were 80 years old my great aunt sold her big house and started renting a smaller, easier to keep clean place all on one floor. Landlord doubled her rent three times, Landlord knowing that she was rich thought she would keep paying far higher prices then go though the hassle of moving. When my aunt found out about this she was pissed so invited her to live with us. She died at the age of 102 rather than move her to a retirement home though thank goodness for Canadian home care.
These landlords are really greedy. Something should really be done with them. Its happening all over the world. And they are lazy and greedy. The hardworking people are infact the tenants. What has the world become ?
@@prefixsuffix Capitalist, people keep trying to defend the crap but the system is inherently broken when it favours wealth consolidation by design. And so called free market capitalism is just fiscal anarchy, there's no self correction there.
I rented a house a couple years back that was owned by a company who had recently bought hundreds of houses in the area. I never met a landlord or any agent of any kind. It was all over email. When I first moved in, the company who had painted and "cleaned" the house for turnover had sprayed paint all over the floors, windows, counters. There were full tread shoe prints in white paint inside and outside the house. Thick globs of paint on the kitchen floor tiles and marble counters. I was never able to reach a human being to do anything about it. The "rental company" office was 3 states away. After a bit of digging I found out that the actual property owner was an AI company based in China. They just use bots to scour for homes for sale and purchase properties to turn into rentals. They use a "property management" company who's sole purpose is to handle evictions and find lowest bidder contractors for legally obligated repairs.
Yeah, this is essentially Chinese companies rent seeking, extracting America's land values out of America. Easy solution (which also solves the rent issue in general), tax the full rental value of the land. That economic rent is unearned and was technically created by the community and should go back to the community.
Just like the many many other problems we face, people MUST band together and fight back in large groups. Uk has over 138000 properties owned by shell companies (No landlord actually exists).
I used to pay $1245 for a studio in California which was crazy absurd for living in an area that didn't have that large of a population. After staying there for a year, my landlord wanted to increase the rent to $1295 and claimed it was due to inflation so I left. Some months later, they put my old address up for rent again and listed it for its original $1245 price. Turns out inflation wasn't the reason for the price hike and was more so their own greed.
I moved into my current residence around 2003. It's a single bedroom in a very bad neighborhood. Recently there was a police stand off with an armed individual living on the block just south of me where the cops were stationed with an armored vehicle in a parking lot I can see from my living room window. Shots were fired so I could have actually been hit with a stray bullet. And a few weeks before that a dead body was retrieved from an empty lot on my own block less than 100 feet from my back door. For almost 20 years I lived here paying the same rent. $250 for the apartment and another $20 on top for sewage, trash, and water shared with the rest of the building. I didn't mind the dangerous neighborhood because I keep to myself and the cheap rent allowed me to pay a month in advance which helped in case there was some kind of emergency. That rent didn't change for those 20 years and it was easy to see why, most of my neighbors in all that time were very temporary residents and many of them were living lives that were dangerous or involved criminal activity to some degree. The building was always a bit of a revolving door of people either hoping to move somewhere nicer as soon as possible or people just looking for a place to hole-up in for a while. Then, this year, the property was sold to new owners. The woman they put in charge then immediately threatened to kick me out because, and I'm dead serious, she didn't like my attitude. She demanded I move out because she didn't like me after interacting with me twice for a total of less than thirty minutes. When I asked her nicely to be reasonable she rose my rent by $150 and basically told me I was lucky she's such a nice and forgiving person. She's not a nice and forgiving person. She has convinced herself this property which is across the street from a food mission and down the street from a soup kitchen and a homeless shelter would be a good home for middle class families with kids and a stable income. She's been left in charge of low rent housing and is trying to delude herself into thinking otherwise. Naturally she's just the property manager, and a piss poor one at that, the new owners are doing everything they can to remain anonymous and now want to get rid of the property having discovered how much of a money pit it is just to keep it habitable. As you can guess reading all of this I'm extremely poor so my only recourse has been trying to fix up my parents' attic so I can move back in with them. At 39. Not exactly a proud moment in my adult life. Still I'd prefer dealing with the shame of living with my parents again since at least then I'll be paying rent to people I love and respect. ....If we can get that attic fixed up... Everything is so damn expensive any more.
Heck, I'm in my mid-40s and 4 years ago had to make the decision to move in with roommates (good friends, so it worked out pretty well) because the rent situation in my area had gotten so bad. There's no shame in moving back in with your parents.
I approve of living with your parents - precisely for reason given, better to give them your money than someone who's not family. I hope you work on improving your income, too.
8:24 Our previous landlord withheld our security deposit even though we haven't put a nail on the wall. They said they are charging us for "patch painting". I checked the laws and that's considered a wear and tear item and can't be a reason to withhold security deposit. We went to small claims court. They came with a bunch of legal presentatives, my wife got scared of legal fees if we lose the case so we ended up dropping the case. Since then all the rental applications we have done have been negative, even though we have perfect rental history. Really messed up stuff. Yeah there are laws against this but how are you going to prove that the landlord rejected you because they saw your name on court documents? One potential landlord told us that their phones stopped working so they renting the place to someone else. We are pretty much being punished for seeking our rights in the court.
Always take the case before a judge and come with ALL the receipts. I understand the fear, but if it’s a lose lose either way then I’d take it back to court if the statute isn’t over, and sue them for legal fees if at all possible. But not everyone can so easily do this I know. Easier said than done. But if you get a lawyer in good standing with the bar and good standing with the court and a good judge. Sorry that you went Thru this
It's really messed up that they have landlords that are like... the nobles that own the land or something... I don't really understand any of it, I just pay my bills to the public housing assocation.
I mean, stuff like this def happens in Europe too. Yes, it is often illegal, but they pick the people that can't defend themselves. Foreign students are particulary at risk. No smoke detectors, some mold, rooms that are only 8m2 or 700 euro for 16 m2. I've seen it all.
@@christianpetersen163 tbf in Europe it is also starting to get fucked up, price fixing is already real in every major city, here they decreased evictions times for unpaid rent, etc. etc. America always does it first, but finals stage capitalism reaches all capitalisms at some point :)
Do you know why the Americans forced Germany to introduce strong labour and renter protection laws after WWII? To prevent social unrest that led to WWII.
I once worked for a family of landlords in Rockland County that were so shady I could only answer the phone "4800, how can I help you?" My first call of the first day was THE PEOPLES COURT! The girl training me said "hang up!" So I did. I should've ran. They were the most horrendous family I ever met. So afraid of being caught my entire office was full of banker boxes they would burn before the high holy days!
Some really illegal stuff goes on them there. My brother bought a house and his property taxes have doubled in 10 years. He's going to leave New York State
I'm going to start praying for these slumlords to either face prison time and/or that they loose everything they have and end up on the streets homeless. May they be treated with the same respect they gave the tenants. Disgusting.
Security deposits are a joke. You will NEVER see that money back, because the landlords collude on that too. They have entire pages on how to review units in a way that let's them claim as much damages as possible.
Luckily when it comes to deposits, at least in the UK, you have to /agree/ with the security deposit being deducted. They can take you to court to really claim it, but that is an expensive process, so if the flat is truly in a good state you can claim that any damage is reasonable wear and tear, and say that you want your money back. If there truly is damage though, it is best to let it go as it is not worth going to court over for you either. But saying "Take me to court if you want it" can be a pretty strong foot to put down.
@@frankgrimes7388 “I must be the only person who has a nice apartment,” he said, without irony. “All the hundreds of thousands of people that landlords abuse must be morally deficient, unlike me. I’m so smart.” Smugly, the king of anecdotes sent his enlightening youtube comment, sure in the fact that there were no bad landlords.
@@frankgrimes7388 Good anecdotes you have there. I have 5 times that same anecdote but in reverse. And the tenants were with the landlords face to face too. Personally helped clean an apartment with a freaking toothbrush and watched in amazement as the landlord put on a white glove, slid her finger across the OUTSIDE (street facing) rim of one window in the back of the toilet. Proceeded to show us the glove was dirty and smugly denied my sister in law her 1500€ deposit. Actual real story, this is not a cartoon. By chance in Belgium, deposits are held in an escrow and need both side approval, we just blocked her endlessly and spammed her with legal demands. We won, only fuelled by pure spite.
@@abhipatel2162 I could ask you how many unhoused people you have welcomed into your home but that is none of my business. It's none of my business or yours how or how much another person does or does not help. The laws that need to change do not depend on the amount of volunteering citizens do.
166,000 vacant houses in Ireland. (The plurality of which are rental properties being held back from market lol). 12,000 homeless. Article 43 of the constitution allows this to be remedied, but no one even talks about it. System's a joke. Even Adam Smith and other capitalistic thinkers knew of all things, landlords are a parasite, as it's a natural monopoly.
They don't need us as much as we need them. This is how free market works when there's no protections against abuse. Housing scarcity is also artificial.
In Ontario the Landlord can not legally raise rent more than 2.5% a year. I really feel for the people who get blindsided by a 50-100% increase in the States. The greed is absolutely nothing short of astonishing.
In Ontario, if your property taxes or insurance or mortgage expense go up 10% because your local government is shit, but you can only raise the rent 2.5%, what do you think happens? The landlord also cannot evict a tenant for no reason, so they either have to concoct a bullshit reason to evict them and lie to the government and risk fines, find a loophole to evict them legitimately, or wait til the tenant leaves. In either case, they jack up the rent immediately after the tenant leaves, so the net result is one tenant gets lucky, and another tenant pays the price. You can't get blood from a stone. Either the landlord finds a way to raise rent to maintain their profit, or they sell to a gigantic faceless rental firm, or they go broke and then the bank sells it to a gigantic faceless rental firm.
In Italy, we have the opposite problem tenants have too much power, and contracts usually are 4+4 years between the two the rent can only be adjusted for inflation which is set by revenue authorities, and if at the end of the 8 years, the landlord wants to raise the rent it has to communicate one year in advance, also it is very hard to evict people, impossible if there are minors in the house, there are hundreds upon hundreds of landlords who don't get any money from their tenants mostly immigrants who take advantage of the weak enforcement to live rent free while the landlords still pay all the expenses
@@EGOCOGITOSUM In the end, when tenant protections are so steep, the end result is either higher rents via bankruptcies and new landlords coming in who kick out the tenants, renovate the buildings, then double the rent, or higher rents via massive shortages of real estate since it no longer pays to be a landlord thus no one buys new homes thus no one builds any. Low rents can only be achieved by low costs, and that means efficient government, well-built properties, and tidy tenants who do not damage the property.
@@theredscourge That's why they have housing shortages. I wouldn't invest into a market where there's rent control. There's always other markets to get into. Same thing with this guy, I would hire a PI to tail him until I catch him doing something illegal in my condo so I can evict him legally.
Rent control is stupid and most people that don't understand this fail to understand history. It turned New York into a slum in less than a couple decades. You can set whatever price you want but, inflation doesn't give a shit what your rent is set at. It always goes up and that's when landlords stop repairing places and doing basic upkeep because there is no money. On top of that it caused shortages in housing because landlords will just smash down the apartments and rezone them into other things to get around the laws. In San Fransico landlords that had to obey these laws dropped their supply by over 15%. What do you think this does to the price of non rent controlled apartments? A study showed overall rent prices rose 5.1% after the rent control policies went into effect. There is also the fact that people building in rent controlled environments, what is the incentive.
In Australia, the Government, and local councils put a tax on "vacant possession", mostly to do with foreign buyers from buying then sitting on the property without tenants. This law took thousands of places back into the tenancy market. Just like Canada, most foreign investors were Chinese or Corporate owners.
Investment property is not bad per se but eminent domain should be exercised by the municipalities to control the housing shortage deliberately created by parasitic capitalists
But having that policy in the U.S. may be construed as sentiment against immigration and immigrants, especially at a time where we need people in certain professions now more than ever.
Even Adam Smith new landlords were parasites that extracted as much as they could by doing as little as possible. "The rent of land, therefore, considered as the price paid for the use of the land, is naturally a monopoly price. It is not at all proportioned to what the landlord may have laid out upon the improvement of the land, or to what he can afford to take; but to what the farmer can afford to give." - Adam Smith, An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations, Book I, Chapter XI "Of the Rent of Land" We need community land trusts, or some sort of land value taxation. Apartments need to be cooperatively owned by their tenants rather than by absentee landlords. The rent is, simply, too damn high!
OMG! Someone else who knows what Adam Smith actually said? Particularly about the dangers of allowing an unproductive “rentier” (in his case the “landlord”) class to attach itself to the economy. Today everyone thinks Adam Smith’s “free markets” meant allowing anyone, even rich monopolizers and would be oligarchs to have free and unfettered access to any and all markets. That’s not what he said at all and that’s not what “free markets” meant to Smith is it? What Smith actually wrote was what you pointed out. Markets must be kept “free from” rich, privileged, unproductive rent seekers … the rentier class … rich privileged landlords whose presence in the economy adds nothing to the economy. Today’s rentiers are the the finance capitalists who have occupied are increasingly privatizing (holding hostage) our economy … and then rent back access to this economy (which … remember .. is money printed and issued by GOVERNMENT … thus it belongs to all of us … all people) and call this “financial services” as if it’s a productive addition to the economy to let us access something made by government and on behalf of all of the nations citizens. We are allowing our economy to be sent back into a computer based social media driven mediaeval mode of rentier fuedalism where working people are nearly immobile economic pseudo-serfs who are forever in debt to the rentier class who they must also pay to access the tiny piece of the economy they are “permitted” to plow. With debts and private health care that make economic mobility a virtual impossibility… like medieval serfs, not free citizens. Bring back the free market … free from the rentier!
Nobody has really read wealth of nations. It's a beast of a book, 1000 pages. Everyone should read it, it's not what today's capitalist want you to think it is. Marx Capital, should be required too.
Yes, but Adam Smith and his American spiritual successor, Henry George, weren't talking about the kind of Landlord who is actually responsible for improving the land, building housing, and maintaining it (tenement owners). Read your quote again, he was explicitly talking about Landlords who owned and rented out unimproved land such as farmland, timberland, quarries, etc., etc. (landholders). This type of landlord (tenement), at least in theory, has their profit margin limited by the amount of money that goes into construction and maintenance, unlike the other (landholder) one. The problem is, as shown in the video, the theory doesn’t hold up when tenement holders are allowed to form monopolies and oligopolies such as those in the video.
I didn’t know how good I had it when my landlord lived in the same apartment building that I did. The 2 or 3 times I ever had a problem, I’d just text her and she’d send someone up in less than 10 minutes. I moved for work so my rent’s 20% more expensive now, and waiting multiple days for him to respond to an email to get something taken care of or have a question answered is really frustrating. And I’ve had more problems in the first 4 months than the whole last 2 years at my old spot 😢
A majority of people age 30 ish or under are having a hard time with housing. We narrowly missed the affordable timeframe where we could consider buying a home before it inflated ridiculously. I’m 31 and I’ve been living with 2-4 other roommates around age 25 for the past 8 years. Property managers in Phoenix Arizona are hit or miss. They either communicate, repair things and act like they care, OR they ghost your emails, fix things cheaply, random 100$ fees each month and keep deposits whenever possible. They literally don’t care about how tough things are, they try to milk renters for every penny. 2 years ago in Scottsdale, 2021 my “landlord” tried to double our rent when we went to renew the lease. They said “If you’re not okay with the price, you can leave” Then they sold the house and kept our deposit even though we spent 5 days cleaning it.
My favorite is how at this point even if you're making above-median income, you still can't rent due to the 3x rule metasticizing into the 4-5x rule in a lot of areas when it comes to rent-to-income ratio, not that 3x really works either when the rent's $2k for a unit that hasn't been updated since the landlord was born. Like I've never made more than $20k, what am I supposed to do?
Paid a professional to mow the lawn, setup the flower beds, and otherwise super prepare the lawn better than we'd gotten it. Landlord charged me 500 bucks for an unmowed lawn and yeah.. what do you do? Sue? Get blacklisted, what do you do!
@@NightmareForge Damn that sucks, here’s the thing I don’t get: if landlords can blacklist tenants, why can’t tenants start collectively figuring out who all the landlords are, taking down their names and addresses and start building public “blacklists” of our own? Ultimately a human is making money, so the buck has to stop somewhere. Millennial: “oh, I’m sorry , but I can’t provide ”
I was homeless for 10 years for fighting an eviction. No one would rent to me after that. The landlords that evicted me did so, because I was an unmarried teen mother. I lost everything after that.
@@Aethereality I was given a chance by my now best friend, and person of honor at my wedding, Piper. She was (and still is) the manager of an apartment complex. A different friend of mind at the time was given an apartment at a complex in my area. She told me the manager was a nice person and that I should try putting in an application. I had given up by this point, because it was always no. I told her my story and she went to the rental company with my application. They rejected it. She told them that "That eviction was 10 years ago. She's not a risk. I'll vouch for her." (She had known me for 2 days). And I lived there for almost 13 years. Till I moved in with my then girlfriend, now wife.
Please ensure that the law to control rent rises is carefully written . A law was written here in Australia to not allow rent to be increased every year for those who were living in the property. Now it is almost impossible to stay more than a year in one place. Landlords do not offer leases more than a year and don't renew.
Don't know about that. Here in Victoria we can raise the rent once a year. I think what you are talking about is that we cannot evict renters after the 1st lease. This is so owners can get rid of tenants that they don't like after the 1st lease but not after that. So I had a tenant with a 6 month lease. She is great so now she had a 2 year lease.
I have lived in 4 different rooms and flats in London. Never once met my landlord- and it didn’t cross my mind how shady and unusual that is until I saw this video
issue there is that the amount of commodities to build them [and build them in places that are in high demand like NYC where there is little supply] are expensive and have to come from somewhere, and the upkeep ext.
Who is it okay to enslave to force them to cut, process, and ship the lumber? Who is is okay to enslave to dig the minerals, process the cement, and bake the bricks? Who is is okay to enslave to mine, smelt, form and ship the copper for your plumbing and electrical systems? Who is it okay to enslave to drill the wells, refine and ship the oil that fuels the transportation? Who is is okay to enslave to force them to mine the ore and smelt the steel that makes the nails and screws, as well as the appliances? Who is it okay to enslave and force to mine and fire the silica to produce the windows? There is so much more that does into it than you'll ever even be capable of understanding, and no one on this Earth has an obligation to slave away for your benefit.
Mine went from $610 for a tiny studio to $950 in 1 year. The landlord was absolutely awful. Nobody took our trash for at least 3 months despite me repeatedly contacting the landlord. Luckily I was able to buy a condo and get out.
@@tindrums I can pretty safely assume they mean that the communal dumpsters that are provided by the property owner, or possibly dumpsters internal to the building with a shaft or similar, were not removed, causing piles of rotting trash and pests.
I was just happy to be able to get out of there. The other thing they did was tell new tenants that the parking lot was first come, first serve (there were 8 tenants but only 4 spots). Except for that my lease clearly stated that I got an assigned spot. So after weeks of the landlord not responding to me about people parking in my spot, I started calling parking enforcement not realizing that the landlord had lied to new tenants. The person parking in my spot explained the situation and we got it all figured out, but the landlord called the city to revoke my ability to call parking enforcement despite my previous landlord having given each of us a letter specifically giving us the ability to call parking enforcement (parking enforcement always wanted to see that + the lease showing that we had assigned spots). Sometimes people would park directly in the driveway so nobody could get in or out, and then I couldn't call parking enforcement and the landlord wouldn't respond so we were sometimes trapped for a few hours.
Ever notice how those who demand that you must submit to the "Lesser of Two Evils," are themselves almost never affected by that "Lesser Evil"? The Necropolitics of Neoliberalism continues to metastasize across the country. And, working-class solidarity is the only cure.
The best is when they try to use other people's suffering (that they have no intention of addressing) to try to manipulate you into seeing things their way. "Oh think of all these people who will be hurt worse than what I'm going to do to them. Oh think of the children! Do something about it? That's just crazy talk! It will be ALL YOUR FAULT!"
"The Necropolitics of Neoliberalism" is a funny way to spell "end-stage corrupt as hell capitalism". Capitalism is literally designed to make a large part of the population suffer, it has nothing to do with their intentions, it has to deal with the goal posts constantly being moved so when you get close to victory you instead get to feel like Charlie Brown.
Totally wrong; the liberals and progressives support policies benefitting the employee class while "conservatives" support economic policies that help corporations and the very rich -- to the substantial detriment of those not rich -- and give a wink and a nod to the violence and oppressive/authoritarian nature of the "guns&bibles" crowd
There needs to be a law that if landlords refuse to rent AV apartment or commercial space then they cannot write it off on taxes. And I used to be a landlord
The US needs to get behind deposit protection schemes too. In the UK, landlords are required by law to keep your security deposit in a third party account. When it comes to returning the deposit, deductions can be disputed. It is essential that landlords cannot hold your money so they can't take more than they should for damages, but also to stop them earning money on this deposit (not their money) or spending it with the prospect of finding it again later.
@@jessh4016 It used to be that way in the UK, or at least from what I have heard. I've only rented with this legislation in place. That said, my first landlord and I had a dispute. I posted evidence. He paid up.
@@jessh4016Most of the time it's pointless. It costs you more to repair the normal wear and tear to their satisfaction than it does to just leave them with the deposit. The real trick in America as far as the deposits go is to find one that's disproportionately low relative to the rent.
Know your rights as a renter before you need to leverage them. For example, here in Minneapolis you can file a legal complaint for non-repair or other disputes. You have to pay rent into escrow with the city, but the landlord doesn't see a dime until they address the issue and they also can't evict you in the meantime. Very powerful.
And what is with the hundreds in “admin fees” when renting an apartment??! Like why are we paying for all these middle men to file paperwork? 2-3 Hundred to pay them for the same paperwork I have to do as the renter 😂 it’s all a template too like they didn’t need to type it or ponder hours on it. It’s a lease, file it, take the rent, and we are done until anyone else messes up. And have you noticed they started saying you only need your income to be 2.5X the rental price, previously it was always 3X. 2.5x is like 40% of their income.
@@MiddleAgedMillennial it's bullshit. I work at a property management company in accounts payable; we charge $40 for processing an application and it costs us $35 to run the credit and criminal reports. I've heard it said that charging more than that supposedly "weeds out people who aren't serious about renting," but I don't believe that's true. @pittsburghblauck I don't know what the laws are in other states, but in NC we have to give deposits back so long as the property isn't left a mess and the tenant doesn't have a balance. I've seen where previous clients of ours have tried to keep the deposits and cite what we would call "general wear and tear" as their reason, but that argument doesn't hold water. Yes the rooms need to be repainted and there are scuff marks on the floor, but the tenant was there 5+ years, shit happens, it's part of renting a property. People like that don't stay with my company long term. They make the company look bad, risk the company getting sued or investigated by the state real estate commission, and I'm sure they get tired of us trying to spend the rent money to fix/clean up their property.
I was a landlord (2 buildings) and unless something was broken, I would usually give back the full amount. Basic cleaning and wear and tear are not supposed to be covered by the deposit. So, I tried to help one of my friends who was moving out of their apartment by going over everything and making minor repairs, and still they only got back 20% of their deposit. I was more pissed than he was.
I live in a small town where all of the rental properties are houses, not apartments or condos. At the end of last year, my friends (and neighbors) got notice from their landlord that they were planning on selling to an investor and that they should look for another place to live. Obviously, they didn't want to move, having to move would mean that their rent was going to double. They had an inspector come out to look into maybe outright buying it for themselves so they wouldn't have to move, but there were so many things wrong with the house, because the landlord never actually fixed anything, just threw bandaids on everything, that in order to fix everything, that half of the house would need to be completely demolished and redone, and at that point, you may as well just completely rebuild. There was mold, leaks and water damage, electrical issues, foundation damage, plumbing issues, any possible issue you could think of, that house probably has it. And now, six months later, it's still empty, the grass has grown up, and NO ONE has even come to look at it. One of my other neighbors actually came and bushwacked the front yard a couple of weeks ago so it wouldn't look so terrible (and to prevent pests). So now, instead of having some income from the house, they have none. Renting is a fucking scam.
Wanted to mention that this is a great example of journalism. Really got me to go and seek more information. Gave me a base line of thing I can go question and just have easily accessible information. Thanks for the story and nice video to better my understanding!
@@Laotzu.Goldbug people are experiencing real pain out here because of the way that the free market is being regulated or not regulated and here you are cracking wise about commu ism. Lame.
@@icedirt9658 But that's what you are proposing. Housing cannot be free unless you want to live in a barn shared with 100-200 other of your comrades. It costs a lot to build and maintain a property. You are not entitled to the labour of other people for free. NYC is particularly bad because people are willing to pay shitty prices for shitty apartments. The problem is not just the landlord, its the tenants too - get out of NYC, stop being so masochistic and allowing yourself to be taken advantage of. If you owned a property, you wouldn't want to lose money or see your own property depreciate. Landlords can be shit in NY, don't have to argue with this, but they can do this because there are tenants willing to put up with it. If demand falls, the prices fall. You can literally defeat the landlords by telling them, no, we are not putting up with your shit anymore. Also, the ridiculous taxes imposed upon citizens by the political class means that at each level, landlord or tenant, people are earning less, so there's less spending power. Landlords keep prices high just to make any sort of profit, tenants get taxed to oblivion so they have little option.
Housing 👏is 👏a 👏human 👏right, not an investment. Sheer greed is one of the factors driving this. We've got a housing and rental crisis in British Columbia. A Landlord can not legally raise rent more than a maximum % per year but as this video shows, Landlords and REITs find loopholes and do what they can to extract as much rent as they can from tenants.
Our complex got bought up by a private equity firm and has raised the rent each year since ownership. Maintenance on the property has actually gone down and there have been no added or improved amenities to go along with this. We can complain to the on site manager but in the end that does no good because they fall back on "company policy" or "legally we are allowed..." Its a great way to be shitty people without having to take any personal responsibility for being that way. This company owns a slew of properties across multiple states and from what I have seen in my research they run them all identically regardless of local economy or actual worth.
...And THAT is why California has passed a law that rental properties cannot be owned by out-of-state residents or corporations. That way, they can't claim any form of deniability when it comes to California law. Now if only we could get that passed in every state in the union...
@@johnfreeman4435 Fully agreed. The place I've been living at has over the last decade had a slew of out-of-state groups buying the place, raising rents, slashing maintenance to a minimum, then selling after a year or two. You can walk around and see quite easily how things are falling apart because of years of this neglect. Hell just this last summer the management company let a broken pipe under the street leading into the complex leak for a month (yes, a whole month!) even though I and others told them repeatedly about the leak. It wasn't until the eroded ground shifted, breaking the pipe further up the street so it was blocked by gushing water that they finally got off their asses and fixed it. Oh and three weeks later that same pipe broke in the same place a second time forcing them to shut off the street so a trench could be dug and the water all pumped out. I hope it cost management a pretty penny. Serves 'em right for not fixing the damn problem when it was "only" spewing water along the side of the street and downhill into the basements of the building by where the water was forcing its way through the ground.
What we need is a vacant unit tax. If a rental unit, commercial or residential, is left vacant by the landlord for more than a reasonable period, like 6 months, they should have to pay the asking rent price to the city every single month that unit continues to be unoccupied. If they don't want to continue paying their own rent on their vacant units, then they have to lower the price enough to get that unit rented. If this was the case for every single vacant unit, there would be a lot less of them.
My apartment rent went from 850 a month to 1600 plus fees a month when it was sold to an investment company. They didn't change anything. Just simply increased rent. I left the whole state because of that.
That's typical in places where there's limits on how much a landlord can increase rent on an existing tenant in a given year. They don't know if their expenses will increase more than they are allowed to raise rent, so they raise it a lot after a tenant moves out, or they sell to a new owner which is often an exception to the rule, or they just kick out their tenant and reset the rent way higher for the next. The only true way to keep rents down is to vote for local government that doesn't spend too much money and doesn't needlessly restrict new residential construction.
just sneakily move in and see if anyone notices that you arent paying rent... if anyone comes to kick you out - quickly move upstairs into one of the other 40 empty apartments and see if they find you XD
Here in Scotland, a mass-growth in tenants unions in Glasgow and Edinburgh led to the government enacting some pretty big reforms for renters. I absolutely recommend tenants in mass-housing to unionise, or even if you are in single units, do some research, find other houses leased by your letting agency and try and get in touch with the other tenants if you have issues.
But unions could mean nothing if they would all be evicted anyway and landlords find tenants that would be willing to cover what they would have paid and then some.
@Dj Sk the overall size of the country doesn't make a difference. You are being offered advice. It's up to you if you take no action against the broken rental system.
@@djsk244 Actually Scotland, and the UK as a whole, has a *huge* housing crisis at the moment. Organisation at scale is what matters. Letting agencies can maybe afford to punish a few dissenters, but if you get a lot of people, renting from the same group, to act collectively, they are highly unlikely to want to make that choice, its too significant a revenue drop, even for a short time. The people most vulnerable to rent-shocks and exploitation are already those living in poor areas where it can be quite difficult to get renters in, so in many cases, it can be several months before they can find sufficient cash cows to replace their lost tenants.
This is so horrible. I was able to live in NYC for 23 right out of college. I couldn’t do that today. But I love people standing up to greed and abuse of power.
Coming from someone who both has been a landlord and rented a few thoughts: From the renter side I ran across the same sort of thing. I live in California and had been renting for 4 years, at the end of the 4th year I got kicked out because the landlord wanted to remodel. Because my lease was not renewed I had to come back into the system which resulted in a ~20% increase in rent for a smaller unit. This was all legal mind you because the law only apply to renewals, I was not renewed for cause, and was given 90 days notice. When I complained at the price to the "landlord" and told them that for the same price I could get a mortgage for something almost twice as big in the same area (which was true) they more or less said it was out of their hands and was all dictated by corporate. I ended buying my own place. Going to try to keep what I say about tenants limited to just why the prices are high as I also have been in the landlord situation a few times. In my experience tenants in general are brutal on things. Sometimes the amount I have had to pay to fix the damage is huge. That and trying to get the tenant to pay for the damage they caused (holes in walls, ripped up carpet, removing smoke, etc.) can be difficult when it exceeds the deposit. You also have ACA accommodations when it comes to people with service and emotional support animals, and if I recall correctly by law you cannot charge the person because of it, even if the unit is advertised as animal free. For the animals, one way I have heard other land lords get around this by adding the price of the extra cleaning to the rent regardless (so the person cannot claim discrimination) and then just not do it if the person does not have an animal. This may account for the prices, landlords trying to account or at least cover themselves financially. That and when things do require a lawyer it can be very expensive. These are all costs to the landlord and I can see in a way these being part (not the entire) of the reason rent is so high, as these costs are being passed on to the consumer. As to the entire provision that rent can only go up X% a year, I can see that as justification for many landlords to always raise rent that much when they can as an unintended side-effect. Talking to some other people around me who rent, I noticed many do not raise the rent for years and then do a somewhat sizeable one (5-15%) every few years to bring rent back in line with "market rates". Talking with these same people, many have said if they could not do that they would simply readjust the rent every year or "renovate" so they could reset the market price to get around not being able to do it anymore. So I think while the intent of the law is good, the implementation has loopholes and does not always incentivize the behavior wanted. As to anonymous landlords, I am against that. I feel the law does not go far enough. I feel the landlords contact information should have to go on the lease, as the landlord is ultimately responsible. That way the tenant does not have to go looking up the LLC and all that insanity, it is right there on the document they signed.
Your observations are spot on. I've also been on both sides of the transactions. As a tenant, I've seen unjust price rises, landlords not doing timely repairs, etc... I've lived in a unit where I lost half of it for 6 months and I was forced to move because management decided to force me out by not repairing the damage. They also had the gall to add a cleaning fee and replace the oven I knew that was working before my lease was up on top of taking my deposit. I did not decided to pay that back. Fuck them. I decided to become one after that incident and bought my first fourplex. Now that I'm a landlord, I've had terrible tenants. I had to clean up someone's mess because they thought it's my job to clean up after them after leaving holes and a large amount of garbage bags filled of their crap on the lawn. I was forced to give back their security deposit due to a technical error, thanks to no part to the tenancy board not giving me information I needed to put a fair case. That amount that I held wasn't enough to cover the damages alone, even if I did manage to keep the deposit. Probably more stories since I started, but I suppose I was lucky enough to not find the nightmares that wouldn't pay rent and trash the place completely... And live there as is for more than a year. A lot of costs are passed down to the consumer, leading from a new tenant who has to pay a much higher rent than the ones already tenured. They now have to carry on their backs all of the other residents who are paying at $400 less than market rent... Especially in a rent control zone. Renovictions also happen because landlords aren't incentivized to do timely repairs. I was renovicted for the new flooring of my old unit because they knew they can get someone in for $1800 vs me when I rented it for $1325. It forces the cycle of "oh why isn't my landlord fixing shit" because the tenants who are long tenured don't make it worthwhile to do so. People cry when we force them to pay the utilities, but that's because some bad eggs decided to abuse the landlord's generosity of putting it into their lease. I actually agree with LLCs. Most of the time my beef is with the property management company although sometimes a landlord's decision can dictate what they can do. Some landlords are so out of touch with their properties, especially once they own 40+ units that they will say to property management "I don't care how you manage it, as long I don't have to gut the entire building and it makes me money, I'm a happy camper" and that's how they will operate. And by operate, the management company will do it based on their interpretation. I don't agree with the premise, overall, but operations-wise, I do agree with LLCs. Can you go after 30+ people who funded millions of dollars into the apartment complex you lived in?
as a non-American this is so bizzare to me i've been renting for close to 10 years now and i've met literally every single one of my landlords face to face. whatever letting agencies i used would always step away after the paperwork was signed, so once i got my keys, i was give the phone and email of the actual landlord and only only ever contacted them directly for any issues the idea you can rent a place and never meet the landlord is so weird!
If the landlord engages the service of a rental property manager for an ongoing fee, you will only deal with the property manager and never meet the landlord. I guess your landlord is managing the rental property himself.
Eh, I live in Switzerland and haven't met my current landlord at any point; I do have his address (somewhere like 200km away) however. But - and this is important - my rent goes through a company that manages housing. Because that company is just told to keep tenants happy. If I call them to tell them my dishwasher is broken, the next day a repairman will come. It's more annoying in that way if you have a local landlord, because they might try and come fix it themselves, half-assedly
I feel like it depends where/what you are renting. If you are renting from a huge apt building you wouldn't normally meet the landlord just the person that works for the company running the building. If renting a home I would say it depends on the area but in my area I would normally end of meeting the landlord. I kinda dislike the video because it talks like every rental is always under 1 person that owns it when a large amount of places are company owned. Its not anonymous there just isn't a single person running it.
Where I live (Ontario, Canada) landlords legally have to provide their name and address, must apply for approval to raise rent above a certain limit, and we have good cause eviction.... The problem is, landlords break these laws all the time with impunity. Most tenants don't know their rights, and the provincial tribunal that oversees complaints always has a months-long waiting list and is slanted towards the landlord's interests. We have the reforms that you're seeking, and yet rental & housing crisis is even worse in Canada than it is in the States. The legislation isn't enough, because at the end of the day as long as our housing is privately owned in a profit-driven market, landlords have all the power. Reforms are one tool in the toolkit, but they aren't enough. Renter organizing needs to be militant and strategize a real transfer of power away from private ownership and supposedly "democratic" bourgeois government.
The worst offenders are the big companies that own and buy up multiple properties. Some of them are even foreign owned. They have deep pockets and lawyers who work exclusively for them at the landlord Tenant court. Steer clear of them if you can. It's such a stressful process to have to go through.
Alberta is the same way. We're required to have benefactors listed for companies and have ways to contact them. Unfortunately, legal red tape gets in the way of anything getting done. We have a rent increase cap (5%, I think). If you can, go to your local landlord conference in your city. Seeing their priorities when nobody else is looking is shocking. Most of the companies were focused on the massive landlords who own hundreds of units, and I worked for a smaller place where we did our own grunt work. (We don't send a guy to fix your pipes - the accountant still has his plumbing certification. That kind of deal.)
And the problem is long term tenants end up paying much less than current market rates.. And landlords cant negotiate a fair rent at that point even though thier costs went up. Leaving the only option of the landlord taking occupancy of the unit for 12-months, or getting extorted for cash for keys. Ontario sucks for landlords.
Vacancy taxes need to be 100% of the market rate of the neighborhood. If companies keep them open for too long the city should be able to reclaim the property and seize it.
Damn I'm dumb, just figured it out. We are owned and operated by a shit load of lawyers. I finally reached the management level with my company. It is a freaking joke how these people have jobs for one thing.
I got priced out of my apartment about 15 years ago. I lived in a very low rent, shared housing apartment in an economically depressed county, but a property owner was buying up all the low rent apartments and raising the rent. Eventually he got to my apartment. My rent went from $355 to $495 as soon as my lease was expired, and in a month or two it was $510. He was eating me alive, almost literally (I was losing weight for lack of groceries). I had to move out. I wound up sharing a 1 bedroom apartment with a friend.
I remember last year when the fire department was called to our building ('false' alarm) and once they had access they were able to determine the building failed code. If not for them (I found out later they had been trying to inspect the property for many months) who knows what could have happened. My point is similar in the tenants mean less and less while the property owners get away with more and more.
I lived in St Paul when we voted for the 3% annual rent increase cap. The amount of propaganda that was thrown at us before that vote took place was astounding. Even though I only knew of only ONE person who actually lived in my area who was against the legislation (he was a landlord btw, albeit a seemingly decent one), there were suddenly astroturfed efforts popping up everywhere to stop the legislation. Signs were put up all over my area, we started getting bombarded by "vote no" ads in our mailbox, and I continually heard about a number of vague "construction plans" that were supposedly not going to happen if the rent was capped, because poor landlords wouldn't be able to afford to pay for those affordable housing projects that we had been begging for that they definitely cared about the whole time! These allied landlords also used the fact that St. Paul is in the midst of a housing crisis to harass the mayor, which has been somewhat successful, sadly. Still, we voted yes and--shockingly--little changed, except that our rent got a bit cheaper than it otherwise would've been.
I'm not a landlord but I am against it. If their expenses go up by more than 3 percent, their only option is to eat the cost themselves, or kick out the tenant so they can raise the base rent for a new tenant, so they will do the latter, costing the new tenant hundreds of dollars in moving expenses and the landlord a few months rent, so they'll increase it even more to compensate. This isn't all that uncommon for example for insurance rates to go up 10 percent after a flood year or taxes to go up 10 percent after a year when the municipality has a big unexpected expense, or when interest rates go from 2 percent to 6 percent as they did recently, which will cost landlords a lot when they have to refinance their mortgages. There's no magic way to get landlords to charge you less money, just as there's no magic way to get any company to sell you something for less money, they'll always find another way to charge more to protect their profit margin in the long run.
@@ThaJay wrong, inflation is caused by federal government spending more money and printing money to pay for it, like they did after the pandemic spending. When there's suddenly more dollars in existence but the same amount of goods, the value of those dollars goes down, hence inflation.
@@theredscourge no you're wrong. @TheJay is correct. Zero percent interest under Trump + the tax codes which largely favors real estate ownership + real estate investors who remodel the rental unit and increase the rent (which increases the NOI, net operating income) makes it tempting to the bank to give out more loans, which they want to because they get the loan origination fees by turning more loans = a self-fulfilling feedback loop of higher inflation and real estate chasing. You must have very little money and listen to ayn rand otherwise you'd know where most of the middle class has been moving their money to offset taxes (real estate).
@@theredscourge If you want to talk about money creation, look at the banks. Western governments haven't created money for decades. Banks create money by creating loans. Because they only need a 10% reserve, the amount of currency they can create is pretty much limitless. When there is more demand for loans, they create more money.
Currently suing my previous landlord in Seattle. Please, if you think you can and have a case and the means, do it. In my case and some I've spoken with, it's clear they draw these things out and make them as annoying as possible so you give up or lose interest. At this point, I want my money back, but I also will go down swinging just to run up the clock on their wasted time and energy just for the sake of it after the bullshit they pulled. They count on people being far less relentless and resourceful.
good luck, we sued for security deposit at the small court. they came with an army of attorneys and pretty much told us they'll drag it as long as possible and in case we lose the case, we'll be responsible of paying all the attorney fees which would have been thousands of dollars. so they ended up stealing our $1200 plus we may be on some sort of "blacklist" tenants because our names show up at the court documents.
I used to be a property owner and landlord here in New Zealand. At some point it made sense to sell and become a tenant. I made the mistake to assume all landlords where people like me. Renting for 5 years now. I don't know who my landlord is, the middle man makes sure it stays this way. I am 60, yet I get my always immaculate home inspected 4 times a year by some young snot nose kid. Tenants are made to feel like second rate citizens and this needs to stop.
Yeah the quarterly inspections are thanks to insurance company requirements and they instigated that after too many pay outs after feral tenants trashed properties.
I never questioned the explanation that people are moving into the city"faster than housing can be built" for the high rents in my city, because I live in the city and just assume that everyone wants to live here too, except that many of my friends and acquaintances and family have left the city, and when I walk around downtown there are less and less regular people on the streets, and more and more restaurants and even coffee shops are going out of business. I'd love to see the real data to find out how empty landlords are leaving buildings by going after exclusively high-rent tenants. Retail is more visible so it's obvious when a landlord would rather leave a storefront empty for YEARS rather than lower their "market rate" that clearly no one can pay and stay in business.
When a landlord can pay the rent and upkeep for a 63 tenant building off the backs of only 18 tenants there is something horribly wrong.
The paper value of the building is what matters to them. It is an asset that they use to get cheap loans which they turn around and buy more assets with. That's how being rich works. There's really very little of any tangible value in how they make money... Basically just moving numbers around and skimming off the top. Financialization is the fancy word for it.
Especially if they've owned the building a long time ago and don't have that on a,. This is essentially making sure that inflation doesn't eat up their money. They really don't care about the tenets or why the building is dilapidating
That is such an excellent damn point
Is the landlord just holding the building to eventually tear down and build something else there?
@treygarver7791 that's one way of doing it. Increase rents steadily, never spend on upkeep, squeeze and squeeze until it's entirely unlivable then sell the land to a developer to build a shiny new building on the lot
I'm 100% convinced that landlords are hoarding property for the sole purpose of creating artificial scarcity.
That’s part of it, yes. It’s not a controversial statement for anyone but the fools who try to justify the system against their own interests.
I agree. And, also, insanely ... in any big city there are hundreds if not thousands of investment condos sitting empty collecting dust while thousands sleep in the street or shelters.
BINGO
@@luisaguilar5343 Bingo bango bongo I'm not happy in the jungle because I can't afford my rent no, no, no no!
Government zoning and people voting against additional apartments because they don't like poor people is a major factor
Automatic eviction if you cite legal code is absolutely insane and should be illegal as hell.
Eviction process takes months. MONTHS if not often years if you pay intermittently.
That wasn't an eviction, it was a notice of lease non-renewal. These are very different things.
@@TheGlock30owner Let he who licks the boot of power with a tongue full of legal technicalities lay beside his masters on the guillotine
they werent evicting BECAUSE they cited a law, they were giving notice of non renewal of lease... in accordance with the law they just cited at them.
@@Ddub1083 The thing they talked about was the tenant blacklisting. If you speak up, you may end up in a blacklist, which basically means that not only your rent won't be renewed and you'll have to move out in a certain time, it would be very much harder for you to get a new rent, because landlords could simply look you up in the blacklist, and find you there, and they could simply say sorry, we won't rent you, because you've been blacklisted, we don't want any problems, obviously you wouldn't get blacklisted if you were following housing code, and we want to avoid getting into trouble if we were to rent you an apartment. So if you can't find a new rent in that 90 days notice period, you'll essentially be homeless. And that's the issue they talk about. And New York City doesn't really treat homeless people really well.
My sister's friend was threatened by her landlord with a knife. When reported, she was sued for defamation and eventually evicted. The part that stuck out to me is that a lawyer friend of hers defended her and the prosecution and judge were so smug the whole time. Focusing more on telling that young lawyer that he's "doing good" and "should be careful as he's just starting his career".
I'm not an American, but wonder, could they've shot in self defence?
Edit...could they've 2nd amendment defended themself agaisnt the landlord
@@Aera223 It depends, if it was in her apartment and the state she is in has stand your ground laws or similar then most likely. Although some require you to retreat before you can fire. If it was not in her apartment then most states you also have to retreat before you can fire, iirc you have to be in fear for your life to use deadly force (or faced with deadly force i think). Also she could just not have a firearm.
@@origamipanda5970 oh yes, forgot about that.
My landlord raised my rent over 500% to get me out via unlawful detainer case and violated AB 1482.
When i went to court, the judge had no idea what AB 1482 is and literally told me. “Take 5 minutes to decide weather you want to get out and owe rent or have an eviction on my record”. I was baffled to see that gang up of the landlord, their lawyer and system towards me that i realised….you have “law for sale” here. Highest bidder gets the win.
Good example of how multiple "competing" companies within an industry can still act as a monopoly. Price fixing, black listing, lobbying for policy outcomes.
Black listing should be illegal because they are pushing your personal identifiable information and should get sue for slander.
Sounds like something the FTC should be looking into, surely?
That's what cartels are. Oh sorry, cartels are illegal by law, so we can't call them that, right? Also that's a key argument against Mexican immigrant so we DEFINITELY can't call it that way... hahah...
@@evangrey4737Fuck yes.
@@evangrey4737 we don’t have capitalism though, just go read the only book ever written defining capitalism by the inventor of the system. It’s called An Inquiry Into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations by Adam Smith. What he laid out as Capitalism is so far removed from what you’re referring to as “capitalism”. Most of the things these massive corporations flout as “fundamentals of capitalism” like multinational corporations or even conglomerates, division of labor, vertical integration, the corporate control of the government, etc are called out as anathema to a capitalist nation.
If you do some reading into the different types of economy, you’ll realize we have a crippled socialist country, missing the things that make socialism work for everyone, but still technically socialism. True capitalism as laid out by Adam Smith would not have these things. You cannot have a free market and a heavily weighted market at the same time. It’s physically impossible.
The answer isn’t to end capitalism, since that doesn’t exist anywhere on earth. The answer is to end the money system. The competitive hell. Humans are all family, all related if you go far enough back, hell we share so much dna with each other and with every living creature. There’s no good reason why we live like this.
I'm a reporter covering mass evictions in Burbank California. Most of the landlords engaging in a recent wave of just cause evictions are under LLCs, and its been a tough search for me and the tenants to try and confront them.
Some of the landlords in California are justified in seeking mass evictions after the courts and the CDC screwed them over by letting deadbeats tenants remain in the units without having to pay rent while fully employed. On the flipside, the deadbeat landlords are taking advantage of very good tenants in order to lined their pockets.
I want to see your report.
Dracula glows in the dark.
Links please🫶
The problem with California is the no-fault evictions. That needs to be eliminated. Landlords can evict you for anything they want including racism, misogyny, anything they want can be hidden behind a no-fault eviction.
And we also need rent caps. And stop allowing foreigners who live outside the country to own any rental property in the US.
It all boils down to three words: private equity firms. They buy up real estate, drive up rents to increase their portfolio profits, and run folks out who can't afford the new rents. The land will be considered more valuable due to their price fixing, so if they have to, they sell it off to a developer for a profit. Developer "renovates" the property and starts the whole thing up again. Lather rinse, repeat.
They don't even need to sell it to a developer to make a profit. By increasing its value, you can take out loans against it, and those loans can be dumped into a hedge fund.. which sees profit from economic instability and collapse, which provides and even greater incentive to make things worse.
The world is increasingly owned by faceless inhuman constructs of capital that exist only to increase prices and buy more of the world. Nobody is driving the machine anymore. AI has already taken over. So many of us are slaves to a self-optimizing system of incentives, a vast machine. When we act in service of it, we are forbidden from making human decisions. Its prime directive is shareholder profits, and the shareholders aren't even people. They're just more constructs of capital too. We no longer own capital. Not even the capitalists really do. Capital owns everything, including our time, and therefore our lives.
I invest in rentals and I am middle class and certainly not a private equity fund.
@@johnowens5342 everyone who isn't Bezos or starving thinks they're middle class, the term barely means anything. Whether you consider yourself to be a private equity firm or not, you are acting as one. Stop leeching off of those who are poorer than you. You're being usurious.
The worst is that private equity funds are doing the same to hospitals. They did it to 3 hospitals in my area and now ambulance rides are ranging over an hour and ERs are overflowing with not enough beds.
So they have been doing this across the countries but the playbook is basically, buy hospitals, then claim that the company owes some parent company X amount of money. So through massive layoffs, not paying invoices, etc they raid the hospitals for all the cash to pay the imaginary debt to the parent company and (shocker) guess what? The executives are the same! Then after destroying the hospital they file bankruptcy and pocket even more cash after selling off the property to developers.
All completely legal, wonder how that happened . 🤷♀️
I cannot appreciate enough the irony of a law firm being used to issue an eviction for citing legal code.
they werent evicted for citing legal code. they were given a notice of nonrenewal of lease... in accordance with the legal code cited.
@@Ddub1083 That makes sense, it is still a dubious practice when a lease is not going to be renewed because your tenant is legally aware.
@@yournan6546 its not dubious at all. They gave the renter the notice as required in the statute that the renter themselves pointed out. It is only the renters assertion that the reasoning for the non-renewal is because they brought up the law... thats not necessarily the actual reason for non-renewal.
@@Ddub1083 Sure thing, Eric.
If you look at the date the letter was sent, the tenant was actually given more than 90 days. This video was produced to show a partial narrative and leaves out many factors that caused this industry to be this way. For someone who is unfamiliar, it seems that landlords are manipulating the system but there are regulations that if not abided by are strictly enforced.
"Why don't tenants have negotiation leverage ...?"
Well, in Sweden we do. We have an actual forceful tenant's union. The landlords are currently trying to raise the rent again this year, breaching this year's agreement with the union. They won't legally be able to, in the end, because they've signed a contract with the union about it.
In Belgium we have an "index", that's a number that essentially tracks inflation, and puts a cap on how much rent can increase. So the last increase was pretty rough at ~10%, but before that it's usually just 1-2% a year.
The contracts are also required to follow a strict pattern if it's for longer than 3 years (which most places are). A long term contract (3+ years) is always 9 years, which get implicitly extended in chunks of 3 years afterwards. The notice is always 6 months, and they can only do it "for free" after those 9 years. They have an opportunity to end the contract after 3 or 6 years, but that will cost them 9 or 6 months of rent as compensation to the occupant. The only other exceptions are if they or their children want to go live in the unit themselves for at least 2 years, or if they want to do major improvements (which have to cost at least 3 years of rent).
So really, as long as you take care of the place and pay your rent, there is easy way to kick you out. Either you have to wait for the full 9 years, pay a significant sum of money, or actually make it your legal residence for 2 years. And when there is doubt, judges will tend to favor the occupant in disputes.
Housing is still expensive here, but once you find a good place you can at least settle there.
Found the Europeans in the chat
if you're ok with answering, do you find yourself under a lot of financial stress living in sweden? would love to move there one day.
It amazes me that they would even try. So it begs the question, what is the repercussions for trying something illegal on tenants?
For example from the video the man gave gave 30 days instead of 90 days. They should be fined for every mistake that is deemed illegal to teach them a lesson.
Without repercussions they will try every illegal thing in the book to make it work.
I’m pretty sure that there are some U.S. cities where that exists as well.
THIS type of thing where these unscrupulous people are called out BY NAME also serves an important purpose. Sunlight is the great sanitizer. Keep exposing them!
We need to do more than just expose these people. They're killing us with greed and laziness.
You expose them but will the right people care, the way I see it. People are mad that rent keeps going up, but everything including taxes food and most everything is doing the same. The pressure holds no force when it's to be expected, tell your politicians to stop raising taxes and make cuts. Rising costs will incentivize a increase in rent, just make it cheaper for landlords to operate. We only pass the cost over to the consumer like most successful companies.
@@Canbutcant THIS! Exposing them is but part of the solution. VOTE for those that will affect the change YOU want to see!! VOTING is the other part of this! VOTE!!
@@Canbutcant If it were simply a case of costs increasing with inflation than rent increases would not be far outstripping inflation rates. It's greed, at least be honest about it.
Until you end up dead of corse.
Landlords should certainly not be allowed to operate anonymously - that is total BS.
i agree. you generally don’t see landlords with 1 or 2 rental properties operating anonymous
Businesses should not be allowed to own residential property. Houses are for humans, they should be owned by humans.
Unfortunately all of us who are renting are basically paying for the lobbyists who will make sure that never happens.
Yeah for real they gonna create all the homelessness than make everyone else deal with it.
@@jacobnapkins1155 that’s happening now
Our old landlord changed the time frame to inform them that you aren't going to renew from 60 days to 30 days without informing us then told us they were gonna increase our rent by 30 percent. When we obviously informed them that we weren't gonna renew, and they not only told us that due to us being "late" that we'd not only forfeit our security deposit they were gonna charge US for the renovations to the apartment. I pulled out all the emails and the copy of the lease we signed basically said " try me bitch". We never got the deposit back but they backed out of the additional charges. Fucking crooks.
should've sued for the deposit...
@@lostconciousness4255 Wasn't worth it.
@lostconciousness4255
Landlords have time, people don't.
Oh no My termite farms are all empty. What happened??
I love how the generation that’s always talking about “bootstraps” is the same generation that got housing, education and lifesaving medical technologies for dirt cheap and then turned those things into the most broken for-profit systems imaginable.
They also had this saying that goes "if you can't beat them, join them"
Yeah. They worked hard on making the market impossible for everyone. Obviously that means they deserve the fruits of their labor :^]
Fun thing about those bootstraps: the original usage was used to describe something that is literally impossible. Because of leverage angles, pulling yourself up by the bootstraps is literally physically impossible.
How else would they make profit if not by taking advantage of what was given to them for free? Capitalism runs on capital.
@@iLikeCoffee777 And this generation is doing the same....
The anonymity is really the problem. They can blacklist you personally. For life. But you don't even get a name.
shouldn't be able to hold on to the property without being liable for it. since if some one dies when the building falls apart you can't just laugh it off.
explain to me how it is fair when the cost of living is over 15% per year but I cannot raise tenant's rent by 10% per year according to the stupid california law.
@@nightingale7178 so what ur saying is u want to be able to increase rent 15% a year because ur cost of living is higher, and u dont see the problem with that? How to make sure ur tentants cant afford to live in 1 easy step. If ur cost of living is up 15%, so is theirs, and raising rent by that same amount then makes their cost of living now 30%+ higher.
If not raising their rent means u cant afford to live, how do u expect the people who have to rent from u to afford double that amount? If this is the case then u dont need to be a landlord and should probably just sell the property to buy a sandwhich. Instead of forcing people into homelessness.
BlackRock is not anonymous
@@verakoo6187if you cannot afford, it is may be time to move to a cheaper place. It is the economy that is fuc*ed. May be it is also time to raise your income/salary.
The Health Department is an important ally in fighting slumlords. I had two vacant mouse-infested garbage filled apartments on each side of me, and manager refused to clean it up. The mice ate the electricals in the oven/stove. I kept my place clean, but the smell was nauseating and unhealthy. The day after i called the health dept. management sent workers to pull apart the cabinets, give me a new oven/stove, and clean up the vacant apartments. This was after months of refusing to act. I wish i had called sooner.
The health department shouldn’t have to give you new stuff that should be on the landlord to replace. Happy you got help but that landlord is liable
@@whatarewaves Hes saying the landlord replaced everything, The health department was the one who pushed the landlord into action
IE Health Department: "You have a tenant who is citing you are not fulfiling your duties as a landlord and legal action can be taken, this will be our first contact and any further contact will be to schedule a court hearing" type shit lol
HAHAHA the apartment was such a slum I doubled down to try and stay longer
@@Freedomring-uk6ydIt was a slum so they used their legal rights to enforce the health code and make the slum lord clean up
@@chrismanuel9768 HAHAHA tenants never call the BOH to be vindictive and withhold rent
I’ve been dealing with this since I was 18 and moved out for the first time, I’m 27 now and still dealing with this bullshit and nobody wants to hear it. Everybody says I’m crazy and people get their deposits back and know who their landlord is and their maintenance requests always get handled……like am I living in another reality or something??? Thank you for validating my experiences and bringing me comfort in knowing I’m not crazy and I’m not one of the only few out here dealing with totally corrupt corporate rental situations.
Its a real situation but one thats easily avoidable with basic research and planning. I mean why would u rent anything without even finding out who owned it first?
It depends on the situation. I did some property management for my parents several years back. We strived to be very good to our tenants, but had quite a few that would abuse the wheels off of that kindness. Got plenty of money for beer, cigarettes and pot, but are three months behind on rent. Punch holes in the walls and literally crap in the floor when they finally get evicted. One lady locked about 20 cats in her unit and left. No idea where she got them. That sort of thing. We struggled just to break even, and frequently didn't. These corporate entities have learned how to game the system though. They treat these properties like investments, and the tenants get screwed. We need fairness all around.
I've noticed that different tiered services ARE alternate universes. If you go for the services that target poorer people, you get a COMPLETELY different treatment than if you go for the services that target upper middle class people.
Cheap tear tax prep? Expect scams in your mail. Upper Middle tax prep? Expect them to call you once a year to make sure you get your taxes filed.
Oh no-they keep every penny.
@@verakoo6187 you must be *so* fun to chill with and work with, and are no doubt a hoot to invite to gatherings of lovely people. Bless your heart.
The apartment we used to live in was owned by some company. They did not respond to any of our concerns or requests. We had to buy tokens from their office to use the laundry, but their hours were very inconvenient, and often the tokens would break in the machines without the machine counting them, so we would have to use more. When it would rain, water would come in from around the window frame and from the ceiling above the windows. We were not allowed to take a bath because the water would leak into the unit below us. We literally had water come into our bathroom from the unit above us through the light fixture in the ceiling, but nothing was ever fixed. Now we rent from people we actually personally know. Its not totally perfect, but its much much better. Its good to actually know the person you are renting from, instead of having to deal with some faceless corporation.
As someone put it to me earlier, "It's always better to be able to talk physically with your Leaser. It's hard for them to ignore the Leasee when there are issues. They can both also negotiate prices and if theft know eachother that gives just a bit more trust between the two that can let a leasee ask for a rent extension, with more ease. And when they actually pay in that in good faith it helps the relationship. A corporation is faceless. They can ignore you with hardly any repercussions."
What a difference a few decades make. Growing up in an Apartment house(24 apartments on 4 floors ) from 1965-1995 in Bay Ridge Brooklyn NY and all those years my Landlord/owner of the building lived on the floor below mine. So, of course the building was always kept very nice and utilities always worked because this guy lived right there with me. When i had a problem i just went down 1 flight of stairs and knocked on his door to get it solved.
As soon as he sold the building it all went to crap. I recall him coming up to my apartment and talking to me about it and saying he couldn't say No to the offer the firm made, it was just too good. Firstly, the rents went up by 35% and then it was impossible to get them to fix anything, the utilities would go out and we would call and nobody would do anything. But if you were 1 day late with your rent Oh Boy did they respond quickly!!
There will be buildings here with capacity of 50. Yet 25 people are living in it and pay super inflated rent because they have no choice. 😮
That's how everything is now. Especially after 2008. It used to take three months before a utility company would harass you about your unpaid bill. Now, one day late and they are threatening to come cut it off.
At least here in Minneapolis you can file a legal complaint for non-repair. You have to pay rent into escrow with the city, but the landlord doesn't see a dime until they address the issue and they also can't evict you in the meantime.
Pretty sad that he took the money. Too many people do that as good landlords and small businesses. Then we all complain wondering how this happened in our country when too many people are willing to be bought out for money. We need new laws, but people need to have more of a sense of community responsibility, rather than always having individual opportunity take precedence.
Pretty sad that he took the money. Too many people do that as good landlords and small businesses. Then we all complain wondering how this happened in our country when too many people are willing to be bought out for money. We need new laws, but people need to have more of a sense of community responsibility, rather than always having individual opportunity take precedence.
I'm surprised there isn't a bill to disincentivize empty apartments, especially rent stabilized ones. It should be ridiculously expensive to keep so many units of housing empty for more than a few months
In some states there are. These are state by state level issues, and while the housing crisis is largely a national problem the causes of it aren't uniform. In California for example there are restrictions on multi tenant buildings making new construction of apartments and high rises difficult, while in NYC the tax laws such as the 421-a abatement encourage slumlords to own large square footages of low income housing, while other laws provide tax breaks due to lost income if a dwelling is empty.
@phonyalias7574 tax breaks if a dwelling is empty? That's the opposite of how it should work. Tax should rise on unoccupied property, aggressively. If a landlord leaves buildings empty they should be hemorrhaging money.
@@undead_corsair I agree to a point, this could have the unintended consequence of making renovation/upkeep difficult though. Too me there should be a set amount of time a unit can be empty over a given period of time kinda like how paid family medical plan policies work. You can't get a tax break on a unit unless it has been rented out for 5 year, and then you have 6 months of a break or something like that. This way maintenance can be done, but leaving units open for extended periods of time is not feasible, further more there absolutely should be a tax that increases month by month following a 'maintenance phase' to prevent maintenance from being an excuse to keep flats empty. Oh and any vacancy for more than say 2 weeks is included in the 6 month time. (FYI these are spitball numbers just an idea).
Isn't not collecting rent incentive enough?
@@adambuchbinder2791 often the losses they can declare on a property have significant benefits for them such as shifting their tax bracket along with local considerations like Phony Alias mentioned in NYC where there's other financial benefits to them.
Corporate landlords are the worst. I wish we could cap the amount of single family homes and apartments/condos that a single person or corporation could own. Keeping it small makes for better accountability and more robust home ownership.
We need to cap how much rent can even cost as well
@@studytime3461 shame your credit is so bad you cant get that loan huh?
Good comment!
No one is stopping you from buying/building a home. Do you want your income/salary capped? What about your 401K profits?
They can not regulate and tax everyone out of poverty.
You want to see affordable housing? Offer a tax incentive to builders of housing at "affordable"/Lower i.e...smaller/more efficient price points and watch the market get flooded with lowered price housing!
Deport the people who have come in illegally, they dont move to Beveryt Hills, they move to the most affordable housing available. Supply and Demand...Rent goes up!
Fine the shit out of any company that hires undocumented workers or even workers with fake paperwork!
Issue tempiorary work permits for the jobs that americans do not want to do or can not do, and the fruit will get picked too!
@@yourunclejohn984I would never live in New York its hard enough just trying to get a parking space.
The landlord kicks you out, raises the rent to the stratosphere, then doesn't rent the place. So, theoretically, he's losing money...right? Not necessarily. Every month the place isn't rented at the exorbitant price, he writes it off as a tax loss against his other business interests. Also, don't forget that commercial real estate in places like New York City are classic vehicles for money laundering.
"Every month the place isn't rented at the exorbitant price, he writes it off as a tax loss against his other business interests."
Interestingly vague, as if you don't really understand how this works. What amount do you think they "write off" monthly? The whole market value of the property? The market monthly rent?
You don't get to write off missed potential gains as a loss. They can at most write off actual monthly expenses on the property, such as maintenance or utilities. They can also generally write off property taxes from federal income tax, but this is essentially a 20-40% (or more or less, not sure what the extremes are) return depending on their effective tax rate.
In New York there are actual million dollar parking spots. Imagine having so much money that you would buy one. Imagine being surrounded by all the suffering and starvation that a million dollars could fix, but just driving past it all because you can't be burdened to pay for a Taxi or park somewhere else.
Yup. Luciferian antics. They really need to be run off the planet. They gotta go.
@@Addlibs I believe they do get to write off tenant's nonpayments who don't pay their rent.
I can imagine that with a little definitional finagling, they might be able to write off empty apartments.
How does one launder money through an unrented apartment? lol... Also, the tax code is clear that you can only write off your expenses in maintaining the property, you cannot write off the lost rent. Please learn the law before you pretend that you know it.
There seems to be a record number of homeless people at the same time there's a record number of vacancies. Also, there seems to be little incentive for landlords to actually compete with each other, particularly with the housing market being what it is today. The real estate corporations seem think and act as one body. Perhaps it's time to amend the anti-trust laws.
People need to care about local elections more, and choose the right mayors and city council.
Time for mass armed squat takeovers of buildings.
Except it's the governments that created the laws and regulations and subsidy systems that created the problem to begin with.
Most of the Leaser's don't want to lose profit. So when the one large llc raises the rent, others will follow the same. That forces the smaller "mom & pop" rental businesses to try and match our lose enough that they end up selling... to their competitive LLC. It should be illegal but... you know how that goes.
nah, it's about time we just find their corporate buildings and give them a little visit.
Being able to sue another doesn't fix anything when they can just tie it up in courts for decades.
that's true, but there is value in being able to find a punchable face at the end of all of it, and even landlords will respect that dynamic. Even if there is never an intent to "cash in" on that. It puts an upper limit on how "fucked over" a person can be, if a landlord literally ruins someone's life, there is no delays in court that will protect their sense of safety.
If you sue an individual that person must then go to court even if they have a large amount of financial and legal resources, if you sue a corporation they can just use the legal firm they were already paying to then do all the bullshittery and stalling they do for a living without any individual held responsible because its the companies lawsuit not the person actually fucking people over.
This financial representation is what unions are for lol, you don't rent if you have any money.
Eat the rich. It's faster than going through courts and they taste like pork
@@AskTorin People often rent because they move around. You don't seem to know many people.
Doxxing landlords to let tenets know who owns them is not only moral, but is the correct thing to do.
Doxxed and beheaded
@@GamerGoober69 I'm 12 too
@@dddaaa6965get off real estate videos doogie houser
@@dddaaa6965for the last time: you aren’t 12. You have Alzheimer’s. You live with us in our basement. You need to stay off the web before you start calling African Americans bad names again. Please remember this time
Do you know what's funny about this entire situation? We were told about it. All of us, but we just dont know it. Monopoly (the game) was originally about Land Lords. And how did that game ended? Everyone loses except one person who holds everything, the land lords or large companies like black rock.
Australian here, living in a 80 year old house with mostly 80's features and no temp control, was hit with a $100 rent increase, second increase in a year. Emailed back the real estate place requesting maybe $60 increase and was immediately refused. We'd asked them to relay our message to the landlord as we were told by the shop owners next door they they were a nice old couple who would listen, I feel like there's no way the real estate guys passed on our message as they replied so quickly. Feeling so angry and defeated, if theres a rally or protest point me in the direction and i'll wheelchair my way tf over
Isn't there some sort of home owners registry? Maybe you can request who is owner from there.
What's the total rent amount previously.? You did not mention details to get a fair view. Like my rent was 925 for yrs and the landlord did a 40 increase or 1150 for month to month. The month to month was high too me. Which I would prefer... Bit I took 4o. And decided if I break I'll just pay whatever
Neighborhood centers and community legal centers have advice for Tennant's I think. In your state there may be a limit to how much rent can be raised per year.
I think it's ten percent in qld?
Not sure.
There should be a tenants or housing association in your town that may be able to advise you.
I've found my state member of parliament helpful in the past.
All the best.
Hi! I'm an Australian too, have you reached out to your state's tenancy authority? I live in Victoria and our state tenancy authority is consumer affairs victoria, who I've reached out to before when I got hit with a rent increase (during covid no less lol). They can be kinda bad sometimes, but they helped me and they could help you too?
@@minifalda6611 RAHU as well, and I'd strongly advise looking at them for everyone renting since they've been doing a lot of good work for tenants dealing with crap landlords since they started up.
The fact that renting a house is so prevalent in the urban areas in the US, only serves to see that your system is made to be sure that you are always in debt with someone and technically own nothing. Wew, that is a lot and scary.
The WEF said it. Own nothing and be happy
@@davidstrelec2000 Yeah, but people in the US have been already there for decades, it seems.
It is worse than that. Many people choose to rent because they enjoy being free of the burdens of home ownership. Plus for people with a brain they are better off investing their money elsewhere and rent instead. Not everyone wants to or needs to own a home.
What does suck though is that those who do buy a home or property have to pay property tax, and that includes taxing of gains that have not been realized yet.
They punish us to own instead of rent.
Here in Vancouver, Canada, our government has implemented a "Vacancy tax" in order to encourage landlords not to unfairly drive up prices with an artificial supply problem. A "Vacancy Tax" essentially significantly increases the owners yearly property tax if the owner does not rent out the property.
No wonder there is such a lack of investment in affordable housing!
Combine that with 'tenants can stay for free up to a year before Tribunal will kick them out', and 'tenants can trash the place without consequence' = affordable rental shortages will only get worse!
......why can't people understand that Communism DOESN'T work?
This has been floated in the States recently and would help here a lot. There are tons of single family homes and apartments sitting vacant because investment firms own them and it is better for their bottom dollar keep them empty and hike up the rent on their other properties because of the "shortage." A vacancy tax and a limit on how much rent can up would be really helpful here. Unfortunately part of the problem is that rent is already too high. Tough to make it come back down at this point
@@tylermartin988 I am always amazed how how small minded humans are. Rent is high because Property Tax + Inflation + Insurance + Maintenance is so high!
....but people complain about the landlord instead of focusing on WHY rents are so high.
Landlords are not slaves!
@@natetaylor9002 rents are high because landlords will charge every penny they think they can get. My personal example, I used to live in a house that was split into two apartments. I lived there for 5 years years, admittedly under market rate due to my elderly landlord. She sells to an investor. Investor immediately hikes rent up to market rate, 39%. I take no issue with this as it's roughly in line with the 5 years of inflation I hadn't seen increases for. That brings us to year 6 and I'm notified that I'm not being renewed. I ask why and she says she wants to renovate and I can live there during renovations. 2 weeks later, the apartment is listed online for 50% more than what I had been paying. The "renovations" were that she painted the walls a neutral grey instead of neutral tan. She didn't think I'd pay more as a young professional, but she can rent one bedroom to 6 college kids and charge 50% more
@@JKSSubstandard I am NOT your slave!
I worked hard my whole like (became a dual tradesman), saved up + did without. I purchased a building.....had to get a mortgage for $250,000 to bring it up to code......I'll be paying that mortgage for a long time!
I charge rates that are below the going rate...and I provide good service.
And then I see people like you who call me a horrible, greedy man!
I have to pay ever increasing property taxes, insurance, maintenance....and each year, the rent I get is less because of high inflation rates.
My tenants stay usually until they die or have to move to an old age home....THAT is the indicator of my service and fair rates!
And YOU call me a cheap, greedy monster!
I am NOT your slave!
The fact that this video takes place in NYC, a city with some of the best landlord-tenant laws in the US, makes me really worry about what's going down in the rest of the country
Vote trump
@@TerryBartsoffTerrence, can you provide a summary of how and why voting for Trump will solve the rent crisis?
@@TerryBartsoff lmfao, vote for the fraudster, to fix bad rent practices? lay off the meth cletus.
@@TerryBartsoff Trump is one of them. He is literally their golden ticket.
Oklahoma here 70% or more of rentals are owned by corporations and a lot are out of state. They bought up a lot of apartments that needed a tiny bit of fixing they fixed nothing and about 20 years later theres mold and water damage and bugs in nearly every complex. No matter the price point I know people on housing people paying low end rent and people who rent luxury condos. It's all the same at this point just different paint and prices but all the same problems.
Ive had landlords deny security deposts when i lived with my relatives. Unfortunately for the landlord we took pictures of move in day and move out day and it was cleaner when we moved out. Threatened a lawsuit and shared the pictures and suddenly they had a change of heart. A lot of these companies fold at the slightest pushback, but 90% of people dont push back at all.
Pictures all what I've always done plus the longer you live there the more normal wear and tear come into play.
@bc1969214 Just because you live somewhere for X amount of time doesn't mean squat. People do their own repairs all the time, not everybody sits on wear and tear. 🤨
@@Shinycelebi “Normal Wear and Tear” refers to deterioration of the property that happens when the property is used as it was meant to be used, but only when that deterioration occurs without negligence, carelessness, accidents, misuse, or abuse by the tenant or guests of the tenant.
Example, fading paint is not security deposit item vs. hole in wall is. Worn carpet over time from foot traffic vs. pet stains and so-on.
@bc1969214 I'm not sure you're smart enough to follow my words. I'm well aware of what wear and tear is and to what extreme. I'm also well aware the tennant can fix the place up as much as the land lord can, or you telling me the land lord is going to rent the property with wear and tear. I'm not sure you're really dense or lack critical thinking, but if the person tells you they left it better then they got it, and can provide proof, then you can shove the wear and tear crap way up your arse. Thanks.
We went for the lawsuit for our security deposit because they claimed they had to patch paint some parts of the house. We didn't even put nails on the walls to get our deposit back. We went to small claims court and they came with an army of lawyers and told us that if we lose the case we'll be paying all these attorney costs. We ended up dropping the case but I think we're already on some sort of a blacklist since we can't get an approval from anywhere, with a perfectly clear rental/credit history.
Last year, when my landlords raised my rent, the leasing agent looked across the desk at me and actually said, “We have to do this to remain competitive”. My jaw practically hit the floor. Since when does raising prices make you more competitive?!? Has capitalism been inverted? I didn’t say anything to the woman-it’s not her fault n she has no control. Still I found it absolutely shameless. They’re raising it again $250/month(im in Portland, Or) so I’m moving n downgrading to a one bedroom.
It's bad everywhere, I wish there was a massive movement of people just refusing to pay. The Real Estate market needs to crash and burn. Costs too much to rent and way too much to buy a home, I just can't believe this is where humanity is at. I hate to say it but I think the only way we are getting out of this is a French Revolution 2.0 on a global scale. Greed does not know fear and that is the fundamental problem with so much in the world today.
Something is completely broken on NYC if someone finds it better to have essentially 2/3 vacancy on a building than to lower the rent. Clearly, supply and demand are very disconnected and it's only possible when market distortions are artificially put in place.
Wow. Both rly smart comments. I agree-we don’t have capitalism exactly anymore. It’s state supported and crony-ized now. Seemed to happen not long after the stock market decoupled itself from the real economy.
Question is, how much do they think we’ll take? Pretty soon, there will be more unhoused folks than housed. I agree w the revolution idea, sadly. Power never gives in without pressure
They raise rent to be "competitive" with the inflation rate and the interest rate on the mortgages they hold--if the profits from rents don't outpace the interest on the loans by the rate of inflation times some arbitrary number, then the shareholders don't get "growth profits" over the quarter or the year and then the fund shares go down in value and some very rich people have a mild sad because the one thing they can never have is Enough.
@@jmcnally647 You missed it cost too much to build too. Also, building a new place is maze of difficulties. Also, we keep letting people move into the US so there is even more pressure on supply...IF the housing market corrects, I will be seeking new rentals! Keep your credit clean and save and being a first time buyer you will get first crack.
This reminded me of the time I tried to get my security deposit back after leaving the place spotless. We shampooed the carpets, cleaned the walls, went all out. It looked better than when we moved in. Our request for the deposit back was denied. When we asked why, the landlord claimed he found "rust" on the refrigerator shelves. The shelves were plastic.
Did you take pictures? When you moved in vs when you moved out? Edit: Do you have that reason in writing? If you so just sue them for the deposit they can't deny return of deposit for a little rust they can't even prove you caused it. They try this outrageous nonsense because yall won't sue them
@gokublack8342
If you do somehow have a photo of the inside of the fridge, they could pivot to another superfluous detail.
Also, I knew a friend (and their roommates) who tried to sue a landlord for their deposit back. The landlord abused the judicial process and effectively extended court dates over a year past their move-out. He ensured that if my friend was going to get their deposit back, he would force them to burn as much money and time as possible.
And with all of this frustration, it is aggravating to know how powerless we are.
I do not condone violence, but I will say, it would be quite a world if landlords collectively lived in fear of eating lead. From the mafias willing to serve it to them for breakfast. Or what if we just went the way of the French and de-anonynize names and threaten them with death until they back down? Again, would be a totally super whacky scenario. I do not condone the fiction stated above.
The rental company came through the day of as a "free" pre-check to "help us" make sure everything was clean and nothing was missed. After taking notes of all the "things" this person found, we cleaned it all again and check it off the list. The next week, we were notified that the ceiling fan wasn't cleaned and half the deposit would be withheld. I cleaned that fan in front the the person who did the walkthrough. What I didn't clean was actually under the stove, but that was never brought up or listed as the reason for the withholding. Its clear the rental company just picked a random thing to list so they can keep some money. If we known that the deposit was being withheld, we wouldn't have spent 2 days cleaning and washing the carpets. The last place we rental, we just left it as is. expecting no deposit back, we actually got half. Everyone should just accept they will hold some or all of the deposit and not clean when you leave. Waste of time.
what did you do after your landlord stole your deposit?
@@gokublack8342lawyer fees will far exceed the cost of the security deposit
I own six rental properties, and my tenants have lived in them for over a decade. I've only raised the rent once, by 5%, and that was five years ago. I charge $1,350 per month for each three-bedroom, two-bathroom house. The reason I don't increase the rent more often is that I have reliable tenants, and I don't want to lose them. I made a deal with them - they handle minor repairs and maintenance within reason, such as fixing a broken water pipe, and in exchange, I keep the rent low. This arrangement has allowed me to maintain great long-term tenants that I hope to keep for years to come.
If you left the place spotless, how could they justify the cleaning fee by law?? Absolute pigs, these landlords. I'm lucky to live in Vienna, where we have strong tenant protections and more than half of all available flats have severe price ceilings which keeps down the prices of the non-price cealing flats too. Every city should have laws like these.
They usually can't justify it, and he technically probably could have gone to court and gotten that money back - but the time and costs associated with doing so will just end up costing you more in the long run. Making excuses to keep people's deposits no matter what and large "application fees" are just another way they milk tenants and even prospective tenants for more cash. If he left the apartment as shown and free of trash, a basic cleaning before re-renting is part of the LL's costs of doing business. But as always they must pass those on to everyone else out of greed. Then the application fees, most places now will charge $50-$100 per resident. So a family of 4 could pay 200-400 just to be told they weren't accepted to rent there. Looking for an apartment and applying to a handful of places can cost them well over $1000 alone without actually even residing anywhere and no real reason for those fees. Many property owners will just keep "taking applications", getting the money from these fees, but never placing any tenants - and end up making more than if they actually rented the place out. It's insane.
I can keep going lol... Then there's pet fees too. Why do I have to pay another $100 month because I have a cat? She hasn't damaged anything, she sleeps 14 hours a day 😂 and if they did shouldn't I just be charged for repairs when moving out? Extra $100 month for literally nothing, times that by the other 200+ residents in my complex who likely have pets. $$$$
Unfortunately, far too many in the US vote against their own interests and keep voting for Republicans. When they say they are for deregulation, they literally mean deregulation of everything that generates more profits for the fat cats.
I live in Chile and here rent is higher than minimum wage.
I fought it the last time I was assessed a $500 cleaning fee. I provided pictures showing that it was professionally cleaned and noted spots of 'normal use wear and tear'. They backed down.
@@solarcrystal5494 that was so unkind.
Finally somebody who's beginning to uncover the absurd greed, corruption and extortion that's been destroying the lives of millions. Thank you, please do not stop, we need more of such content!
also funny how it's not a mom&pop landlord but a corporation (probably blackrock) doing this!
Yeah, except it has always been obvious how landlords are like that. Its only the details being uncovered
NO, he didn't come Close to showing how it works, how its allowed to go on. And its been going on for 2 centuries. Stop and look at how many retail and office spaces are vacant in NYC and nearly every other city. Louis Rossman has been pointing it out periodically for near a decade. All this vid did is to trigger a bunch of low hanging fruit. None of the "proposed" solutions have a hope in hell of fixing anything (since they've been done before elsewhere) because they want you target fixated on the one hand while the other reaches into your pocket. "You will own nothing, and be happy"
@@f1y7rap while true, this low hanging fruit might help out a few dozen ppl.
hs sees one video and thinks he understands the situation?
We need to keep bullying and exposing landlords.
Yes.
Mao enters the chat
Or the government could do its flipping job and enforce laws.
@@vicw9223 it's fricking job is representing the people whose donations fund politicians campaigns, increases the value of their friends stocks and gives them a golden parachute once their term is over. The state never has and never will represent both workers and capitalist leeches.
*Mao-ing landlords
I'm a disabled veteran living in a retirement apartment complex. When we got a rate increase from SSA last year, they immediately raised our rent 2X of our income increase. I hope things work out for you.
You will probably see the next civil war soon enough. 🫡
America overall has an accountability problem. Modern technology has made it easier to put distance between owners and customers, in nearly all situations, and these changes have always led to greed winning out which is always bad for consumers. This is what capitalism looks like when played out alongside depersonalizing technology. It will only get worse until either major laws are passed or violent protests make it no longer safe to be a greedy fatcat.
Eat the rich.
Branching off somewhat (but still completely agreeing with you), the next generation of "distance profiteers" is already making noise on social media---saying that as ChatDPT-type AI is "inevitable" and a *GOOD* as far as they're concerned, I've already exchanged chats with younger people than myself who want to do with all printed media what landlords do with places to live.
@@stephm.3407 Eat them all
I’d like to see a violent revolution
Of course we do. America needs less religion
This is an issue of political will. We don't have representatives that are going to help us. This is why there is activism. The apathy of the exploiting party cannot be corrected without actual, physical, action. They are too removed, intellectually, and have to be confronted in reality.
I wonder how many of them are landlords.
Activism won't remove the politician's hands from the lobbyists pockets. Unless you mean the 1860's kind of activism.
Activism doesn't work, what does work is voting for your local politicians, your landlord isn't the one who evicts you the local police evict you.
@@MushookieMan historically speaking, when the price of bread becomes too high
They're too removed morally, ethically, and socially. I try to take comfort in the fact that the common people are finally starting to push back and fight.
Being a landlord and choosing to stay anonymous is both an admission of guilt and one of the most cowardly moves a human being can make on this planet. That's so pathetic, Jesus christ.
yeah it is. you don’t see the small landlords that only own 1 or a few rental properties doing that
Typical Caucasian dealings.
then you clearly are not cut out to do business then as a landlord. These people do this because they don't want to hear what excuses you have just that money is flowing in and you not becoming a problem to their investments.
Mao was right about landlords.
@@havokthadon4173 A dimwitted racist isn't much higher on the ranking.
This made me cry MORE. My slumlord in another state refuses to fix broken underground water pipe. For years I paid $30mo. Last bill was$108!! Now he demands rent increase and for me to sign new month to month lease and is threatening "serious consequences" if I don't. I'm on social security, old and crippled without family or friends to help move me. I live in old trailer. He's been selling condemned trailers to meth addicts. Maybe if i learned how to make it I'd have a good business here to pay him and fix everything he won't fix.
I wouldn't mind organizing a landlord blacklist, credit scores should always work both ways. A city wide tenants union could twist a very silly knife into the side of equity holders failing to consider what their investments are based on.
Lol
Unfortunately, it is often a sellers market.
it's not a very good idea but i'm grasping. really tired of credit being a one way street and seeing people i know who are working hard, working smart, and constantly getting dicked over by capital
@@skiplogicgg I agree with you. And I don't understand what someone's ability to pay back a loan has anything to do with paying a required bill like rent. The landlord doesn't loan me $12k+ for the year and I slowly pay them back for it.
would be great but at the end of the day people still need to live somewhere. Strikes work but with labor you can easily stop working for a few weeks or months but for people who need a place to live being homeless for a few weeks or months isn't really an option. The only way I can see doing this is organizing people to suddenly stop paying rent for a month but they can still come after you for this as often it is legally owed.
This is what happens when the rich aren't heavily taxed and allowed to grow so rich, that they can buy up everything in sight and then rent it to you so you can make them even richer. They even bought our government, in case you haven't noticed.
Yes, they own our government but taxing them isn't going to help. Especially since the tax money goes to the politicians anyway. If their tax goes up then your rent goes up. I wouldn't be surprised if some LLC's operated out of a different country either. We first need to stop lobbying, corruption, the monoparty, and the fixed elections. Those need to be done first for any real leaders to be voted in to actually fix the problem. Unfortunately the monoparty is currently in power and they're killing our society.
Bravo!
They use tax loopholes anyways, let’s instead just get rid of all landlords, what are they good for? Nothing. Nationalize Housing. Workers of the world Unite!
Supply and demand. If people didn’t pay these prices, there would be no choice than to lower it to keep customers. The problem is people choose to pay these prices.
@@donovanberserk4993 They're price fixing and not participating in fair trade. Also they're houses/apartments. Sure they can move but that's not always so easy.
As a german I always wondered why americans hated their landlords but after seeing the laws or rather the not existing laws for tenant protection i understand them. Here in germany these laws are already established as far as i know and i have never heard anyone talking about a lease for their home. I feel like they don't exist so you never have the fear to be kicken out. Hope your family now has a nicer landlord
Leases exist in Germany, and so do bad landlords (and seemingly on the rise from what I've read recently), thankfully though it's harder for them to prevail in your courts so 3 month notices while they exist often don't go well for a landlord without good cause to want the premises vacated.
It's also super common for landlords to sexually exploit their tenants in the US, even if the tenant isn't falling behind on rent.
Proposals like this in the US usually generates a lot of fake worry over property rights. The landlords tell everyone else if the government can tell them what to do with their property then the government can tell anyone what to do. Between that and scary words like communism being used, it's extremely hard to get anything passed.
I had an ex from Germany, who'd get offended when I shit on my landlord
@@redintheclouds I mean that's something to do in private, or maybe on camera.
Down with greed. Down with corruption. Hold everyone accountable
I have heard the part about landlords in NY not caring if a significant percentage of their units are empty from several people over the years. If this was simply about extracting as much money from working people as possible, that would not be something that they do, they would lower the prices to keep the units full, cause a unit pulling in less rent is better than one pulling in no rent. My best guess is that these companies don't actually care about the income from charging rent as much as they do about capital gains from buying and selling the buildings themselves, and that raising rents at the cost of letting units go empty, is just a method of inflating the theoretical value of the building since value of real estate is largely determined by how much people think they can charge for the rent now.
Many of the buildings are used to get huge mortgages. That 63 unit building with just 18 units rented probably can get the owners millions and the rents they collect are used to just satisfy the bank wanting to show their profitability. It's happening in our area of WNY now that corporations from Toronto Canada and NYC are buying up buildings. They don't really care to collect rents after they add it to their portfolio. When things go wrong and they have issues with housing courts for violations they sell quickly or transfer the ownership.
They almost certainly _can't_ lower the rent. Commercial real estate is weird. The short version is that if they lower rent, the loan on the property most likely goes into default. However, the portion of the payments which would have been paid by vacant units can be tacked back onto the mortgage. And they can't reasonably get the terms of the loan modified because the loan is owned by dozens to hundreds of different parties which would have to agree to the changes to some majority stipulated in the CMBS documents.
Spot on. Additionally these individuals, use their inflated theoretical value of the building, as an asset for collateral when taking out loans to purchase more buildings/complexes. This allows them to recieve a loan that is of a greater amount and a lower interest rate than would be typically given thus, increasing the propensity of the issue.
Also if there are no tenants in a flat then they can't damage the property, so you might actually lower your repair bills if you keep the units only half occupied.
This is exactly it. I’ve been trying to articulate this concept for ages now and now you did it so thanks!
For New York, specifically - The building owners all over NYC are refusing to rent out their spaces for less than the "Market Value" for years on end because lower rent means their building has a lower value. The government is also not being helpful with this problem because a LARGE portion of the budget is driven by property taxes. If the value of the buildings goes down, the budget goes down. So the owners are letting both businesses and rentals sit empty to maintain their value.
It is a vicious cycle that will only be broken when NYC goes bankrupt or enough owners default on their property loans to force a change.
I can't believe I"m going to say this, and I very well could be wrong. I wonder if it might almost be a better scenario if the govts used eminent domain and snagged these apartment buildings from the landlords/companies for the "betterment" of the areas. At least there'd be more housing units available that way, and affordable ones at that. By no means a fan of ED or govts either. It's kind of like which is the lesser of the two evils. And in this case, it seems the lesser is the damn govt.
@@Christy.1 stocks would absolutely tank. And I wouldn't care. The boomers retirement living way beyond their means by means of generational slavery was never ok.
@@Christy.1 The fact you think the goverment doesn't already own these buildings is adorable. Blackrock and other companies (some HQed in China) and the current administration are all bedfellows. Or let me put it this way. The current effective government are the lackeys of these multi-trillion dollar companies. What do you think will change when their goals are aligned?
The government/state is just a tool for the owning class to funnel through money from the workers to the owners.
That's like going "I'm starving and I have all of this gold, but I won't sell it because what if I'm paid less than it's worth? Better hold out until I get a REAL payout" and starve to death anyways.
Tenants - including those who live in manufactured home parks - need to have protection from greedy corporate landlords and from slumlords period. Rent needs to be affordable - not just lining the pockets of the owners. Yes, property rights are important, but landlords need to remember their tenants are human and as such have a human right to a decent place to live.
Capitalism doesn't care about "humanity". Capitalism commodifies people as human capital to be rented by the hour, and to be squeezed by rents and interest rates. Capitalism is made for capital, not humanity.
My rent went up $150 A MONTH. And they said that was a low amount compared to other current tenants and new tenants.
Make renting a residential housing against the law.
Property rights really aren't important. Landlords should have all their property seized and given over to the tenants and the public
@@WanderingExistence That's why we need to be transitioning away from capitalism.
As a landlord, I can tell you this much: if you don’t put the squeeze on your tenant, you retain them for a long time. You don’t have to pay a realtor commission to find a new tenant, your maintenance costs are lower as the tenant is likely to be more conscientious about their place, and you might actually make a friend. Also if the tenant can continue to save while paying a reasonable rent, they may one day buy the place from you, and again, you won’t need to pay realtor commission, or staging costs or significant upgrade costs. It’s not as high a return as putting the screws to the tenant like real page makes you do, but you can look yourself in the mirror without being ashamed, and it’s a lot less of a headache. And yeah, you won’t need to pay some attorney to form a shell company and hide behind the curtain.
You are a thoroughly decent human being and I wish there were millions more like you out there.
Great video, It's absolutely a kick in the face when they withhold or refuse to return your security deposit. Especially if there's no damage and a clean apartment. Our last landlord (which is also an LLC) said they would give us ours back, but has failed to do so since February.
I know it's slow and intimidating, but don't forget to take advantage of the legal system. We saved all of our emails, text messages, documents, and recorded out apartment on move in and move out and are currently in the small claims process.
Some people may say there's no point or think of it as to much work, but its absolutely necessary seeing as we worked for that money, they have a legal obligation, and not doing anything just confirms to them they can get away with it.
contact your state Attorney Generals Office
You know who gets hit the most with rent increases? the elderly. Twenty-five years ago when they were 80 years old my great aunt sold her big house and started renting a smaller, easier to keep clean place all on one floor. Landlord doubled her rent three times, Landlord knowing that she was rich thought she would keep paying far higher prices then go though the hassle of moving. When my aunt found out about this she was pissed so invited her to live with us. She died at the age of 102 rather than move her to a retirement home though thank goodness for Canadian home care.
❤💪
These landlords are really greedy. Something should really be done with them. Its happening all over the world. And they are lazy and greedy. The hardworking people are infact the tenants. What has the world become ?
@@prefixsuffix Capitalist, people keep trying to defend the crap but the system is inherently broken when it favours wealth consolidation by design. And so called free market capitalism is just fiscal anarchy, there's no self correction there.
I rented a house a couple years back that was owned by a company who had recently bought hundreds of houses in the area. I never met a landlord or any agent of any kind. It was all over email.
When I first moved in, the company who had painted and "cleaned" the house for turnover had sprayed paint all over the floors, windows, counters. There were full tread shoe prints in white paint inside and outside the house. Thick globs of paint on the kitchen floor tiles and marble counters.
I was never able to reach a human being to do anything about it. The "rental company" office was 3 states away. After a bit of digging I found out that the actual property owner was an AI company based in China. They just use bots to scour for homes for sale and purchase properties to turn into rentals. They use a "property management" company who's sole purpose is to handle evictions and find lowest bidder contractors for legally obligated repairs.
Yeah, this is essentially Chinese companies rent seeking, extracting America's land values out of America. Easy solution (which also solves the rent issue in general), tax the full rental value of the land. That economic rent is unearned and was technically created by the community and should go back to the community.
Wow I thought I felt hopeless _before_ I read this!
Just like the many many other problems we face, people MUST band together and fight back in large groups. Uk has over 138000 properties owned by shell companies (No landlord actually exists).
I used to pay $1245 for a studio in California which was crazy absurd for living in an area that didn't have that large of a population. After staying there for a year, my landlord wanted to increase the rent to $1295 and claimed it was due to inflation so I left. Some months later, they put my old address up for rent again and listed it for its original $1245 price. Turns out inflation wasn't the reason for the price hike and was more so their own greed.
I moved into my current residence around 2003. It's a single bedroom in a very bad neighborhood. Recently there was a police stand off with an armed individual living on the block just south of me where the cops were stationed with an armored vehicle in a parking lot I can see from my living room window. Shots were fired so I could have actually been hit with a stray bullet. And a few weeks before that a dead body was retrieved from an empty lot on my own block less than 100 feet from my back door. For almost 20 years I lived here paying the same rent. $250 for the apartment and another $20 on top for sewage, trash, and water shared with the rest of the building. I didn't mind the dangerous neighborhood because I keep to myself and the cheap rent allowed me to pay a month in advance which helped in case there was some kind of emergency. That rent didn't change for those 20 years and it was easy to see why, most of my neighbors in all that time were very temporary residents and many of them were living lives that were dangerous or involved criminal activity to some degree. The building was always a bit of a revolving door of people either hoping to move somewhere nicer as soon as possible or people just looking for a place to hole-up in for a while. Then, this year, the property was sold to new owners. The woman they put in charge then immediately threatened to kick me out because, and I'm dead serious, she didn't like my attitude. She demanded I move out because she didn't like me after interacting with me twice for a total of less than thirty minutes. When I asked her nicely to be reasonable she rose my rent by $150 and basically told me I was lucky she's such a nice and forgiving person.
She's not a nice and forgiving person. She has convinced herself this property which is across the street from a food mission and down the street from a soup kitchen and a homeless shelter would be a good home for middle class families with kids and a stable income. She's been left in charge of low rent housing and is trying to delude herself into thinking otherwise.
Naturally she's just the property manager, and a piss poor one at that, the new owners are doing everything they can to remain anonymous and now want to get rid of the property having discovered how much of a money pit it is just to keep it habitable.
As you can guess reading all of this I'm extremely poor so my only recourse has been trying to fix up my parents' attic so I can move back in with them. At 39. Not exactly a proud moment in my adult life. Still I'd prefer dealing with the shame of living with my parents again since at least then I'll be paying rent to people I love and respect.
....If we can get that attic fixed up... Everything is so damn expensive any more.
You can do it. No shame in paying your way with family.
Why would it be shameful ? Save up now, hard times are coming. Your family might need you too when the hard times come.
Heck, I'm in my mid-40s and 4 years ago had to make the decision to move in with roommates (good friends, so it worked out pretty well) because the rent situation in my area had gotten so bad. There's no shame in moving back in with your parents.
I approve of living with your parents - precisely for reason given, better to give them your money than someone who's not family. I hope you work on improving your income, too.
Many are moving to cheaper areas and buying an RV to live in. Might be an idea.
8:24 Our previous landlord withheld our security deposit even though we haven't put a nail on the wall. They said they are charging us for "patch painting". I checked the laws and that's considered a wear and tear item and can't be a reason to withhold security deposit. We went to small claims court. They came with a bunch of legal presentatives, my wife got scared of legal fees if we lose the case so we ended up dropping the case. Since then all the rental applications we have done have been negative, even though we have perfect rental history. Really messed up stuff. Yeah there are laws against this but how are you going to prove that the landlord rejected you because they saw your name on court documents? One potential landlord told us that their phones stopped working so they renting the place to someone else. We are pretty much being punished for seeking our rights in the court.
I would let loose termites..rodents and bugs in that building
No...never drop the case. They wanted you to be scared. A good judge would see thru shoddy landlords asap
Hire a cartel gang. Never an attorney
You should have went through with the court case I’m afraid. Nothing like good ol environmental terrorism with some termites couldn’t help out with
Always take the case before a judge and come with ALL the receipts.
I understand the fear, but if it’s a lose lose either way then I’d take it back to court if the statute isn’t over, and sue them for legal fees if at all possible. But not everyone can so easily do this I know. Easier said than done.
But if you get a lawyer in good standing with the bar and good standing with the court and a good judge.
Sorry that you went Thru this
"How is this legal?" - all of Europe.
It's really messed up that they have landlords that are like... the nobles that own the land or something... I don't really understand any of it, I just pay my bills to the public housing assocation.
I mean, stuff like this def happens in Europe too. Yes, it is often illegal, but they pick the people that can't defend themselves. Foreign students are particulary at risk. No smoke detectors, some mold, rooms that are only 8m2 or 700 euro for 16 m2. I've seen it all.
@@christianpetersen163 tbf in Europe it is also starting to get fucked up, price fixing is already real in every major city, here they decreased evictions times for unpaid rent, etc. etc.
America always does it first, but finals stage capitalism reaches all capitalisms at some point :)
Do you know why the Americans forced Germany to introduce strong labour and renter protection laws after WWII? To prevent social unrest that led to WWII.
In Europe it's gone the opposite way. Private landlords are selling up because it's not worth the hassle any more.
I once worked for a family of landlords in Rockland County that were so shady I could only answer the phone "4800, how can I help you?" My first call of the first day was THE PEOPLES COURT! The girl training me said "hang up!" So I did. I should've ran. They were the most horrendous family I ever met. So afraid of being caught my entire office was full of banker boxes they would burn before the high holy days!
Some really illegal stuff goes on them there. My brother bought a house and his property taxes have doubled in 10 years. He's going to leave New York State
I'm going to start praying for these slumlords to either face prison time and/or that they loose everything they have and end up on the streets homeless. May they be treated with the same respect they gave the tenants. Disgusting.
Who do you offer that prayer too?
@@johnowens5342 Gangstalkers, they tend to kill people with power.
@@johnowens5342 Not to any merciful god, as they wouldn't let landlords exist in the first place
Perhaps at some point in life, you will choose to better yourself to the point of being a home owner and not have to be bitter.
@@GodplayGamerZulul they only kill people without power :)
Security deposits are a joke. You will NEVER see that money back, because the landlords collude on that too. They have entire pages on how to review units in a way that let's them claim as much damages as possible.
Luckily when it comes to deposits, at least in the UK, you have to /agree/ with the security deposit being deducted.
They can take you to court to really claim it, but that is an expensive process, so if the flat is truly in a good state you can claim that any damage is reasonable wear and tear, and say that you want your money back.
If there truly is damage though, it is best to let it go as it is not worth going to court over for you either.
But saying "Take me to court if you want it" can be a pretty strong foot to put down.
@@frankgrimes7388 Aight big man
Also gotten all of my security deposits back
@@frankgrimes7388 “I must be the only person who has a nice apartment,” he said, without irony. “All the hundreds of thousands of people that landlords abuse must be morally deficient, unlike me. I’m so smart.” Smugly, the king of anecdotes sent his enlightening youtube comment, sure in the fact that there were no bad landlords.
@@frankgrimes7388 Good anecdotes you have there. I have 5 times that same anecdote but in reverse. And the tenants were with the landlords face to face too. Personally helped clean an apartment with a freaking toothbrush and watched in amazement as the landlord put on a white glove, slid her finger across the OUTSIDE (street facing) rim of one window in the back of the toilet. Proceeded to show us the glove was dirty and smugly denied my sister in law her 1500€ deposit.
Actual real story, this is not a cartoon. By chance in Belgium, deposits are held in an escrow and need both side approval, we just blocked her endlessly and spammed her with legal demands. We won, only fuelled by pure spite.
660,000 airbnbs in the US
500,000 homeless
@@abhipatel2162 I live in a 200 sq foot studio apartment lol
@@abhipatel2162 Homeless people do sneak in sometimes and sleep in the entrances when it gets cold. It’s not my basement though, it’s my landlord’s.
@@abhipatel2162 I could ask you how many unhoused people you have welcomed into your home but that is none of my business. It's none of my business or yours how or how much another person does or does not help. The laws that need to change do not depend on the amount of volunteering citizens do.
@@abhipatel2162 Why would he need to do that if there are more vacant homes in the US than there are homeless people?
166,000 vacant houses in Ireland. (The plurality of which are rental properties being held back from market lol).
12,000 homeless.
Article 43 of the constitution allows this to be remedied, but no one even talks about it.
System's a joke. Even Adam Smith and other capitalistic thinkers knew of all things, landlords are a parasite, as it's a natural monopoly.
They don't need us as much as we need them. This is how free market works when there's no protections against abuse.
Housing scarcity is also artificial.
In Ontario the Landlord can not legally raise rent more than 2.5% a year. I really feel for the people who get blindsided by a 50-100% increase in the States. The greed is absolutely nothing short of astonishing.
In Ontario, if your property taxes or insurance or mortgage expense go up 10% because your local government is shit, but you can only raise the rent 2.5%, what do you think happens? The landlord also cannot evict a tenant for no reason, so they either have to concoct a bullshit reason to evict them and lie to the government and risk fines, find a loophole to evict them legitimately, or wait til the tenant leaves. In either case, they jack up the rent immediately after the tenant leaves, so the net result is one tenant gets lucky, and another tenant pays the price.
You can't get blood from a stone. Either the landlord finds a way to raise rent to maintain their profit, or they sell to a gigantic faceless rental firm, or they go broke and then the bank sells it to a gigantic faceless rental firm.
In Italy, we have the opposite problem tenants have too much power, and contracts usually are 4+4 years between the two the rent can only be adjusted for inflation which is set by revenue authorities, and if at the end of the 8 years, the landlord wants to raise the rent it has to communicate one year in advance, also it is very hard to evict people, impossible if there are minors in the house, there are hundreds upon hundreds of landlords who don't get any money from their tenants mostly immigrants who take advantage of the weak enforcement to live rent free while the landlords still pay all the expenses
@@EGOCOGITOSUM In the end, when tenant protections are so steep, the end result is either higher rents via bankruptcies and new landlords coming in who kick out the tenants, renovate the buildings, then double the rent, or higher rents via massive shortages of real estate since it no longer pays to be a landlord thus no one buys new homes thus no one builds any. Low rents can only be achieved by low costs, and that means efficient government, well-built properties, and tidy tenants who do not damage the property.
@@theredscourge That's why they have housing shortages. I wouldn't invest into a market where there's rent control. There's always other markets to get into. Same thing with this guy, I would hire a PI to tail him until I catch him doing something illegal in my condo so I can evict him legally.
Rent control is stupid and most people that don't understand this fail to understand history. It turned New York into a slum in less than a couple decades. You can set whatever price you want but, inflation doesn't give a shit what your rent is set at. It always goes up and that's when landlords stop repairing places and doing basic upkeep because there is no money. On top of that it caused shortages in housing because landlords will just smash down the apartments and rezone them into other things to get around the laws. In San Fransico landlords that had to obey these laws dropped their supply by over 15%. What do you think this does to the price of non rent controlled apartments? A study showed overall rent prices rose 5.1% after the rent control policies went into effect. There is also the fact that people building in rent controlled environments, what is the incentive.
In Australia, the Government, and local councils put a tax on "vacant possession", mostly to do with foreign buyers from buying then sitting on the property without tenants. This law took thousands of places back into the tenancy market. Just like Canada, most foreign investors were Chinese or Corporate owners.
Investment property is not bad per se but eminent domain should be exercised by the municipalities to control the housing shortage deliberately created by parasitic capitalists
Force landlords to pay monthly fines on vacant units equal to the rents they charge, and watch the market suddenly get flooded with cheap rentals.
In NZ the Property Investors Union makes sure this could never happen. Lobbyists eh?
But having that policy in the U.S. may be construed as sentiment against immigration and immigrants, especially at a time where we need people in certain professions now more than ever.
Even Adam Smith new landlords were parasites that extracted as much as they could by doing as little as possible.
"The rent of land, therefore, considered as the price paid for the use of the land, is naturally a monopoly price. It is not at all proportioned to what the landlord may have laid out upon the improvement of the land, or to what he can afford to take; but to what the farmer can afford to give." - Adam Smith, An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations, Book I, Chapter XI "Of the Rent of Land"
We need community land trusts, or some sort of land value taxation. Apartments need to be cooperatively owned by their tenants rather than by absentee landlords. The rent is, simply, too damn high!
Could not agree more.
OMG! Someone else who knows what Adam Smith actually said? Particularly about the dangers of allowing an unproductive “rentier” (in his case the “landlord”) class to attach itself to the economy.
Today everyone thinks Adam Smith’s “free markets” meant allowing anyone, even rich monopolizers and would be oligarchs to have free and unfettered access to any and all markets. That’s not what he said at all and that’s not what “free markets” meant to Smith is it? What Smith actually wrote was what you pointed out. Markets must be kept “free from” rich, privileged, unproductive rent seekers … the rentier class … rich privileged landlords whose presence in the economy adds nothing to the economy.
Today’s rentiers are the the finance capitalists who have occupied are increasingly privatizing (holding hostage) our economy … and then rent back access to this economy (which … remember .. is money printed and issued by GOVERNMENT … thus it belongs to all of us … all people) and call this “financial services” as if it’s a productive addition to the economy to let us access something made by government and on behalf of all of the nations citizens.
We are allowing our economy to be sent back into a computer based social media driven mediaeval mode of rentier fuedalism where working people are nearly immobile economic pseudo-serfs who are forever in debt to the rentier class who they must also pay to access the tiny piece of the economy they are “permitted” to plow. With debts and private health care that make economic mobility a virtual impossibility… like medieval serfs, not free citizens.
Bring back the free market … free from the rentier!
Nobody has really read wealth of nations. It's a beast of a book, 1000 pages. Everyone should read it, it's not what today's capitalist want you to think it is. Marx Capital, should be required too.
Henry George enjoyers rise up
Yes, but Adam Smith and his American spiritual successor, Henry George, weren't talking about the kind of Landlord who is actually responsible for improving the land, building housing, and maintaining it (tenement owners). Read your quote again, he was explicitly talking about Landlords who owned and rented out unimproved land such as farmland, timberland, quarries, etc., etc. (landholders). This type of landlord (tenement), at least in theory, has their profit margin limited by the amount of money that goes into construction and maintenance, unlike the other (landholder) one. The problem is, as shown in the video, the theory doesn’t hold up when tenement holders are allowed to form monopolies and oligopolies such as those in the video.
I didn’t know how good I had it when my landlord lived in the same apartment building that I did. The 2 or 3 times I ever had a problem, I’d just text her and she’d send someone up in less than 10 minutes.
I moved for work so my rent’s 20% more expensive now, and waiting multiple days for him to respond to an email to get something taken care of or have a question answered is really frustrating. And I’ve had more problems in the first 4 months than the whole last 2 years at my old spot 😢
A majority of people age 30 ish or under are having a hard time with housing. We narrowly missed the affordable timeframe where we could consider buying a home before it inflated ridiculously. I’m 31 and I’ve been living with 2-4 other roommates around age 25 for the past 8 years. Property managers in Phoenix Arizona are hit or miss. They either communicate, repair things and act like they care, OR they ghost your emails, fix things cheaply, random 100$ fees each month and keep deposits whenever possible.
They literally don’t care about how tough things are, they try to milk renters for every penny.
2 years ago in Scottsdale, 2021 my “landlord” tried to double our rent when we went to renew the lease. They said “If you’re not okay with the price, you can leave”
Then they sold the house and kept our deposit even though we spent 5 days cleaning it.
My favorite is how at this point even if you're making above-median income, you still can't rent due to the 3x rule metasticizing into the 4-5x rule in a lot of areas when it comes to rent-to-income ratio, not that 3x really works either when the rent's $2k for a unit that hasn't been updated since the landlord was born. Like I've never made more than $20k, what am I supposed to do?
sucks to be poor
@@kristiyanivanov7414 okay but it's literally the landlord's fault that people making above-median can't rent without a cosigner.
Paid a professional to mow the lawn, setup the flower beds, and otherwise super prepare the lawn better than we'd gotten it. Landlord charged me 500 bucks for an unmowed lawn and yeah.. what do you do? Sue? Get blacklisted, what do you do!
@@NightmareForge Damn that sucks, here’s the thing I don’t get: if landlords can blacklist tenants, why can’t tenants start collectively figuring out who all the landlords are, taking down their names and addresses and start building public “blacklists” of our own? Ultimately a human is making money, so the buck has to stop somewhere. Millennial: “oh, I’m sorry , but I can’t provide ”
I was homeless for 10 years for fighting an eviction. No one would rent to me after that. The landlords that evicted me did so, because I was an unmarried teen mother. I lost everything after that.
That’s horablee
How did you over come it? Being Homeless is one of my biggest fears, so I'm always interested in how people got back on their feet!
@@Aethereality I was given a chance by my now best friend, and person of honor at my wedding, Piper. She was (and still is) the manager of an apartment complex. A different friend of mind at the time was given an apartment at a complex in my area. She told me the manager was a nice person and that I should try putting in an application. I had given up by this point, because it was always no. I told her my story and she went to the rental company with my application. They rejected it. She told them that "That eviction was 10 years ago. She's not a risk. I'll vouch for her." (She had known me for 2 days). And I lived there for almost 13 years. Till I moved in with my then girlfriend, now wife.
@@Kenkire I’m very happy that things got better for you in the end!
@@Aethereality I mean, I lost my 3 children to foster care, but yeah. I have a loving wife and found family now.
Please ensure that the law to control rent rises is carefully written . A law was written here in Australia to not allow rent to be increased every year for those who were living in the property. Now it is almost impossible to stay more than a year in one place. Landlords do not offer leases more than a year and don't renew.
11 months lease. It was the result in India too when price control for a lease more than 12 months was made in Mumbai
That is where the "good cause' eviction law comes in. The landlord would be required to renew the lease.
Don't know about that. Here in Victoria we can raise the rent once a year. I think what you are talking about is that we cannot evict renters after the 1st lease. This is so owners can get rid of tenants that they don't like after the 1st lease but not after that. So I had a tenant with a 6 month lease. She is great so now she had a 2 year lease.
@@jamesphillips2285 landlords are not required to renew a lease . That is just nuts someone would think that.
If it is not profitable to rent, then why do it. Rent control is not tied to market cost.
I have lived in 4 different rooms and flats in London. Never once met my landlord- and it didn’t cross my mind how shady and unusual that is until I saw this video
Basic human necessities like housing should NOT be a commodity to be traded and hoarded for profit.
issue there is that the amount of commodities to build them [and build them in places that are in high demand like NYC where there is little supply] are expensive and have to come from somewhere, and the upkeep ext.
Who is it okay to enslave to force them to cut, process, and ship the lumber? Who is is okay to enslave to dig the minerals, process the cement, and bake the bricks? Who is is okay to enslave to mine, smelt, form and ship the copper for your plumbing and electrical systems? Who is it okay to enslave to drill the wells, refine and ship the oil that fuels the transportation? Who is is okay to enslave to force them to mine the ore and smelt the steel that makes the nails and screws, as well as the appliances? Who is it okay to enslave and force to mine and fire the silica to produce the windows? There is so much more that does into it than you'll ever even be capable of understanding, and no one on this Earth has an obligation to slave away for your benefit.
Lol the devil in control
@@marcushoward6560 there are many countries with reasonable laws that rein in the excesses of landlords. I don't see them enslaving anyone to do it.
@@marcushoward6560 try growing a brain and then come back
Mine went from $610 for a tiny studio to $950 in 1 year. The landlord was absolutely awful. Nobody took our trash for at least 3 months despite me repeatedly contacting the landlord. Luckily I was able to buy a condo and get out.
I hope you kept evidence. You are entitled to sue for some time after the damages. Clas action lawsuit would be a nice tax gift to yourself.
landlord removes the trash? Amazing
@@tindrums I can pretty safely assume they mean that the communal dumpsters that are provided by the property owner, or possibly dumpsters internal to the building with a shaft or similar, were not removed, causing piles of rotting trash and pests.
I was just happy to be able to get out of there. The other thing they did was tell new tenants that the parking lot was first come, first serve (there were 8 tenants but only 4 spots). Except for that my lease clearly stated that I got an assigned spot. So after weeks of the landlord not responding to me about people parking in my spot, I started calling parking enforcement not realizing that the landlord had lied to new tenants. The person parking in my spot explained the situation and we got it all figured out, but the landlord called the city to revoke my ability to call parking enforcement despite my previous landlord having given each of us a letter specifically giving us the ability to call parking enforcement (parking enforcement always wanted to see that + the lease showing that we had assigned spots). Sometimes people would park directly in the driveway so nobody could get in or out, and then I couldn't call parking enforcement and the landlord wouldn't respond so we were sometimes trapped for a few hours.
Ever notice how those who demand that you must submit to the "Lesser of Two Evils," are themselves almost never affected by that "Lesser Evil"?
The Necropolitics of Neoliberalism continues to metastasize across the country.
And, working-class solidarity is the only cure.
The best is when they try to use other people's suffering (that they have no intention of addressing) to try to manipulate you into seeing things their way.
"Oh think of all these people who will be hurt worse than what I'm going to do to them. Oh think of the children! Do something about it? That's just crazy talk! It will be ALL YOUR FAULT!"
"The Necropolitics of Neoliberalism" is a funny way to spell "end-stage corrupt as hell capitalism". Capitalism is literally designed to make a large part of the population suffer, it has nothing to do with their intentions, it has to deal with the goal posts constantly being moved so when you get close to victory you instead get to feel like Charlie Brown.
time for a tenant strike
Totally wrong; the liberals and progressives support policies benefitting the employee class while "conservatives" support economic policies that help corporations and the very rich -- to the substantial detriment of those not rich -- and give a wink and a nod to the violence and oppressive/authoritarian nature of the "guns&bibles" crowd
Like minded solidarity is the better option. Plenty of workers are absolute bootlickers that will stab you in the back to make the rich even richer.
There needs to be a law that if landlords refuse to rent AV apartment or commercial space then they cannot write it off on taxes. And I used to be a landlord
The US needs to get behind deposit protection schemes too. In the UK, landlords are required by law to keep your security deposit in a third party account. When it comes to returning the deposit, deductions can be disputed. It is essential that landlords cannot hold your money so they can't take more than they should for damages, but also to stop them earning money on this deposit (not their money) or spending it with the prospect of finding it again later.
escrow accounts earn interest in the tenants name ...haters gonna hate
Damn. In the US it's almost expected that you don't get your deposit back unless you really really fight or get lucky...
@@jessh4016 It used to be that way in the UK, or at least from what I have heard. I've only rented with this legislation in place. That said, my first landlord and I had a dispute. I posted evidence. He paid up.
@@jessh4016 "Greatest country in the world." LOL
@@jessh4016Most of the time it's pointless. It costs you more to repair the normal wear and tear to their satisfaction than it does to just leave them with the deposit.
The real trick in America as far as the deposits go is to find one that's disproportionately low relative to the rent.
Know your rights as a renter before you need to leverage them. For example, here in Minneapolis you can file a legal complaint for non-repair or other disputes. You have to pay rent into escrow with the city, but the landlord doesn't see a dime until they address the issue and they also can't evict you in the meantime. Very powerful.
DC has the same laws with tenancy.
Do landlords even give deposits back anymore? I've seen people charged with cleaning fees, service fees, or just fees to "update" the apartment
And what is with the hundreds in “admin fees” when renting an apartment??! Like why are we paying for all these middle men to file paperwork? 2-3 Hundred to pay them for the same paperwork I have to do as the renter 😂 it’s all a template too like they didn’t need to type it or ponder hours on it. It’s a lease, file it, take the rent, and we are done until anyone else messes up. And have you noticed they started saying you only need your income to be 2.5X the rental price, previously it was always 3X. 2.5x is like 40% of their income.
@@MiddleAgedMillennial it's bullshit. I work at a property management company in accounts payable; we charge $40 for processing an application and it costs us $35 to run the credit and criminal reports. I've heard it said that charging more than that supposedly "weeds out people who aren't serious about renting," but I don't believe that's true.
@pittsburghblauck I don't know what the laws are in other states, but in NC we have to give deposits back so long as the property isn't left a mess and the tenant doesn't have a balance. I've seen where previous clients of ours have tried to keep the deposits and cite what we would call "general wear and tear" as their reason, but that argument doesn't hold water. Yes the rooms need to be repainted and there are scuff marks on the floor, but the tenant was there 5+ years, shit happens, it's part of renting a property. People like that don't stay with my company long term. They make the company look bad, risk the company getting sued or investigated by the state real estate commission, and I'm sure they get tired of us trying to spend the rent money to fix/clean up their property.
I was a landlord (2 buildings) and unless something was broken, I would usually give back the full amount. Basic cleaning and wear and tear are not supposed to be covered by the deposit. So, I tried to help one of my friends who was moving out of their apartment by going over everything and making minor repairs, and still they only got back 20% of their deposit. I was more pissed than he was.
I just gave one back. I have some small rehab but not anything due to intentionally breaking things.
Never. Never ever. And if you pressure it too hard, you get blacklisted
That Transparency Act is a great idea! Share it with Chicago
I live in a small town where all of the rental properties are houses, not apartments or condos. At the end of last year, my friends (and neighbors) got notice from their landlord that they were planning on selling to an investor and that they should look for another place to live. Obviously, they didn't want to move, having to move would mean that their rent was going to double. They had an inspector come out to look into maybe outright buying it for themselves so they wouldn't have to move, but there were so many things wrong with the house, because the landlord never actually fixed anything, just threw bandaids on everything, that in order to fix everything, that half of the house would need to be completely demolished and redone, and at that point, you may as well just completely rebuild. There was mold, leaks and water damage, electrical issues, foundation damage, plumbing issues, any possible issue you could think of, that house probably has it. And now, six months later, it's still empty, the grass has grown up, and NO ONE has even come to look at it. One of my other neighbors actually came and bushwacked the front yard a couple of weeks ago so it wouldn't look so terrible (and to prevent pests). So now, instead of having some income from the house, they have none. Renting is a fucking scam.
Owner just did not to deal with headache of having a rental. Probably going to sell it asap. Make more money doing other things.
Wanted to mention that this is a great example of journalism. Really got me to go and seek more information. Gave me a base line of thing I can go question and just have easily accessible information. Thanks for the story and nice video to better my understanding!
This is what happens when EVERY aspect of society is commodified.
Thanks Reagan.
Indeed. It was much better when housing was merely a quota to be met in a 5-year Plan. Wait...
@@Laotzu.Goldbug people are experiencing real pain out here because of the way that the free market is being regulated or not regulated and here you are cracking wise about commu ism. Lame.
@@icedirt9658 If you deny a man a good opportunistic joke you are, literally, Hitler
@@icedirt9658 But that's what you are proposing. Housing cannot be free unless you want to live in a barn shared with 100-200 other of your comrades. It costs a lot to build and maintain a property. You are not entitled to the labour of other people for free. NYC is particularly bad because people are willing to pay shitty prices for shitty apartments. The problem is not just the landlord, its the tenants too - get out of NYC, stop being so masochistic and allowing yourself to be taken advantage of. If you owned a property, you wouldn't want to lose money or see your own property depreciate. Landlords can be shit in NY, don't have to argue with this, but they can do this because there are tenants willing to put up with it. If demand falls, the prices fall. You can literally defeat the landlords by telling them, no, we are not putting up with your shit anymore. Also, the ridiculous taxes imposed upon citizens by the political class means that at each level, landlord or tenant, people are earning less, so there's less spending power. Landlords keep prices high just to make any sort of profit, tenants get taxed to oblivion so they have little option.
Housing 👏is 👏a 👏human 👏right, not an investment.
Sheer greed is one of the factors driving this.
We've got a housing and rental crisis in British Columbia. A Landlord can not legally raise rent more than a maximum % per year but as this video shows, Landlords and REITs find loopholes and do what they can to extract as much rent as they can from tenants.
I can not fully express my feelings about landlords without breaking TH-cam ToS.
something something mao
I can do it for you while staying within the rules: Get the guillotines ready
Something little hat long nose people
I have a Modest Proposal for making speculative landlords useful to society.
@@puellanivis😈
The answer is simple. Make it illegal for LLCs to own rental properties.
not yet
I don't believe such things are simple under the law
Simple every renter ever stop paying rent
Right because government intervention always helps! Right?
That would do exactly nothing.
Our complex got bought up by a private equity firm and has raised the rent each year since ownership. Maintenance on the property has actually gone down and there have been no added or improved amenities to go along with this. We can complain to the on site manager but in the end that does no good because they fall back on "company policy" or "legally we are allowed..." Its a great way to be shitty people without having to take any personal responsibility for being that way. This company owns a slew of properties across multiple states and from what I have seen in my research they run them all identically regardless of local economy or actual worth.
...And THAT is why California has passed a law that rental properties cannot be owned by out-of-state residents or corporations. That way, they can't claim any form of deniability when it comes to California law. Now if only we could get that passed in every state in the union...
th-cam.com/video/IHWjP8gp4jk/w-d-xo.html
@@johnfreeman4435 Fully agreed. The place I've been living at has over the last decade had a slew of out-of-state groups buying the place, raising rents, slashing maintenance to a minimum, then selling after a year or two. You can walk around and see quite easily how things are falling apart because of years of this neglect.
Hell just this last summer the management company let a broken pipe under the street leading into the complex leak for a month (yes, a whole month!) even though I and others told them repeatedly about the leak. It wasn't until the eroded ground shifted, breaking the pipe further up the street so it was blocked by gushing water that they finally got off their asses and fixed it. Oh and three weeks later that same pipe broke in the same place a second time forcing them to shut off the street so a trench could be dug and the water all pumped out. I hope it cost management a pretty penny. Serves 'em right for not fixing the damn problem when it was "only" spewing water along the side of the street and downhill into the basements of the building by where the water was forcing its way through the ground.
What we need is a vacant unit tax. If a rental unit, commercial or residential, is left vacant by the landlord for more than a reasonable period, like 6 months, they should have to pay the asking rent price to the city every single month that unit continues to be unoccupied. If they don't want to continue paying their own rent on their vacant units, then they have to lower the price enough to get that unit rented.
If this was the case for every single vacant unit, there would be a lot less of them.
My apartment rent went from 850 a month to 1600 plus fees a month when it was sold to an investment company. They didn't change anything. Just simply increased rent. I left the whole state because of that.
That's typical in places where there's limits on how much a landlord can increase rent on an existing tenant in a given year. They don't know if their expenses will increase more than they are allowed to raise rent, so they raise it a lot after a tenant moves out, or they sell to a new owner which is often an exception to the rule, or they just kick out their tenant and reset the rent way higher for the next. The only true way to keep rents down is to vote for local government that doesn't spend too much money and doesn't needlessly restrict new residential construction.
@@theredscourgeAnd do not have any inflation in the market. Keep cost of everything the same including wages so rent does not go up.
If your landlord doesn't exist, do you need to pay rent? can they even evict you?
The hogs will, its what they're payed to do, protecting the interest of capital owners.
@@Gamingpandacat the hogs always do
The cops will kick your door in and shoot your dog
just sneakily move in and see if anyone notices that you arent paying rent... if anyone comes to kick you out - quickly move upstairs into one of the other 40 empty apartments and see if they find you XD
Yes go to Russia and wait 20 + years for a 2 br flat the government runs.
It's called Communism
Here in Scotland, a mass-growth in tenants unions in Glasgow and Edinburgh led to the government enacting some pretty big reforms for renters. I absolutely recommend tenants in mass-housing to unionise, or even if you are in single units, do some research, find other houses leased by your letting agency and try and get in touch with the other tenants if you have issues.
But unions could mean nothing if they would all be evicted anyway and landlords find tenants that would be willing to cover what they would have paid and then some.
that works in a tiny ass country like scotland, In the US.. that just means there is vacancy for a bunch of rental units lmao.
@Dj Sk the overall size of the country doesn't make a difference. You are being offered advice. It's up to you if you take no action against the broken rental system.
@@djsk244 Actually Scotland, and the UK as a whole, has a *huge* housing crisis at the moment. Organisation at scale is what matters. Letting agencies can maybe afford to punish a few dissenters, but if you get a lot of people, renting from the same group, to act collectively, they are highly unlikely to want to make that choice, its too significant a revenue drop, even for a short time. The people most vulnerable to rent-shocks and exploitation are already those living in poor areas where it can be quite difficult to get renters in, so in many cases, it can be several months before they can find sufficient cash cows to replace their lost tenants.
@@djsk244 the size of the country has nothing to do with whether tenants unions work. americans think they're so fucking special lmao
This is so horrible. I was able to live in NYC for 23 right out of college. I couldn’t do that today. But I love people standing up to greed and abuse of power.
Coming from someone who both has been a landlord and rented a few thoughts:
From the renter side I ran across the same sort of thing. I live in California and had been renting for 4 years, at the end of the 4th year I got kicked out because the landlord wanted to remodel. Because my lease was not renewed I had to come back into the system which resulted in a ~20% increase in rent for a smaller unit. This was all legal mind you because the law only apply to renewals, I was not renewed for cause, and was given 90 days notice. When I complained at the price to the "landlord" and told them that for the same price I could get a mortgage for something almost twice as big in the same area (which was true) they more or less said it was out of their hands and was all dictated by corporate. I ended buying my own place.
Going to try to keep what I say about tenants limited to just why the prices are high as I also have been in the landlord situation a few times. In my experience tenants in general are brutal on things. Sometimes the amount I have had to pay to fix the damage is huge. That and trying to get the tenant to pay for the damage they caused (holes in walls, ripped up carpet, removing smoke, etc.) can be difficult when it exceeds the deposit. You also have ACA accommodations when it comes to people with service and emotional support animals, and if I recall correctly by law you cannot charge the person because of it, even if the unit is advertised as animal free. For the animals, one way I have heard other land lords get around this by adding the price of the extra cleaning to the rent regardless (so the person cannot claim discrimination) and then just not do it if the person does not have an animal. This may account for the prices, landlords trying to account or at least cover themselves financially. That and when things do require a lawyer it can be very expensive. These are all costs to the landlord and I can see in a way these being part (not the entire) of the reason rent is so high, as these costs are being passed on to the consumer.
As to the entire provision that rent can only go up X% a year, I can see that as justification for many landlords to always raise rent that much when they can as an unintended side-effect. Talking to some other people around me who rent, I noticed many do not raise the rent for years and then do a somewhat sizeable one (5-15%) every few years to bring rent back in line with "market rates". Talking with these same people, many have said if they could not do that they would simply readjust the rent every year or "renovate" so they could reset the market price to get around not being able to do it anymore. So I think while the intent of the law is good, the implementation has loopholes and does not always incentivize the behavior wanted.
As to anonymous landlords, I am against that. I feel the law does not go far enough. I feel the landlords contact information should have to go on the lease, as the landlord is ultimately responsible. That way the tenant does not have to go looking up the LLC and all that insanity, it is right there on the document they signed.
I feel grateful someone took the time to comment their experiences both as a renter and a landlord. thanks for sharing your observations
Your observations are spot on. I've also been on both sides of the transactions.
As a tenant, I've seen unjust price rises, landlords not doing timely repairs, etc... I've lived in a unit where I lost half of it for 6 months and I was forced to move because management decided to force me out by not repairing the damage. They also had the gall to add a cleaning fee and replace the oven I knew that was working before my lease was up on top of taking my deposit. I did not decided to pay that back. Fuck them. I decided to become one after that incident and bought my first fourplex.
Now that I'm a landlord, I've had terrible tenants. I had to clean up someone's mess because they thought it's my job to clean up after them after leaving holes and a large amount of garbage bags filled of their crap on the lawn. I was forced to give back their security deposit due to a technical error, thanks to no part to the tenancy board not giving me information I needed to put a fair case. That amount that I held wasn't enough to cover the damages alone, even if I did manage to keep the deposit. Probably more stories since I started, but I suppose I was lucky enough to not find the nightmares that wouldn't pay rent and trash the place completely... And live there as is for more than a year.
A lot of costs are passed down to the consumer, leading from a new tenant who has to pay a much higher rent than the ones already tenured. They now have to carry on their backs all of the other residents who are paying at $400 less than market rent... Especially in a rent control zone. Renovictions also happen because landlords aren't incentivized to do timely repairs. I was renovicted for the new flooring of my old unit because they knew they can get someone in for $1800 vs me when I rented it for $1325. It forces the cycle of "oh why isn't my landlord fixing shit" because the tenants who are long tenured don't make it worthwhile to do so. People cry when we force them to pay the utilities, but that's because some bad eggs decided to abuse the landlord's generosity of putting it into their lease.
I actually agree with LLCs. Most of the time my beef is with the property management company although sometimes a landlord's decision can dictate what they can do. Some landlords are so out of touch with their properties, especially once they own 40+ units that they will say to property management "I don't care how you manage it, as long I don't have to gut the entire building and it makes me money, I'm a happy camper" and that's how they will operate. And by operate, the management company will do it based on their interpretation. I don't agree with the premise, overall, but operations-wise, I do agree with LLCs. Can you go after 30+ people who funded millions of dollars into the apartment complex you lived in?
as a non-American this is so bizzare to me
i've been renting for close to 10 years now and i've met literally every single one of my landlords face to face.
whatever letting agencies i used would always step away after the paperwork was signed, so once i got my keys, i was give the phone and email of the actual landlord and only only ever contacted them directly for any issues
the idea you can rent a place and never meet the landlord is so weird!
What country do you live in?
If the landlord engages the service of a rental property manager for an ongoing fee, you will only deal with the property manager and never meet the landlord. I guess your landlord is managing the rental property himself.
Eh, I live in Switzerland and haven't met my current landlord at any point; I do have his address (somewhere like 200km away) however. But - and this is important - my rent goes through a company that manages housing. Because that company is just told to keep tenants happy. If I call them to tell them my dishwasher is broken, the next day a repairman will come. It's more annoying in that way if you have a local landlord, because they might try and come fix it themselves, half-assedly
I feel like it depends where/what you are renting. If you are renting from a huge apt building you wouldn't normally meet the landlord just the person that works for the company running the building. If renting a home I would say it depends on the area but in my area I would normally end of meeting the landlord. I kinda dislike the video because it talks like every rental is always under 1 person that owns it when a large amount of places are company owned. Its not anonymous there just isn't a single person running it.
Where I live (Ontario, Canada) landlords legally have to provide their name and address, must apply for approval to raise rent above a certain limit, and we have good cause eviction.... The problem is, landlords break these laws all the time with impunity. Most tenants don't know their rights, and the provincial tribunal that oversees complaints always has a months-long waiting list and is slanted towards the landlord's interests. We have the reforms that you're seeking, and yet rental & housing crisis is even worse in Canada than it is in the States.
The legislation isn't enough, because at the end of the day as long as our housing is privately owned in a profit-driven market, landlords have all the power. Reforms are one tool in the toolkit, but they aren't enough. Renter organizing needs to be militant and strategize a real transfer of power away from private ownership and supposedly "democratic" bourgeois government.
The worst offenders are the big companies that own and buy up multiple properties. Some of them are even foreign owned. They have deep pockets and lawyers who work exclusively for them at the landlord Tenant court. Steer clear of them if you can. It's such a stressful process to have to go through.
Alberta is the same way. We're required to have benefactors listed for companies and have ways to contact them. Unfortunately, legal red tape gets in the way of anything getting done. We have a rent increase cap (5%, I think).
If you can, go to your local landlord conference in your city. Seeing their priorities when nobody else is looking is shocking. Most of the companies were focused on the massive landlords who own hundreds of units, and I worked for a smaller place where we did our own grunt work. (We don't send a guy to fix your pipes - the accountant still has his plumbing certification. That kind of deal.)
And the problem is long term tenants end up paying much less than current market rates..
And landlords cant negotiate a fair rent at that point even though thier costs went up.
Leaving the only option of the landlord taking occupancy of the unit for 12-months, or getting extorted for cash for keys.
Ontario sucks for landlords.
@Peter Pan Current market rates far outstrip the increased costs to the landlords. Greed is the motivation, not fairness.
Vacancy taxes need to be 100% of the market rate of the neighborhood. If companies keep them open for too long the city should be able to reclaim the property and seize it.
Damn I'm dumb, just figured it out. We are owned and operated by a shit load of lawyers. I finally reached the management level with my company. It is a freaking joke how these people have jobs for one thing.
I got priced out of my apartment about 15 years ago. I lived in a very low rent, shared housing apartment in an economically depressed county, but a property owner was buying up all the low rent apartments and raising the rent. Eventually he got to my apartment. My rent went from $355 to $495 as soon as my lease was expired, and in a month or two it was $510. He was eating me alive, almost literally (I was losing weight for lack of groceries). I had to move out. I wound up sharing a 1 bedroom apartment with a friend.
That sounds terrible! So sorry to hear this friend
I remember last year when the fire department was called to our building ('false' alarm) and once they had access they were able to determine the building failed code. If not for them (I found out later they had been trying to inspect the property for many months) who knows what could have happened. My point is similar in the tenants mean less and less while the property owners get away with more and more.
That barrier plastic on the vacant units tell me there may be a biohazard in that unit, black mold, lead paint, asbestos, or worse.
I lived in St Paul when we voted for the 3% annual rent increase cap. The amount of propaganda that was thrown at us before that vote took place was astounding. Even though I only knew of only ONE person who actually lived in my area who was against the legislation (he was a landlord btw, albeit a seemingly decent one), there were suddenly astroturfed efforts popping up everywhere to stop the legislation. Signs were put up all over my area, we started getting bombarded by "vote no" ads in our mailbox, and I continually heard about a number of vague "construction plans" that were supposedly not going to happen if the rent was capped, because poor landlords wouldn't be able to afford to pay for those affordable housing projects that we had been begging for that they definitely cared about the whole time! These allied landlords also used the fact that St. Paul is in the midst of a housing crisis to harass the mayor, which has been somewhat successful, sadly. Still, we voted yes and--shockingly--little changed, except that our rent got a bit cheaper than it otherwise would've been.
@@funnyav Salaries have not kept up with inflation by a long shot. All of this inflation is caused by investors (like landlords), not labourers.
I'm not a landlord but I am against it. If their expenses go up by more than 3 percent, their only option is to eat the cost themselves, or kick out the tenant so they can raise the base rent for a new tenant, so they will do the latter, costing the new tenant hundreds of dollars in moving expenses and the landlord a few months rent, so they'll increase it even more to compensate. This isn't all that uncommon for example for insurance rates to go up 10 percent after a flood year or taxes to go up 10 percent after a year when the municipality has a big unexpected expense, or when interest rates go from 2 percent to 6 percent as they did recently, which will cost landlords a lot when they have to refinance their mortgages. There's no magic way to get landlords to charge you less money, just as there's no magic way to get any company to sell you something for less money, they'll always find another way to charge more to protect their profit margin in the long run.
@@ThaJay wrong, inflation is caused by federal government spending more money and printing money to pay for it, like they did after the pandemic spending. When there's suddenly more dollars in existence but the same amount of goods, the value of those dollars goes down, hence inflation.
@@theredscourge no you're wrong. @TheJay is correct. Zero percent interest under Trump + the tax codes which largely favors real estate ownership + real estate investors who remodel the rental unit and increase the rent (which increases the NOI, net operating income) makes it tempting to the bank to give out more loans, which they want to because they get the loan origination fees by turning more loans = a self-fulfilling feedback loop of higher inflation and real estate chasing. You must have very little money and listen to ayn rand otherwise you'd know where most of the middle class has been moving their money to offset taxes (real estate).
@@theredscourge If you want to talk about money creation, look at the banks. Western governments haven't created money for decades. Banks create money by creating loans. Because they only need a 10% reserve, the amount of currency they can create is pretty much limitless. When there is more demand for loans, they create more money.
Currently suing my previous landlord in Seattle. Please, if you think you can and have a case and the means, do it. In my case and some I've spoken with, it's clear they draw these things out and make them as annoying as possible so you give up or lose interest. At this point, I want my money back, but I also will go down swinging just to run up the clock on their wasted time and energy just for the sake of it after the bullshit they pulled. They count on people being far less relentless and resourceful.
I wish you good luck. ☺
good luck, we sued for security deposit at the small court. they came with an army of attorneys and pretty much told us they'll drag it as long as possible and in case we lose the case, we'll be responsible of paying all the attorney fees which would have been thousands of dollars. so they ended up stealing our $1200 plus we may be on some sort of "blacklist" tenants because our names show up at the court documents.
@@exshenanigan2333 thank you! small claims doesn't use attorneys in my case and I have a pretty indisputable paper trail.
I used to be a property owner and landlord here in New Zealand. At some point it made sense to sell and become a tenant.
I made the mistake to assume all landlords where people like me.
Renting for 5 years now. I don't know who my landlord is, the middle man makes sure it stays this way.
I am 60, yet I get my always immaculate home inspected 4 times a year by some young snot nose kid.
Tenants are made to feel like second rate citizens and this needs to stop.
Yeah the quarterly inspections are thanks to insurance company requirements and they instigated that after too many pay outs after feral tenants trashed properties.
I never questioned the explanation that people are moving into the city"faster than housing can be built" for the high rents in my city, because I live in the city and just assume that everyone wants to live here too, except that many of my friends and acquaintances and family have left the city, and when I walk around downtown there are less and less regular people on the streets, and more and more restaurants and even coffee shops are going out of business. I'd love to see the real data to find out how empty landlords are leaving buildings by going after exclusively high-rent tenants. Retail is more visible so it's obvious when a landlord would rather leave a storefront empty for YEARS rather than lower their "market rate" that clearly no one can pay and stay in business.