Landlords do provide services: property maintenance and not having to worry about selling the place when you leave. Are landlords paid way too much for these services? Hell yes. That’s more an issue of inadequate supply though, in my opinion.
Similarly, ticket scalpers provide a service, but not to concert goers. Scalpers absorb risk on behalf of the venue/performer. That’s why venues, who could absolutely shut down scalpers, don’t. Still scummy as hell, but don’t absolve the venue of guilt too.
So… how would you describe eliminating competition so that there are no other ticket scalpers. Oh, and you also need regular concert tickets to survive.
THAT’S how they’re different, and how giant corporations who buy up properties and single-family homes and then jack-up rental prices (that they also own) are not “providing a service”, but further enriching themselves.
Landlords derive profit from owning a scarce resource, not from providing any services.
A property maintenance worker does the same thing but is paid for their time like any other working class individual.
This is why you can have a terrible landlord just like any good one. It’s not the quality of the landlord that’s the problem, it’s the exploitative relationship. Just like how slavery is bad despite their being “good” slave owners that didn’t beat their slaves: it wasn’t the treatment of the slaves that was the problem, it was the ownership of human beings.
It is literally a hold over from the Feudalism that was the status quo before Capitalism was the status quo. Every new social order holds reminants of the previous hierarchical powet structures thats why Landlords are called landLORDS they are a different class from the workers who’s paychecks they rely on to pay the mortgages to their fiefdoms.
Bruh the water fountain in the gym at my apartment complex has been broke for over a year, with 2 different owners who have both refused to fix it lmao. They provide a service that should be a human right, and i fail to see how increasing the supply would mediate this exploitation of something people need to survive. Lol
Ours just has a sign that says “taken offline due to covid” and the gym was down for maintenance for a month and they only fixed one out of like seven issues.
These broken items have been broken for three years but the leasing office claims maintenance is done every six months.
If there were more available units, you could leave and go to one with better maintenance. There’d be actual competition between landlords to keep tenants.
Not ideal, obviously, since moving is a pretty big life event. I’m not saying increasing supply is the solution to every problem with landlords. Being allowed to withhold partial rent if common elements are broken would probably be a better solution in this particular instance.
Bruh I’m in a rent controlled unit, i had to jump through a shit ton of hoops to get approved for, I ain’t goin Knowhere till I no longer qualify for this unit. What you are recommending is the equivalent of a bandaid solution for a wound that needs a tourniquet…
