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Seeing the responses to a fair too moderate proposal for a national rent freeze is hilarious.

"Why don't we send landlords broke? That'll fix the problem."

"Why don't we just ban landlords all together?"

I mean, yes to all of that, unironically.

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Spencer
And the ongoing profit-seeking nature of landlordism keeps the real estate market churning, driving prices for a basic human right ever upward.
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Jay Hannah

when my grandmother died, my parents started renting out her house to an elderly woman who can’t afford to buy that house, at below market rate, while going way out of their way on maintenance of the property. They’re losing money renting that house. What would you have them do differently?

I agree with you that my parents are not typical landlords.

in reply to Jay Hannah

@Jay Hannah @Fire To The Prisons why would they not prefer to live in a world where housing isn't so expensive people can't afford it?
in reply to Jay Hannah

@deafferret @silverwizard

One could suggest “gift the house to her.”

But then when she passes, the exploiting landlords would probably obtain it. So that seems like a short-term good with a long-term bad.

I suppose the “fairest” way would be to set aside all rent into some sort of escrow-ish account and use that money for property taxes (and taxes on the rent as income?) and maintenance, while returning excess accumulation (beyond a safety cushion for unexpected maintenance), should it happen?

in reply to Gemini6Ice

@deafferret @silverwizard but your parents are already going beyond the norm. I’m not going to demand more of people already doing good, over demanding recuperation from those doing bad.

I want a different word for them than “landlords” though.