#1 Capitalism Is Inherently Unfair. It Favors The Wealthy
Bored Panda reached out to /r/LandlordLove for a quick chat. A representative of the mod team, u/RIPNightman told that it is a community of tenants—no landlords allowed. The users behind the group "are politically conscious and versed in left theory regarding Landlords and housing." This sub is a place for tenants to come and vent about bad Landlord experiences they've had. "Or more generally to discuss the systemic issues we face with our current system of Landlording in the Western world," u/RIPNightman explained.
When it comes to the most common situations that end up getting posted in this subreddit, there's a variety of them. "I would say our most common posts are terrible Landlord DIY, current articles about tenant/landlord conflicts, memes, examples of Landlords doing awful things and tweets about Landlords that are especially poignant," the mod said. "While they don't always get much traction, we also have a lot of posts by tenants venting or ranting about situations they've had with their Landlord."
When asked where did the inspiration to create /r/LandlordLove come from, the representative told us that it came from a frustration with the current system of landlording in the USA. "A system with its roots in feudalism where housing is not considered a right, but a privilege to be paid for. I've had a number of bad experiences with Landlords which influenced me. I've come to find out my struggles are very common, things like my deposit being kept by the Landlord despite me leaving the place spotless."
However, nothing u/RIPNightman experienced is as severe as some things that end up getting posted on the subreddit. The moderator gives out examples such as landlords banning spices and oils, ignoring safety laws or just generally trying their best to evict vulnerable tenants. Everyone has a horror story to tell and this user wanted to create a space for tenants to share them and joke about how nightmarish their landlords are.
#3 Hmm Landlords Don't Want Tenants That Know Their Rights?
#4 Karen Landlord Can't Even Handle Other People Using Spices
According to u/RIPNightman, landlords hold a unique place in capitalist society: "Those getting into property management often do so with the explicit goal of being able to live off of this investment income. In most instances, the Landlord doesn't build the house -- they purchase the property to rent out."
"Successful Landlords contract out all labor which is required for upkeep. Many spend as little money as they can to maintain these properties, especially the smaller "mom and pop" Landlords. What we have is a class of individuals that can be compared to societal leeches. People who live off of the money their tenants earn working for a living while doing as little as they can in return," the creator explained.
As if the interactions between tenants and landlords weren't complicated enough, the contracts themselves can be the beginning of a problem. It seems that not tailoring the terms to individual tenants leaves more and more room for deception and harassment. A study looked over around 170,000 residential leases filed in Philadelphia and found out that the amount of bad terms has sharply increased over 20 years.
Unlawful and oppressive terms such as not having landlords accountable for neglect or requiring tenants to accept rental terms "as-is" since they might not have another choice. This happens because owners are often taking shared lease forms from "cheap internet forms" for a small fee. "As such, common contracts increasingly substitute for oral leases and proprietary forms, tenants face a more hostile legal terrain," researchers explained.
But what is the issue with landlords using shared forms? "Generally, such shared form leases contain worse rules for tenants than the proprietary leases they replace," they said. "Over time, it has become easier and cheaper for landlords to adopt such common forms, meaning that access to justice for landlords strips tenants of rights."
#7 An Interesting Idea
#9 I Just Remembered This Awful Psa From During The Pandemic Asking Women Not To Prostitute Themselves To Landlords Because They Lost Their Jobs And Can't Afford Rent. How Can Anyone Believe Our Society Is Normal?
As people say, power tends to corrupt, and some proprietors think they have so much of it that they start acting unlawfully. Almost half of renting adults in the UK have fallen victims to illegal behavior from landlords or letting agents. Some respondents of the survey revealed that they have to put up with owners bursting into their homes without getting permission or ignoring safety concerns like broken smoke alarms or lack of central heating.
The most concerning thing is that nearly one-in-ten tenants said they have been assaulted, threatened or harassed. "Home is everything. Yet, millions of private renters across the country don’t feel safe or secure in theirs because of landlords and agents who flout the law," Polly Neate, chief executive of Shelter, said. "Enough is enough. Nobody is above the law and renters are tired of being powerless to enforce their rights."
#10 Publicly Admitting That They Regularly Steal From Their Tenants
This powerlessness can sometimes start to feel overwhelming. Tenants need to pass so many tests to get their application accepted while landlords are required to tick far fewer boxes. As if there are not enough stories of people who have to endure days or even weeks without water or with a leaky roof. More often than not, landlords do not seem to rush to spend money on making your living space, well... livable.
#14 They Never Cared About You
If you have fallen victim to such nightmarish landlords, there are ways to protect yourself in the future. One of the biggest issues tenants have to deal with is not getting back their security deposits. Ben Landy, founder of Lease Buyout Advisors said, "When you first move into an apartment, take pictures and document the condition. And as you’re surrendering the property, take pictures again. If there’s a dispute, you can prove how you received the apartment in the beginning."
#18 The American Nightmare
According to Jonathan Stein, a California consumer law attorney, "With digital pictures these days, the date that a picture was taken can be tweaked fairly easily." So if you wish to be extra careful, adding today's newspaper in the photos will leave no doubt when the images were taken. Another thing to have in mind is requesting a walk-through with your property owner before moving out (just don't forget to get everything in writing!) It's best to leave yourself at least 10 days so you would have time to fix any issues your landlord sees.
