this post was submitted on 20 Mar 2024
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Maybe I would tip a landlord that goes above and beyond their role, but I've yet to meet one that even really does the bare minimum in maintaince, most hire out to avoid any responsibility.
My place was "professionally painted" which is why most of my floors, baseboards, windowsills and even my kitchen counter have paint stains on them. My "luxury apartment" that he advertised had mice coming in through some easy to patch holes in the wall. My driveway is literred with trash from previous tenants which I eventually picked up after his maintaince guy kept sweeping it to the side. I have no ventalation in my kitchen which can be a health hazard while cooking. The small lawn area got mowed once last summer and only after the city posted a notice to maintain it.
If a landlord wants to be tipped for "exceptional service" maybe they should be doing more than the bare minimum of collecting rent and paying property taxes.
Read your lease and check with an attorney. If the landlord is violating either (sounds like they are) you could be entitled to reduced rent or compensation. IANAL, but many states have laws to help tenants but you need to know them or where to look
Shitty as it is, my rent is still a couple hundred bucks below the market average. I've pacthed the mice out and I really like my location. I'd rather not risk having to move.
Landlords shouldn't exist, much less be tipped
I doubt I'd have been able to move cities and change careers without renting an apartment. I think there is a role for landlords in society, but I also think a lack of regulations and poor housing/urban planning laws has blurred the lines of that role and pushed the priority into profits over everything.
There are valid reason to want to rent over owning such as short term employment, college/university, or just feeling out a city/area before commiting to a property.
Housing cooperatives can fill the void you're thinking about. We don't need landlords, they're just leeches on society.
I've never heard of housing cooperatives as a way to rent. If I'm renting from a co-op, aren't they my landlord then?
No, it's more like being a member of a union. Your cooperative owns the property, and everyone elects stewards to manage the property
I think landlords could exist with better regulation, lisencing needed to become a landlord, proof of maintaince etc. Currently all it really takes is to own something and post an ad.
And that role can be covered by the government
They didn't say renters shouldn't exist, they said landlords shouldn't.