Viewing a single comment thread. View all comments

PeachesFromTulsa t1_j9zixnb wrote

Posted this in the r/rhodeisland thread, copied here too.

I own a 2-family home in PVD. I live in one unit and my tenants help me cover the cost of the mortgage. I keep my rent below market value and address any repairs or issues ASAP. It’s a good situation for everyone involved. I know this movement is meant to fight back against “slumlords” but some of these things will negatively affect those of us who are not part of the larger problem. I charge an application fee because it’s costs money to run a background check. It’s not a ton of money (I believe around $35 last time), but someone has to pay it. If I am reviewing multiple applications, it adds up. It makes the most sense for each applicant to cover their own background check. My biggest concern is sealing eviction histories. I try to be sympathetic to everyone’s unique situation in life but paying my mortgage each month requires my tenants to contribute. If someone has an eviction on their record, I believe that’s my right to know as a property owner. Housing in RI should be more affordable and safe, but these initiatives are not the way to do it.

8

SluggDaddy t1_ja0oxg9 wrote

There are a lot of landlords like you - I am fortunate to have one, and I know it and I want to be a good tenant in part for that reason. Their retirement is this house I live in. A big problem is absentee landlords and the extraction of increasing rents from unmaintained properties. It’s the assholes being slumlords at scale who are the problem, and it’s difficult to come up with a way to regulate housing without putting such a burden on small landlords that doesn’t ultimately benefit the better capitalized, better lawyered-up corporate types.

I sympathize in part because this was an idea my mom and I had shared for her own retirement, in a three family with a tenant occupying one unit. But the market over the last few years has made that look less feasible in part because of big corporate firms buying up three family and other small rental properties and driving up the prices of what’s left. The same actors who are profiting from substandard housing are profiting from jacked up rents.

7

Alternative-Bat-8453 t1_ja2xhj1 wrote

Yeah but you shouldn’t own a house you can’t afford yourself. You want to run a background check you should pay for it, you’re choosing to do it. Why does the responsibility of your decisions fall so heavily on tenants?

1

klasbatalo t1_ja2x6zw wrote

Maybe don't become a landlord if you dont have a plan to pay all your mortgages you took out. If they are an investment then they are a risk, but surely if you really wanted to be in the "housing business" without any risk you'd make sure you could pay your bills often without customers. You don't see other small businesses forcing their clients, and customer base to have no where else to shop do you, even making them contractually obligated to shop at their business.

Housing is unique in that it involves peoples health and lives, so it should be highly regulated.

0

PeachesFromTulsa t1_ja44h2y wrote

Got it! I’ll sell my home and my dream of homeownership to someone who can 100% afford it without the rental income from the first floor. I’m sure there are lots of Boston investors who fit that bill, who will gladly jack the rent up and probably further the issues you are fighting against here.

2

klasbatalo t1_ja4neno wrote

No one including corporations should own a second house until everyone has a home. We need public housing for everyone managed by the residents themselves.

2

PeachesFromTulsa t1_ja4vjne wrote

My 2-family home is my one and only home. If you are making me the enemy, you have a losing cause.

2

klasbatalo t1_ja4vsov wrote

We aren’t making you an enemy, in fact we know you are likely way different than a medium or larger landlord. But you should still have to abide by landlord and tenancy laws. And we believe these should be updated for the 21st century.

3

Ok-Mess-2729 t1_ja43v1b wrote

That’s a great premise but in that case a lot of smaller owners just won’t rent out available units (or rent only to friends or family). They will lead to more supply than demand and drive up rent. If you over regulate, people won’t bother putting units out to market.

1

klasbatalo t1_ja4n6rx wrote

Every other business needs a professional license or to register, be overseen by OSHA, etc should be no different for housing if they want to be treated like a business. We need consumer protections.

3

Ok-Mess-2729 t1_ja4v0nz wrote

What I am saying is that requiring those things will drive out smaller landlords (example, owner occupied two family), renting units will be less attractive to those small investors and will lead way to more corporate landlords with money and attorneys at their disposal.

2

klasbatalo t1_ja4vd9g wrote

This is like saying that a local mom and pop pizza joint shouldn’t have to abide by the same rules as a Pizza Hut or Dominos in paying their workers a minimum wage, or they should be immune from safety regulations, etc

2

Ok-Mess-2729 t1_ja4vrbj wrote

You are right, but you don’t have to abide by the rules if you just don’t rent the unit. I have one sitting, thinking about just making it a one family to avoid the hassle. Or putting family in it with an informal agreement. I think you will see a lot of that especially from people who don’t need the money to pay the mortgage.

1

klasbatalo t1_ja4w5aw wrote

Honestly we are fine with people just putting family in there, that’s often what already happens, landlords like you provide naturally existing affordable housing. Overall we are calling for expansion of public housing and sensible protections for all tenants, including your niece or nephew or grandparents.

1

klasbatalo t1_ja4wi4b wrote

I would say we also believe there should be massive investment in renovation / redevelopment for all housing providers, RI has the 3rd oldest housing stock in the country and a crack down on slumlords. Landlords who follow the laws and regulations shouldn’t have an issue.

1

Ok-Mess-2729 t1_ja4xq59 wrote

I just don’t have the faith in this state to manage it correctly, we didn’t get this way because we are well managed.

1

klasbatalo t1_ja4zosm wrote

Well that’s why we think it should be managed by residents themselves not the state.

1

Ok-Mess-2729 t1_ja5lafu wrote

I hope it works out. It’s tough out there right now.

2

airforcereserve t1_j9zn0j1 wrote

We're not going to be happy until every house is owned and managed by the Providence Housing Authority. Universal Section 8 Housing!

−19