The landlord had told them he wanted to raise the rent to $3,500 and when they complained he decided to raise it to $9,500.

“We know that our building is not rent controlled and this was something we were always worried about happening and there is no way we can afford $9,500 per month," Yumna Farooq said.

  • @Dkarma@lemmy.world
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    -2172 years ago

    You can’t afford to buy. If not for landlords who would you rent from? Where would you live?

    The idea that if there were no landlords you’d be able to afford a house is absurd.
    I agree corporations should be limited in how many single.family homes they are allowed to buy but this whole "all landlords are scum ". Schtick makes u look pathetic and ignorant of the facts.

    • oʍʇǝuoǝnu
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      1302 years ago

      When people trying to purchase their first home are outbid constantly by investors (corporate or not) who later try to rent out that same space at more than the first time buyer would be paying on their mortgage then no, you daft idiot, they are not providing a service.

      This whole lAnDlOrDs ArE oUr FrIeNd shtick makes you look pathetic.

      • @Dkarma@lemmy.world
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        -62 years ago

        News flash dude. Way before all this increase when rates were low and there were tons of houses on the market I was trying to buy a first home and was outbid constantly by realtors who had more money and connections. It has never had anything to do with landlords per se.

        If you dont think landlords are providing a service then you’re the idiot. No one is making you rent from anyone. I joined thought it was worth the space for the money no one would pay it.

        • oʍʇǝuoǝnu
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          2 years ago

          News flash dude, it was wrong then and it’s wrong now, period.

          If you think for profit renting is superior and less predatory to public housing, a successful model used in countries all over the world, and used to be successful in this country before the Conservatives and Liberals killed it in the 80/90s, then you’re an idiot.

          No one is saying the empty nester with the basement suite charging an affordable price for the unit is in the wrong. The one’s that are in the wrong are the corporations and individuals who are buying up properties for their own personal gain at the sake of those around them who did nothing wrong other than being unlucky wth market timing. The ones in the wrong are the politicians who have lied to their voters into believing that for profit corporations are the solution to public services like housing, healthcare, and transportation, and the voters who have buried their heads in the sand and refused to listen to reason because they are scared of admitting they may not be right 100% of the time and would rather watch the world burn than change.

          If you can’t understand this then again, you’re a fucking idiot.

          • @Dkarma@lemmy.world
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            02 years ago

            I never said any of the things you claim I said…lmfao. who are u arguing against cuz I didn’t make any of the points u claim I did.

            I never said anything close to what you assert in your first paragraph.

            This is called a strawman. And you really beat him up…lol.

        • @fiah@discuss.tchncs.de
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          32 years ago

          I spent some of my formative years in public housing. It was definitely a bit more sketchy than the privately owned homes across the street but all in all it was a fantastic way for me to get my feet under me as a student and young adult. That’s exactly what scores of young and also not so young people desperately need right now

        • @fiah@discuss.tchncs.de
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          142 years ago

          public housing doesn’t require tax money. It is often facilitated by it, yes, but don’t act as if the rent is necessarily sponsored by the government just because public housing isn’t designed to extract the maximum amount of money from the renters. There’s plenty to criticize about public housing without resorting to falsehoods

    • @bitsplease@lemmy.ml
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      472 years ago

      The reason so many can’t afford to buy is because so many houses are bought purely to be rented back out again, if no landlords existed housing prices would drop and more people could afford to buy.

      For those who still couldn’t, as others have said - public housing

      • It’s not that, it’s purely supply. Landlords are a proxy for tenants, whether willing or unwilling, in the housing market when it comes to demand. They are no more interested in driving up housing prices than owner occupants are (which is to say, the vast majority of both are interested in driving up housing prices). The catch is, you can’t drive up housing prices in a market where there isn’t a supply constriction. Build more housing where people want to live, and you won’t have to do anything else for the problem to fix itself.

      • @Dkarma@lemmy.world
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        -172 years ago

        I mean this is patently false. Even when there were huge housing surpluses and rates were rock bottom people still rented. Sometimes even when they could afford to buy.

        Sure now large corps have gobbled up the supply but even if they sold everything and tons of houses were on the market there would still be renters. And those renters need landlords.

        • @bitsplease@lemmy.ml
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          172 years ago

          Well yes, hence my last sentence - there will always be some people who have to rent (or just prefer it), and for those people, we could have public housing. Basically housing that’s treated as a public infrastructure - run not for profit, but for public good. It’s really not that hard to grasp - remove the landlords from the equation, and set the rent prices to exactly the cost of maintaining the properties.

          If you remove the landlords leeching away extra value for investment profit, and instead just charged what it cost to make the housing available, it’d be cheaper by definition. Providing essential services at an affordable cost is literally the whole point of civil infrastructure

          You don’t need landlords to give people a place to rent, in the same way I don’t need to pay someone to bring water to my house, or haul my sewage away, I use the public utilities in my area. And I’m not even talking about subsidizing the cost with tax dollars (though I think that’s a good idea), you could give renters significant savings simply by not trying to make money off them

          • @Dkarma@lemmy.world
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            -182 years ago

            No one wants to pay for any of that ever tho. You’re talking about massive infrastructure costs which sure on average is cheaper but good luck getting any gov to agree to the cost and maintenance. Idk about Canada but public housing in the US sucks.

            • @bitsplease@lemmy.ml
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              152 years ago

              No one wants to pay for any of that ever tho

              Pay for what? Again, I’m not talking about subsidized housing here, just at-cost rentals. The only people paying are the renters, they’re just paying significantly less because they’re not funding some random person/corporation’s no-effort-required retirement plan.

              Idk about Canada but public housing in the US sucks.

              I’m in the US, and idk where you live but public housing in my area is both high quality and super affordable (granted I live in a very liberal state, where such things are given priority). The only issue is that there isn’t enough of it, but that would be solved if we switched to public housing for rentals instead of landlords. If your area has “sucky” public housing, you should advocate for improvements in your community and vote for local policy makers who will prioritize it.

              You seem to have this odd insistince that you can’t possibly have rental properties without someone leeching profits off the top of the whole deal

              • @Dkarma@lemmy.world
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                -12 years ago

                Do you not realize that buildings cost money? That has to come way way way before a single dime of rent is collected. You act like rents collected from tenants equal the cost of the building immediately.

                So again, where is the money coming from in advance to build the housing??? You only have one option. You keep pretending otherwise by creating a crazy unrealistic situation.

                • @bitsplease@lemmy.ml
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                  12 years ago

                  Of course buildings cost money, no one is suggesting that the tenants of these public housing buildings don’t pay rent. Just that the rent is set at a rate that simply recoup costs instead of making the landlord (which in this case is the state) rich in the deal. And if states don’t have the funds to invest in the property, I’m pretty sure the state governments would qualify for some pretty solid mortgages. And the costs of those mortgages can be added onto the rent - same as a landlord would do, only in this case, that would be the end of the rent padding.

                  I can’t help but feel like you’re deliberately misinterpreting me at this point. That, or you’re just incapable of fathoming how human beings could possibly interact without one profiting off the other. The renters still pay rent, the mortgages on the property still get paid, the only difference is that the profit that would have gone to the landlord stays in the tenants pockets. That’s it - that’s literally the only difference. No free houses, no huge tax bills, just the removal of profit, and at-cost rents for folks who need them.

                  • @Dkarma@lemmy.world
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                    02 years ago

                    Then do it dude. No one is stopping you. I’m saying someone has to put up the cash.

                    You’re saying…I’m not sure what exactly cuz no one is jumping to build public housing anywhere.

                    But if you think you can provide public housing at cost go for it. Someone has to pay UP FRONT and I’m not sure who u think that actually Is.

            • @Nowyn@sopuli.xyz
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              12 years ago

              Works pretty well in my country. The issue is that there aren’t enough of them these days in a couple of the biggest cities but they are building more every year. They are well-run and pretty great in other ways too.

    • @uis@lemmy.world
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      422 years ago

      If not for landlords who would you rent from?

      If not for landlords who would suck all supply?

    • jcrm
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      402 years ago

      Public housing. That’s where you rent it from. Landlords serve no purpose in society that can’t be solved in better ways.

      For example, I would gladly purchase my apartment. The rent that I pay would be roughly equal to mortgage payments on the approximate value of the unit. But instead I’m stuck paying that amount so someone else can own it. Just cut out the parasite in the middle.

        • jcrm
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          122 years ago

          Wow I never thought of that. It’s almost like people treating housing as an investment portfolio, corporate landlords, and greedy developers have made all the housing around me completely unaffordable.

          On top of that, I wouldn’t qualify for a mortgage of that amount, despite the fact I’ve been paying the same in rent for nearly a decade.

    • @PaganDude@lemmy.ca
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      382 years ago

      Landlords provide housing the way scalpers “provide” tickets. The solution for people who need can’t afford to buy or who only need short term accommodation is public housing.

      The CMHC used to provide funds to the provinces which would then build big public housing units with affordable rent. This provide a check & balance to the free market, keeping rents and house prices from skyrocketing. But then in the 80s and 90s, both Conservative and Liberal PMs successively defunded that aspect of the CMHC to solve budget issues, and those properties were destroyed as they reached their “maturity” date, regardless of whether the building was still usable or not.

      I lived near one of them, located here: https://maps.app.goo.gl/SG2kkXeVsp3Nia2RA Check out the street view and click “see more dates” for 2012, that’s housing for 90+families. Then in 2014 it was closed for demolition. And today it’s still an empty grass lot. Almost 10 years as a Govt-owned empty lot, instead of affordable housing, because those Govts kept promising “market solutions” to housing problems.

      But it turns out the “problem” with housing was letting the “free market” turn it into another Tulip Bulb craze, instead of keeping it an affordable necessity

    • @countflacula@lemmy.ca
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      362 years ago

      Please tell us more about how the types of people who decide to jack rent up to absurd levels when given the slightest push back are actually a good thing for society.

        • @IronKrill@lemmy.ca
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          -82 years ago

          I’m surprised you’re getting downvoted so heavily here, they’re literally arguing a point you didn’t make.

          • @Bytemeister@lemmy.world
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            -42 years ago

            Lotta justified anti-landlord sentiment is overflowing the barriers of nuance and creating a flood of “everything should be free in a perfect society” quasi-marxism.

    • @Poob@lemmy.ca
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      322 years ago

      if not for landlords who would you rent from?

      “We’ve tried nothing and we’re all out of ideas”

    • @FluffyPotato@lemm.ee
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      292 years ago

      Decomodify housing. Like tax owning a home past like the 3th one so high it would destitute someone as rich as Musk in a month. Watch everyone who uses property for investment panic sell and crash the market into oblivion. The people who want to own a home can now do so and the rest can be bought up by the government for cheap to convert into public housing. Ez affordable housing and renting in one swoop.

      • @Obi@sopuli.xyz
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        2 years ago

        So I’m a big fan of reducing landlords (especially big corporate ones), but aren’t you worried about what happens to all the people that bought a house to live in with your plan? If my house halved in value I’d be well fucked, the house losing value won’t make my mortgage go down unfortunately.

        Edit: I guess I crossed a threshold in that comment which puts me in the “landlord sympathiser camp”, which is far from the truth, I’m not too surprised about that though. Look, my preferred option is annihilation of capitalism, but just crashing the real estate market without doing anything else about the system itself would be devastating for a lot of common folks, not just through housing prices but all the other economic effects it would have.

        • @FluffyPotato@lemm.ee
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          102 years ago

          I own my apartment too and if its value dropped to zero it would have no effect, I would still be living in it with no change.

          Something should probably be done about housing bought with loans but even if it isn’t anyone who bought a home to live in will continue to do so, it’s value being pretty much irrelevant.

          • @Obi@sopuli.xyz
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            2 years ago

            There is a change which is that you can’t move anymore, better hope you chose that house really well and never need to move ever again (which is extremely unlikely for us and I would think for most people). Not to mention the sheer insanity to be paying monthly for another 25 years for something with no value.

            • kase
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              12 years ago

              It might be frustrating if the value of my home dropped after buying it, but I don’t imagine it would mean I couldn’t move. I sell my current home for a lower price, but wouldn’t that be okay because the price of the house I’m buying is also lower now? (/gen curious, I don’t know a lot about this topic lol, just thinking out loud)

              • @Obi@sopuli.xyz
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                22 years ago

                If you’re “underwater” (your mortgage is higher than the value of the house) then yeah you’re stuck unless you want to pay off that difference. That happened to friends of mine after 2008. If you own the house outright then yeah it matters less.

                • kase
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                  12 years ago

                  damn I see your point, that would suck. thanks for the explanation.

    • Xanthrax
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      2 years ago

      I’ve NEVER met a landlord who had low prices, just government subsidized low income housing. Even large real-estate companies/ banks tend to offer better prices. Landlords fucking suck. Investing in a house, is like “investing” in water. You’re just spending money to increase demand and make money, on SOMETHING PEOPLE NEED TO LIVE.

    • @PoliticalAgitator@lemm.ee
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      102 years ago

      Found the landlord. If not for tenants, who would you and your estate agent squeeze for every possible cent, cutting every possible cost along the way so you can more horde wealth, buy more homes and get fat at other people’s expense.

      Nobody that wasn’t bleeding renters would try and look reasonable by saying “corporations shouldn’t be able to own too many houses”.

      The people complaining are not the ones who should be ashamed.

      • @Dkarma@lemmy.world
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        -92 years ago

        Yep, the house I got lucky on and am saving for my kid to move into in a year makes me scum of the earth.

          • @Dkarma@lemmy.world
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            -42 years ago

            Lol. What a shit take. What is my kid supposed to do for a house? Pay market price in a year? How does that solve the supply issue again???

            I love how you guys are just reactionary and don’t ever think any steps ahead about what the result of your propositions would be…just landlord bad. Free house good.

            I’m a huge supporter of social welfare programs and limiting the num of houses ppl can buy so if u think I’m the enemy, buddy you’re fighting the wrong battle.

      • @Dkarma@lemmy.world
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        -102 years ago

        I don’t disagree but what we need is stability. So far capitalism has given the US that. If you’re proposing a different system fine just make sure that while we move to it the perceived wealth of the country doesn’t take a hit and after it is implemented do the same.

        I don’t think it is possible from here. What we really need is loads more regulation and Corp criminals going to prison to start.

          • @Dkarma@lemmy.world
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            12 years ago

            Largest gdp and arguably most stable economy of scale on the planet what are you talking about?
            See this is what I’m talking about. Just devoid of reality

            • @SlikPikker@lemmy.ca
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              12 years ago

              Coal Wars, Conscription, Red scare, Segregation, Civil Rights Oppression, Violence, Drug War, international chaos and war.

              What are you talking about?

        • @SlikPikker@lemmy.ca
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          32 years ago

          They said, not even knowing where I’m from. There are people who would be dead without Soviet Authoritarianism.

          And somehow that’s not what I’m advocating.

        • JokeDeity
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          122 years ago

          Yes, the only two options are capitalism and full on Chinese dictatorship communism.

          • @terath@sh.itjust.works
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            2 years ago

            There is also Soviet communism, Cuban communism, and North Korean communism. I’m sure one of those countries will happily welcome you with lovely high quality public housing.

            • JokeDeity
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              32 years ago

              I own my home. I’m just not a scumbag leech on society like you guys.

              • @ByteWizard@lemm.ee
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                -42 years ago

                Do you think you’ll get to keep your house under communism?

                Mao thought that he could catapult his country past its competitors by herding villagers across the country into giant people’s communes. In pursuit of a utopian paradise, everything was collectivised. People had their work, homes, land, belongings and livelihoods taken from them. In collective canteens, food, distributed by the spoonful according to merit, became a weapon used to force people to follow the party’s every dictate. As incentives to work were removed, coercion and violence were used instead to compel famished farmers to perform labour on poorly planned irrigation projects while fields were neglected.

                • JokeDeity
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                  22 years ago

                  Do you think I’m pro communist? I’m not from hexbear or Lemmygrad buddy.

    • @terath@sh.itjust.works
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      -92 years ago

      The geniuses on this site think that if the government is your landlord then you don’t have a landlord. Basically they want a form of communism. Public housing has it’s place but as someone who has rented in the past it’s not the sort of housing I’d choose unless it’s a last resort.

      In any case, VERY STRONG DISAGREE that the only rentals should be government run or co-ops.

    • @ByteWizard@lemm.ee
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      -152 years ago

      Attacking landlords is textbook communism. Straight by the book. The red guard is in full force on lemmy.world.

      • @Dkarma@lemmy.world
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        -12 years ago

        I mean I get the hate to some extent. I’ve been on both sides of this coin so I can see how both sides feel squeezed.

        • @ByteWizard@lemm.ee
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          22 years ago

          Some are good, some are bad just like everything in life.

          This isn’t an attack on a specific landlord though, it’s a variation on the Land Reform Movement. Except instead of country land for the revolution it’s city properties to be used for 15 minute cites.