Posted on 02/21/2010 10:52:56 AM PST by cajuncow
NEW YORK – There was no heat or hot water, so for weeks Mary Fountain would fill a bowl and put it in the microwave, then strip off her extra layers to sponge herself clean.
Upstairs, her longtime neighbor, 70-year-old Gearaldine Davis, peers skeptically out at her balcony, hesitant to step onto the cracked concrete. The last time the city inspector came by, he told her he was afraid to walk out there.
This Bronx apartment building, where city housing violations have increased from 82 to nearly 600 in 16 months, is among thousands of rental properties from Los Angeles to Harlem showing a creeping decay as housing values collapse and funds for repairs dry up.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...
I thought this kind of thing only happened during Republican administrations? I was also surprised to see a story about the increase in homelessness. What’s going on here?
Maybe those ‘rent controls’ weren’t such a good idea after all...
Same old liberal rent-control. Incentives for landlords to maintain buildings is about zero. For public projects, they have always been incompetent and corrupt.
Our future under Obama and the corrupt Chicago Marxists.
Keyword, affordable housing. Epic fail.
“Across the country, multifamily mortgages covering 340,000 apartment units and worth an estimated $28.8 billion were delinquent or in foreclosure at the end of 2009 — more than 18 times the sum from two years earlier — according to Real Capital Analytics.”
Coincidence? The ‘Rats took over our country en mass about two years ago... ;)
stupid renters.... they complain to the city... forcing the landlord to fix it up... he then raises the rent... and they are homeless.
ROFL
Yes when you remove the profit there is no incentive to fix and maintain. Next step is to just walk away from renting. Too bad for those who can’t afford to own property but this is what is coming.
Right by the Deegan: http://tinyurl.com/ycqozt7
“I was also surprised to see a story about the increase in homelessness. What’s going on here?”
Well, at some point it’s an emergency that only “The One” can fix with, maybe, enhanced executive powers perhaps...
On Law and Odor, the evil capitalist landlord/tenants just kill the rent controlled tenants to make a profit.
If you look at the politics of these slum lords, you will be shocked at the number of libs.
Exactly. At one time, I wanted to go into the rental property business but after researching the whole thing, I realized there is too much government interference, too many expenses and too little money. Also, if you get bad renters, its very hard to get them out. And of course you are forced to rent to bottom feeding scum. Must not discriminate. If that crackhead mom with 6 kids wants to rent your house, its against the law to hold out for a better tenent.
That model of efficiency should utilized across vast segments of our evil capitalist structure to spread the wealth
Probably not. Laws are good for Thee but not for Me. ie Rangel, Geithner, Daschele, et al.
My father ran a rental property management business in Boston (about 50 buildings at its peak). It saddens me to think of the huge amount of money he had to write off over the years as deliquent and uncollectable rent. The eviction laws had become so ridiculous by the 80’s that instead of trying to evict delinquent tenants my father (ever the pragmatic realist) would visit them and convince them to move by paying them a bribe of severla hundred dollars, cancelling what they owed in delinquent rent, and paying their moving expenses. This approach turned out in the long run to be cheaper than pursuing them through an eviction process that could consume up to TWO YEARS making its way through the city court system with no guarantee of any creditor satisfaction at the end.
A mortgage contract carries no ethical or moral responsibilities with it.
A contract is defined as "a promise to perform OR to breach and pay damages." There is nothing unethical about breaching a contract. You walk away, the bank gets the property/building.
When the bank lends you money, they are taking a risk that your business will not fail and they will make a profit on the money they loaned you. Heck, you take a risk by borrowing the money and investing your own. The bank understands that a certain number of borrowers will default, and this is part of the calculations used to determine your interest rate (i.e. those with poor credit scores pay higher rates).
Same thing with bankruptcy: it’s not a moral decision; it’s a business decision that weighs the costs and benefits of an action.
Of course those renters can’t be bothered to lift a finger to help themselves. Back when I was young and single and a renter, I always left the place better than when I arrived. If the place needed paint, I’d make a deal if the owner bought the paint I’d paint it. If the floors were caked with decades of grunge, I’d strip them and refinish them. If I wanted carpet, it was better for me to just buy cheap stuff than have the landlord put it in and raise the rent. In the end we both came out ahead.
Matter of fact it is a moral decision but libertarians don’t live in a moral universe. You all are just atoms floating across the universe. I heard an amoral lawyer who said the same as you did.
If I was in a real jam I might do the same as you describe. But I wouldn’t resort to that self justifying BS and I wouldn’t feel good about it
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