12-02-2009, 03:45 AM
Gosh, this tenant-bashing is hard to read.
I was a tenant (in California) in the same apartment for the last 31 years. I always paid my rent on time, kept my apartment and common areas clean, replaced carpeting and repainted (at my expense), and otherwise was a good citizen. In the meantime, my landlord received all kinds of tax deductions and support from the government (which favors property owners) and used my rent to pay his mortgage. I do not begruge him this. I respected his property and he respected me.
However, the focus on tenants being the bad guys and property owners being the good guys is skewed. There are lots of reasons why folks are tenants, not property owners. The push for everyone to own their own home as part of the "American dream" (supported by our tax code) is part of what got our nation into the real estate mess we are in right now.
With the drop in real estate prices, last year I was able to purchase a place. My landlord rehabbed the apartment after I moved out and rented it for triple what I was paying. Good for him and good for the new tenant, who lives in a lovely apartment (as long as he can afford the rent).
So, this is just to remind folks that there are law-abiding, responsible tenants out there. I'm sorry to read about some of the problem people, but we're all not like that.
I was a tenant (in California) in the same apartment for the last 31 years. I always paid my rent on time, kept my apartment and common areas clean, replaced carpeting and repainted (at my expense), and otherwise was a good citizen. In the meantime, my landlord received all kinds of tax deductions and support from the government (which favors property owners) and used my rent to pay his mortgage. I do not begruge him this. I respected his property and he respected me.
However, the focus on tenants being the bad guys and property owners being the good guys is skewed. There are lots of reasons why folks are tenants, not property owners. The push for everyone to own their own home as part of the "American dream" (supported by our tax code) is part of what got our nation into the real estate mess we are in right now.
With the drop in real estate prices, last year I was able to purchase a place. My landlord rehabbed the apartment after I moved out and rented it for triple what I was paying. Good for him and good for the new tenant, who lives in a lovely apartment (as long as he can afford the rent).
So, this is just to remind folks that there are law-abiding, responsible tenants out there. I'm sorry to read about some of the problem people, but we're all not like that.