The idea that the landlord has to make payments to the bank (mortgages and debt payments) is ostensibly fixed by lowered interest rates and bailouts, same as any other business who has lost their revenue stream.
The question is whether landlords are considered essential or non-essential businesses. If they are essential, like grocery stores, then we need to make sure they continue to function. If they are non-essential, like barbers, then they should go into stasis and take government money/loans to service any overhead they absolutely can’t shut off (like the barbers should be doing). The confusion is because shelter is essential, but landlords don’t actually provide shelter (they only steal shelter from those who can’t pay). Landlords can go into stasis like a barber and yet keep providing their essential goods like a grocery store. This logic proves too much, since I’ve never understood why we permit landlords to charge so much money without providing any services that I can discern, so I retreat to Chesterton’s Fence.
I’ve always thought the premium charged by landlords for the services they provide (roughly, the difference between rent and mortgage interest + taxes + insurance) is pretty small, though I don’t have numbers on hand. Besides maintenance and property management stuff, they take quite a bit of risk of fluctuations in property values, damage to the building, tenants stopping payment (in which case eviction typically takes quite a while), and liability for accidents and the like.
The idea that the landlord has to make payments to the bank (mortgages and debt payments) is ostensibly fixed by lowered interest rates and bailouts, same as any other business who has lost their revenue stream.
The question is whether landlords are considered essential or non-essential businesses. If they are essential, like grocery stores, then we need to make sure they continue to function. If they are non-essential, like barbers, then they should go into stasis and take government money/loans to service any overhead they absolutely can’t shut off (like the barbers should be doing). The confusion is because shelter is essential, but landlords don’t actually provide shelter (they only steal shelter from those who can’t pay). Landlords can go into stasis like a barber and yet keep providing their essential goods like a grocery store. This logic proves too much, since I’ve never understood why we permit landlords to charge so much money without providing any services that I can discern, so I retreat to Chesterton’s Fence.
I’ve always thought the premium charged by landlords for the services they provide (roughly, the difference between rent and mortgage interest + taxes + insurance) is pretty small, though I don’t have numbers on hand. Besides maintenance and property management stuff, they take quite a bit of risk of fluctuations in property values, damage to the building, tenants stopping payment (in which case eviction typically takes quite a while), and liability for accidents and the like.