Eviction notice downloads soar after federal moratorium ends • Hacker News Board

Re: Eviction notice downloads soar after federal moratorium ends

#91

Post by eganist » Wed, Jan 19, 2022, 5:41 PM UTC

AnthonyMouse wrote: post #76

eganist wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> If eviction rates are “approaching pre-pandemic levels” then isn’t the real shocking headline that eviction rates are lower than before the pandemic despite the eviction moratorium? What am I missing? Home is the only shelter many people have from contracting COVID. Evicting people into situations such as homelessness and overcrowding, where infection is more rampant, is a great way to spike infection rates potenti…

Landlords don't generally evict people because they want their properties to be empty. Evicting a tenant and taking in a different one has no effect on the number of people with housing. If you actually want to reduce crowding, build more housing.

> Landlords don't evict people because they want their properties to be empty. Evicting a tenant and taking in a different one has no effect on the number of people with housing.

I'm not sure where I made the impression that landlords want empty properties. They're evicting so that they can bring in paying tenants, but those tenants are often housed elsewhere anyway, not coming out of unhoused or underhoused groups.

So the point stands: people who lost their means of paying are being evicted into the abyss in order to make room for people who never had a housing challenge.

Re: Eviction notice downloads soar after federal moratorium ends

#92

Post by indigochill » Wed, Jan 19, 2022, 5:42 PM UTC

cletus wrote: post #19

I'm all for providing a social safety net in exactly the way the US doesn't. Housing (aka shelter) is a key part of that but the way the US does this is completely backwards. The government saying you can't evict someone is basically telling people they don't have to pay rent anymore regardless of need . Rent control is the same way: you can't raise the rent regardless of need . So these programs don't really help pe…

> what they should do is assess this on a case-by-case basis and pay the rent for people in genuine need.

I theorize this is infeasible in the US at the national level because there are probably regions in the US with insufficient manpower to do this manual review (though someone might correct me on this). It's easier to throw money at the problem by giving money to those who don't need it than it is to hire and maintain headcount.

I suspect this because this is far from a new problem. People have long abused welfare in the US who don't actually need it because the review process is incredibly lax (which in turn perpetuates the idea among the American right that government welfare is a waste of resources).

Though aside, I'm always wary of believing stories I read on the internet that paint the political situation in a certain light even if they're allegedly from individuals. But I've personally known people in real life who bragged about abusing welfare before, so I know that's a thing (though I don't recommend you take my word for it).

Re: Eviction notice downloads soar after federal moratorium ends

#93

Post by djrogers » Wed, Jan 19, 2022, 5:42 PM UTC

999900000999 wrote: post #79

Eviction is a very good book on this. America has a very very high eviction rate compared to other countries. I went through 2 evictions by 19 and their the worst things you can experience. In this country you can lose your job on Monday, lose your health insurance Tuesday. Which, even if you have manageable conditions will make it much harder to work. Then without a job you'll be evicted in another month or so. Some…

> Then without a job you'll be evicted in another month or so

This must be a state by state thing, because in California you can't get evicted in less than 90 days.

Re: Eviction notice downloads soar after federal moratorium ends

#94

Post by thegrimmest » Wed, Jan 19, 2022, 5:43 PM UTC

rhacker wrote: post #60

cletus wrote: post #19

I'm all for providing a social safety net in exactly the way the US doesn't. Housing (aka shelter) is a key part of that but the way the US does this is completely backwards. The government saying you can't evict someone is basically telling people they don't have to pay rent anymore regardless of need . Rent control is the same way: you can't raise the rent regardless of need . So these programs don't really help pe…

If rentals were illegal the price of buying a 1300 sq. foot home might have been 100k instead of 700k. So I stand by my belief that it's - oh there's already a name for it - rent seeking.

That still leaves an enormous quantity of people who don't have 100k just laying around, and are not reliable enough to be loaned the sum.

Re: Eviction notice downloads soar after federal moratorium ends

#95

Post by einpoklum » Wed, Jan 19, 2022, 5:43 PM UTC

I know this may sound far-fetched, but: tenants need to organize at the condominium/neighborhood level, and a coalition of tenant organizations needs to go out on a rent strike. Properly arranged, a community of renters can both make it difficult for police to evict (i.e. mass presence during attempted evictions), and also provide safe havens for evictees followed by reintroducing them into the apartments they were evicted from.

Re: Eviction notice downloads soar after federal moratorium ends

#96

Post by [deleted] » Wed, Jan 19, 2022, 5:44 PM UTC

HideousKojima wrote: post #41

dheera wrote: post #28

1. Raise prices of the eviction template to $10000 2. Give the $10000 to the renters being evicted 3. Provide a free template to renters to counter the eviction

4) Landlords get the template from an alternative source or do the paperwork by hand due to competition and the free market

[deleted]

Re: Eviction notice downloads soar after federal moratorium ends

#97

Post by mywittyname » Wed, Jan 19, 2022, 5:44 PM UTC

fineIllregister wrote: post #73

jMyles wrote: post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Are governments subsidizing 100% of the missed rent? Not quite. Only 0%.

This is completely false. The federal stimulus packages had billions in subsidies to landlords. That's in addition to the indirect support that the govtlernment has provides (such as the stimulus checks). Also most states have additional money for landlords.

There was all kinds of federal stimulus money given to businesses/property owners. It was just gobbled up by those who knew how to work the system (read: large property owners).

Re: Eviction notice downloads soar after federal moratorium ends

#98

Post by jcadam » Wed, Jan 19, 2022, 5:45 PM UTC

jabedude wrote: post #13

Do eviction rates correlate to rent prices at all?

My one experience as a landlord didn't go well. I'm too soft-hearted for that business, but ended up with a house I couldn't sell after the housing market collapse back in 2008.

Had a single mom move into my rental house. She missed rent a few times, but I always gave her time to make it up weeks later instead of doing what the law allowed and serving an eviction notice with a 3-day limit to come up with the rent.

She ended up letting some loser move in and they proceeded to trash the place together by running a rabbit breeding operation out of the house.

I should have just done a short sale at the outset instead of "doing the right thing" and holding onto the property for 5+ years and having to sell at a loss even in a strong market.

Re: Eviction notice downloads soar after federal moratorium ends

#99

Post by bluGill » Wed, Jan 19, 2022, 5:45 PM UTC

aaomidi wrote: post #55

jMyles wrote: post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Are governments subsidizing 100% of the missed rent? Not quite. Only 0%.

Nearly every state has a program to provide some rental payments back to the landlord. It's going to be less and more delayed than rent payments, but that's expected during a crisis. Renting isn't, and shouldn't be risk free.

> Renting isn't, and shouldn't be risk free.

That goes both ways, as a renter you risk getting kicked out, while as the landlord you risk not getting paid. Landlords typically evict and get someone who will pay but they were unable to. While there were programs for landlords, it was hard to get money out of them for various reasons.

Re: Eviction notice downloads soar after federal moratorium ends

#100

Post by AnimalMuppet » Wed, Jan 19, 2022, 5:45 PM UTC

keyboardCowBoy wrote: post #36

bdcravens wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Landlords don't like to evict. They prefer to receive rent.

I can only assume that my complex made a profit from evictions as they were always evicting someone. I am positive they would steal their deposit, add a bunch of fees/fines/back rent and then take them to court and usually winning. Well they sold the building a few months ago and new owners are raising rent by 20 percent.

Maybe you shouldn't assume so much.

While a landlord might find a way to make some money from an eviction, the main way they make their money is by getting the rent paid. That's what they evict for, so that they can get someone else who will pay them occupying that unit.

And, if they evict for non-payment of rent, I think they get to keep the deposit, and I don't think that's "stealing". That's part of what the deposit is for. What's stealing might be occupying their place without paying the rent, if you think about it.

And, winning in court doesn't mean you get paid. If they didn't have the money to pay the rent, they usually don't have a huge wad of cash sitting around to pay the back rent + court costs. So, you won in court, enjoy your nice victory that you can't collect.