• Tar_Alcaran@sh.itjust.works
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    28
    arrow-down
    4
    ·
    5 months ago

    You can actually be a good landlord. In theory. But at the point where you actually become a good landlord, it’s more of a public service than something you actually make money on.

    • Kissaki@lemmy.dbzer0.com
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      8
      arrow-down
      4
      ·
      5 months ago

      But at the point where you actually become a good landlord, it’s more of a public service than something you actually make money on.

      Why is that a but? They’re still a landlord, right? I really don’t get the attempt of separation of the same thing.

      • qarbone@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        11
        arrow-down
        1
        ·
        5 months ago

        Because most people don’t get into real estate to do public good. Most people get into real estate, become landlords, to make money off people’s need for land and housing. It’d be like trying to whitewash criminality because vigilante heroes exist. Yeah, vigilantes might exist and are technically criminals, but that’s not really the core conception of “a criminal”.

      • theneverfox@pawb.social
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        3
        arrow-down
        2
        ·
        5 months ago

        Because if you’re a landlord as an individual, a a human being, you’re not what people mean when they say “landlord”. You rent property - you can do that with a conscience, but that doesn’t deserve the title of landlord

        The term “landlord” refers to people who own homes as a business - people who create layers between them and the people they affect, bureaucracies or sheer numbers they can min-max without guilt.

        That subtle difference is everything

        • Kissaki@lemmy.dbzer0.com
          link
          fedilink
          English
          arrow-up
          2
          ·
          5 months ago

          How do you call an individual that rents you a place then?

          https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/landlord

          A person that leases real property; a lessor.

          I really don’t see the distinction. And while I’m not a native speaker, I’ve never heard nor think this is a common distinction or understanding.

          Landlord is singular. It does not sound like a company or manager.

          • theneverfox@pawb.social
            link
            fedilink
            English
            arrow-up
            1
            ·
            5 months ago

            Context matters - the person I rent from is my landlord, but that person is not primarily defined as a landlord. They rent out a couple properties, but they have a job - being a landlord is not their career

            You can call them a landlord (and they can call themselves one in certain contexts), but in the larger systematic context someone who rents out a room obviously is categorically different.

            The line is blurry, but honestly I don’t think it matters if you rent out your basement, your old house, or even a few houses. At some point it becomes a full time job (for someone), and that’s where I think the line is

            And as far as companies, the landlords are the ones who own the company holding ownership.

            It can also refer to the company itself as it’s a person legally (unfortunately). It’s not used that way in everyday conversation

            But in everyday conversation it’s normal to refer to the manager of the management company as your landlord, which is often an employee of a company that oversees bookkeeping and maintenance hired by the actual owners

            Ultimately, I think it’s important to fight for this distinction because language changes with use. By dragging in everyone who owns a second property or rents a room, we draw a line on the wrong side of working class people and their family who aren’t the problem