AlyssaKatz.com

On renters

If you haven’t seen it yet, check out the Q&A with me on homeownership and the bubble in Salon today.

Comment from reader KayWWW stresses a supremely important point:

Renters and Owners

I’m glad someone has mentioned renters, at least briefly. One reason people tried so hard to buy homes is because renters are treated so badly. In most places, they have almost no rights at all. When your landlord can basically throw you out any time, for any reason at all, it’s no wonder people are desperate to buy. (I had one landlord who tried to evict me because the heat was broken and it was “too inconvenient” to fix it. That may be illegal, but good luck getting anyone to enforce the law.)

I don’t really want to buy a house – I’ve moved frequently for my job, and buying would be inconvenient. But it’s hard to continue renting when there is so little security, even if you have a lease. And the animosity toward renters is shocking – I went to a town meeting to hear about a new housing plan (they want to build luxury rental condos), and I heard the most nasty things directed toward renters (even ones that can afford trendy condos).

Not everyone wants to be a homeowner, and not everyone should be. The housing bubble showed that. But there needs to be stronger protection for renters, so people will have a viable alternative.

Tuesday, June 30th, 2009 | Tags: renters, Salon
Posted in A Lot More | 1 Comment »