You Can't Silence Us

Landlords

Democrat Maxwell Frost, US Congressman from Orlando, has called landlords “money hungry,” and has proposed two pieces of legislation to screw them over.

The first of these is the End Junk Fees for Renters Act. This proposed law would

  • banning application and screening fees;
  • require that late fees apply as credit to next month’s rent
  • Prohibits credit score screening in the rental application process
  • Requires that landlords disclose in the rental contract:
  • Past and present litigation with tenants
  • Ongoing pest and maintenance issues
  • Rent increase percentages year after year over the last ten years
  • The total amount that will be due each month, prohibiting surprise fees like utilities, bounced check fees, and late fees

This is what the commies had to say:

Credit scores were never intended to gauge whether someone will be a good tenant. They’re designed to predict whether someone will be late paying a loan, not rent, which is a much higher-priority bill than a credit card. Given the current rental housing crisis, this practice makes a bad situation worse.

Renting a home IS a loan. I am lending you a quarter of a million dollars in real property in exchange for your paying rent on time. The rental business is risky enough, but not allowing me to minimize the risk of a tenant stiffing me, doing $20k in damages to my property, or both means that I have to raise rents for everyone in order to make up for that risk.

The good Congressman also has this to say:

 If we want a future where everyone has access to stable, secure housing, then we must end junk fees. We must end discriminatory credit screenings. We must make housing a right, not a luxury. 

Nothing that requires the labor or property of someone else is a right. My tenants just moved out. I grow weary of dealing with them. This last tenant was late four times and had a payment declined once. Under this law, there would be nothing I could do about that, and landlords would have no idea that they were coming.

Residential renting is a moderate to high risk. Two tenants ago, I had to repair nearly $10k in damages that the tenants had done. You mitigate some of that risk through screening your tenants, and penalties for late and dishonored payments. If those tools are taken away, you will see higher deposits and higher rents to offset that. Since you are asking me as a landlord to lend you a quarter million dollars when a mortgage bank won’t do so because it’s too risky, then I need to generate returns that are far higher than I can get in the stock market.

Over the past 5 years, I have earned an average return of 7 percent or so in the market. My rental properties need to beat that by a fair margin, or the risk simply isn’t worth it.

My prediction is that this bill won’t pass. If it does happen to become law, rents will have to rise to compensate for risk.

I would raise rents by at least 10 percent, and would have to at least ask for 2 months rent as security deposit. Or perhaps we would take a page from Disney and charge a 13 months rent up front, but let you finance it at 0% interest, with approved credit.

People who have read this post: 393
By Divemedic, ago

On the Epstein Files

Attorney Andrew Branca says it best:

one could believe what the Trump administration is explicitly telling us–they HAD good reason to EXPECT that a careful review of the Epstein “files” in the possession of the prior administration would lead to evidence of criminal conduct that could be prosecuted–but that the ACTUAL review of what is available to them does NOT amount to evidence of prosecutable criminal conduct.

That could be because the criminal conduct was much more limited than imagined–perhaps it was largely Epstein who was the actual monster, and he’s already facing the forever consequences of that conduct?

Or it could be because the monstrous conduct WAS widespread but that the EVIDENCE of that widespread criminality has been stripped from the “files” available to the current administration, due to no fault of Trump.

After all, Trump’s most vicious political enemies have been in possession of these “files” for years. If the conduct largely implicates those enemies, why would they NOT strip the evidence of their criminality from the files they knew would be available to Trump?

We can also be certain that if the “files” in the possession of Trump’s enemies had so much of a hint of Trump himself engaging in any of the alleged offenses against children, we would have learned of this notional evidence many, many years ago.

And yet we have not.

When there are hypothesis consistent with Trump acting in good faith, why does everyone who is purportedly a supporter of his administration so quick to jump to the conclusion that Trump is acting in bad faith?

I think that those files had a lot of high ranking people on them- from both political parties. I used to say that certain politicians like SCOTUS judges were acting oddly, as if someone had videos of them with Vietnamese prostitutes.

Blackmail only works if the information being used as leverage remains secret.

People who have read this post: 601
By Divemedic, ago

Thieving Politicians

The San Francisco Parks Alliance was a nonprofit NGO that partnered with the city government to solicit donations to build parks. They are under fire for spending $3.8 million in donations on staff bonuses, lavish pay, and swanky parties. No parks, though.

The CEO was a friend and assistant to the Mayor. His web page brags about how he ran non-profits all over the country. This is the kinds of NGOs that have been funneling taxpayer money to the left for decades. We are the ones funding the let’s subversive activities.

People who have read this post: 267
By Divemedic, ago

He Had a Gun

The local press has been criticizing police for their response on this call. Just out of curiosity, how do they think police should respond to a naked man armed with a gun that is charging at them? Do they really believe that such a person can be reasoned with, if only someone who specializes in mental health can talk to them?

Are they really this stupid?

People who have read this post: 436
By Divemedic, ago

You Get More of What You Subsidize

About a fifth of people between ages 15 and 24 worldwide in 2023 are currently NEETs, which stands for “not in employment, education, or training.” About 20% of people who are between the ages of 15 and 24 are refusing to work, obtain certifications, or an education.

What’s going to happen as the older generations age out of the workforce? The collapse is closer than it appears.

People who have read this post: 557
By Divemedic, ago

Property Taxes

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis says that property taxes are nonsense, in that you are essentially paying rent to the government in exchange for owning property.

“You should own your property free and clear,” DeSantis said at a recent roundtable in Jacksonville. “I think to say that someone that’s been in their house for 35 years just has to keep ponying up money — you don’t own your home, if that’s the case.”

He’s right, but at the same time, things like police, fire, and schools need to be funded. The thing that surprised me about this article was that the state’s tax on real property accounts for 18% of county revenue, 17% of municipal revenue and between 50% and 60% of school district funding.

So the elimination of property taxes would mean that counties would have to cut 18% of their expenditures. Using Orange County (where Orlando is located) as an example, they have an annual budget of $7.2 billion. (pdf alert) That would mean that the county needs to cut $1.3 billion from its annual budget. From their budget, they spend money on:

In this budget, we have purposefully allocated resources to address critical areas that are essential to ensuring the well-being of our residents by investing in affordable housing, preserving the environment, fueling economic development, strengthening public safety, improving transportation, expanding mental and behavioral health services, and enhancing children and family services programs. We will also develop a plan for expanding services to homeless people.

Orange county’s property tax proceeds total about $969 million of that budget. Can they make some cuts?

  • $16.1 million is for affordable housing programs
  • Neighborhood Centers for Families (NCF) $7.5 million for mental health, early childhood development, youth empowerment, family support, and youth recreation.
  • The Citizens Review Panel (CRP) recommends grant funding for small and large nonprofit organizations that provide vital services to Orange County children, youth, and their families. CRP funding is budgeted at $4.1 million for the fiscal year 2025.
  • resources to advance environmental initiatives $100 million per year
  • Tourist Development Tax revenue budget for fiscal year 2025 is $345 million. Let businesses fund their own development.

Without even trying, I have found $472.7 million in cuts. That’s halfway to eliminating property taxes. It can be done. Government shouldn’t be an endless source of pork that is being used to buy votes. Government should stay out of our pockets and provide only essential services through taxes. They should ask for donations for any extra services.

People who have read this post: 694
By Divemedic, ago