The best part is literally everything the OP is saying is right. I hate how adversarial small time landlords often are against their tenants (not that big ones are any better, but having a face to face just makes it hurt worse)
In my experience, big landlords really are objectively better. They are inflexible and bureaucratic, but generally fair and follow the law. Some small landlords will outright break the law and force you to deal with them legally. But some small landlords are great and a lot more flexible than a corporate landlord can be. If I ever were to rent again, I'd prefer big corporate landlords. Just my experience of course.
And big corporate landlords can easily slide into the same territory any big corporation is in: they break laws because they have enough lawyers and money that individuals basically cannot win a legal battle against them
Small landlord = much more willing to work with you AND much less likely to screw you over. Lease for a couple years and then 10% raise (while prices in the city go up about 20%).
Big landlord = hey the apartment above you is now an Airbnb; we know about it; and we're going to lie to you about it. Oh and pay us 10% more rent every year or 13 months to live below the motel room (while prices in the city go up a few percent).
They (mostly) follow the law, but the flip side is they will follow the law to their maximum advantage. They'll increase rent the maximum permitted each year. They'll do all the maintenance required by local law but not an inch more. And so on.
I've always had a more agreeable time with small-time landlords. I'm nice to them and their property, they're nice to me and don't push the law to the limits. They mostly never raise rents on me.
I haven't rented residential in a long while but still currently rent office and workshop space, both are on a handshake deal from small single-building owners. My rents are a fraction of what the corporation-managed spaces are in the area.
That said, it's certainly true that with individual landlords you risk a lot more variety; you can end up with a normal friendly fella, or an absolutely crazy nutjob, or anything in-between. In general my experiences have been much much better with small-time landlords.
Big landlords can be better and worse. Worse ones can cause a lot of damage.
Further, the towing company was most likely also scanning for plates that aren't registered as it is a huge problem for renters where parking spots are a limited resource.
Car isn't registered as a guest or tenant? Tow it.
No, it is not illegal for a car on private property to have expired tags. SMH...
The stated purpose of landlord prohibitions against unregistered vehicles is usually to prevent eyesores but of course it's perfectly possible for a legally registered and/or inspected, road-worthy vehicle to be a complete eyesore.
And the net outcome of having to deal with paying $1K to get the tenant to move out means that the next tenant will likely see a higher security deposit to cover that eventuality.
If an efficient legal system can’t be relied on to quickly move out non-paying tenants, costs are going to rise to compensate. There’s no free rent.
It's not the 80/20 rule, it's the 95/5 rule.
OP and the parent comment are focused on tenants that don't appear to have done anything wrong or unreasonable, they're just in a bind and the landlords in question are choosing not to be fair.
Let me explain:
A business, say a Walgreens, sells things. This is like the landlord.
A customer buys things, this is the tenant.
There are overhead losses incurred in running a business. At walgreens milk will go bad, cheese expires, people steal shampoo. Those things are "the cost of doing business" for the business. In the case if the shampoo theft, the government steps in (except in SF) and helps make it right.
The customer is not (necessarily) a business, and is being promised a good or service in exchange for money. If that good or service is not what it was promised to be, that needs to be corrected because anything less is theft. In this case, the government should also step in, as it's theft.
These are not the same thing. One is theft, one is the cost of doing business.
Put another way - you should never put the health, wealth, and we'll being of a business above the health, wealth, and we'll being of individual(s)
The other thing I want to point out in your response is "bad tenant". This term is often used to refer to someone who has had an unfortunate event, or series of events, could be medical, could be not their fault, that has resulted in them not being able to pay their rent, often for a short period of time.
These aren't bad people, these aren't "bad tenants".
I've been a landlord, I chose to get out of the business because I wanted to do other things with my time. I get it. But you don't get to be abusive to your tenants. In the end, I found ad I believe many will, that you get more Flys with honey. The answer is generally kindness. If a tenant is behind, give them a discount for one month, you will earn an ally for life and instantly turn a "bad tenant" into a good one. It worked for me.
When there are many thefts, shops usually rise prices to cover the cost and stay operational, or they use measures like bag search or locking certain items.
Lardlords cannot do the same because reasons.
> The other thing I want to point out in your response is "bad tenant". This term is often used to refer to someone who has had an unfortunate event, or series of events, could be medical, could be not their fault, that has resulted in them not being able to pay their rent, often for a short period of time.
Not my problem, you can't just come to Walgreens "I'm poor please give me stuff for free BTW nice cart can I take it"
> I've been a landlord, I chose to get out of the business because I wanted to do other things with my time.
I've been a British monarch, I chose to get out of the business because I wanted to do other things with my time. AMA.
Two things:
1 - Alas, yes it is your problem. You can't squeeze blood from a rock. You have two options. A - evict them or whatever or B - be compassionate and help to get them back on their feet. If you add up the costs to you for each I'm confident you will find that kindness is more profitable. I encourage you to do the math for yourself, you may be leaving money on the table.
2 - They do give away free food, medical supplies and even toys at Walgreens. I see people using their EBT card, donating to the toy drives and food banks there daily. Local stores are a key part of our system to collect and distribute resources to the under nourished and under privileged.
Not all handouts are theft. You seem to automatically equate handouts to theft. Perhaps do some self work to see where this connection started.
I'll sum it up for you: You could be even richer if you were kinder. If you do so, you'll find other forms of richness as well (not just financial). To help you on your journey I suggest you read (or watch) The Christmas Carol, I like the Muppets one. It's not a religion thing (I'm not), it's a kindness benefits everyone, including yourself, thing.
Edit: Downvotes from spiteful landlords? And no, I'm not referring to the online fake landlord trolls: I'm taking about local associations.
its really shitty to have to wait for an invoice to go unpaid, for a very long time, and then file with the court, and then have your court date pushed out a couple times, and then win the case, and then go to the sheriff to try to collect
I would definitely like to remove a few months from that process.
I get the sentiment, but its a UX issue that can be improved, not really the parties involved.
Of course, that is the caveat -- some clients are pathologically not "well behaved" and if you're in a circumstances where you're often having to go through small claims court with clients on a routine basis, it begs the question of whether you're selecting the right clients or not. Having been in your shoes before, I will say that I've been guilty of selecting clients who showed warning signs of poor behavior that ultimately resulted in my work not getting paid. I began to turn away certain kind of work that made me hesitant of such an outcome, even if it seemed to be lucrative at the outset. Without understand your potential clientele better, it's hard to say whether this would work for your issues, but it may be worth considering.