If by this you mean they were one of the cheapest places to rent in the area, then good on them. Ultimately this is what tenants need is affordability.

End up the pair was worth 12 mil from cashing in on all their “goodwill.”

This is where you lose me. If you’re saying they rented some of the cheapest properties in your area and they profited $12,000,000 off their tenants, then holy shit man where do you live? That must mean that every other landlord is profiting multiple times this 12mil amount, maybe in excess of $50mil per landlord.

If you’re telling me that they weren’t actually the cheapest, they just called themselves the cheapest and somehow were the most expensive, this justifies the profit more but at $12,000,000 I have to ask how many properties did they own?!

If instead you didn’t mean to say “from cashing in on all their ‘goodwill’”, just that the pair had 12million saved up and were able to make housing affordable then indeed this is amazing! Ultimately the only individuals who are going to be able to do this are people who already come from wealth, or are at least people who can afford to make a loss on their rental properties.

So, somehow I’m not sure any of those are what you meant. Can you explain? Is there a news story about these people?

[–] chakan2@lemmy.world 0 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Yes, there was a news story about these people. It was 4 or 5 years ago. They were tying to get grants from our local government so they could continue to rent their properties so cheap.

They were playing themsleves off as a mom and pop that just wanted to help the community.

Ends up they owned something like 8 houses and 2 24 unit rental properties and were taking in profit on the rise in real estate all while getting grants for their good will.

The point is, landlords, by their nature, are not good Samaritans.

[–] dipshit@lemmy.world 1 points 1 year ago

Yeah, you’re not talking about the type of people I’m talking about, you’re refering to literal scammers. Try re-reading my first message and you’ll understand what I mean. The landlord I’m talking about doesn’t get government grants, isn’t scamming tenants.

You’re right that lots of landlords see landlordship for what it is: a business that you can invest in. You’re wrong that this extends to all landlords. A majority of landlords maybe, but some landlords are actually trying to help even if it means they don’t have a place to rent for themselves or a home that isn’t mobile.