this post was submitted on 03 Mar 2024
424 points (99.1% liked)

News

23397 readers
3891 users here now

Welcome to the News community!

Rules:

1. Be civil


Attack the argument, not the person. No racism/sexism/bigotry. Good faith argumentation only. This includes accusing another user of being a bot or paid actor. Trolling is uncivil and is grounds for removal and/or a community ban. Do not respond to rule-breaking content; report it and move on.


2. All posts should contain a source (url) that is as reliable and unbiased as possible and must only contain one link.


Obvious right or left wing sources will be removed at the mods discretion. We have an actively updated blocklist, which you can see here: https://lemmy.world/post/2246130 if you feel like any website is missing, contact the mods. Supporting links can be added in comments or posted seperately but not to the post body.


3. No bots, spam or self-promotion.


Only approved bots, which follow the guidelines for bots set by the instance, are allowed.


4. Post titles should be the same as the article used as source.


Posts which titles don’t match the source won’t be removed, but the autoMod will notify you, and if your title misrepresents the original article, the post will be deleted. If the site changed their headline, the bot might still contact you, just ignore it, we won’t delete your post.


5. Only recent news is allowed.


Posts must be news from the most recent 30 days.


6. All posts must be news articles.


No opinion pieces, Listicles, editorials or celebrity gossip is allowed. All posts will be judged on a case-by-case basis.


7. No duplicate posts.


If a source you used was already posted by someone else, the autoMod will leave a message. Please remove your post if the autoMod is correct. If the post that matches your post is very old, we refer you to rule 5.


8. Misinformation is prohibited.


Misinformation / propaganda is strictly prohibited. Any comment or post containing or linking to misinformation will be removed. If you feel that your post has been removed in error, credible sources must be provided.


9. No link shorteners.


The auto mod will contact you if a link shortener is detected, please delete your post if they are right.


10. Don't copy entire article in your post body


For copyright reasons, you are not allowed to copy an entire article into your post body. This is an instance wide rule, that is strictly enforced in this community.

founded 1 year ago
MODERATORS
top 50 comments
sorted by: hot top controversial new old
[–] Reverendender@sh.itjust.works 88 points 8 months ago (11 children)

And immediate consequences will result for the violators I assume?

[–] Wooster@startrek.website 48 points 8 months ago (2 children)

I just read the joint legal brief, and, I have to say up front that I am not remotely a lawyer… but the document specifies how and where to identify price fixing, and that motions to dismiss those charges are to be dismissed.

So it doesn't dictate the penalties for price fixing (I assume that's on a trial by trial basis—but again, not a lawyer), but it makes it impossible(?) to ignore, and suggests that (to me), users of 'RENTMaximizer' will be in the crosshairs… while not actually stating that.

[–] Reverendender@sh.itjust.works 30 points 8 months ago (1 children)

Thanks, friend. My optimism has increased by 3-5%. It now sits at 3-5%. (Seriously, thanks though. That's some quality researching)

[–] Tangent5280@lemmy.world 7 points 8 months ago

There will be an investigation into the algorithms you use to estimate optimism, to make sure you do not collude with Hopelords to inflate optimism quotients and rob hopees through conspiracy. Do not resist.

[–] tryptaminev@feddit.de 15 points 8 months ago (2 children)

Does penalties in this case also mean compensation of the renters, whose wealth has been potentially robbed through illegal practices?

[–] Wooster@startrek.website 6 points 8 months ago

Mm… again not a lawyer, but I think that question goes beyond the scope of the document.

It basically gives the government permission to hold renters accountable for using software to artificially raise prices. What form that accountability takes is not addressed. Either that’s covered under existing collusion laws or is up to the courts.

So, it’s an essential ingredient to the cake that you’re describing… but unless prosecution (or whatever the term actually is) brings that up (I assume?), it won’t happen.

load more comments (1 replies)
[–] halcyoncmdr@lemmy.world 15 points 8 months ago (1 children)
[–] FiniteBanjo@lemmy.today 5 points 8 months ago* (last edited 8 months ago) (1 children)

Lots of people act like justice never comes from the Federal government to corporations, as if FaceBook isn't paying Billions in FTC fines for the next 2 decades. Punishments get dolled out all the time, but nobody talks about it.

[–] go_go_gadget@lemmy.world 4 points 8 months ago* (last edited 8 months ago) (1 children)

Why would people care? Even if we assume the fine isn't so trivial it's just a cost of doing business people don't get that money nor does the federal government turn around and say "Good news everyone this means we can afford universal healthcare now!"

[–] FiniteBanjo@lemmy.today 2 points 8 months ago (7 children)

Even if it's not as good as a criminal prosecution, it definitely does a lot to keep for profit companies in line. Without these various fines and rulings, the world would be a much worse place.

load more comments (7 replies)
load more comments (9 replies)
[–] harderian729@lemmy.world 68 points 8 months ago (2 children)

If you have any faith in the government to address maximizing profit through rent, you haven't been paying attention to who they serve.

[–] ComradePorkRoll@lemmy.world 23 points 8 months ago (5 children)

A capitalist economic system will always lead to capitalists in power.

load more comments (5 replies)
[–] FlyingSquid@lemmy.world 2 points 8 months ago

Without hope, all is lost. I would rather hang on to a shred of hope than give up.

[–] GrymEdm@lemmy.world 40 points 8 months ago (44 children)

Society shouldn't be set up to keep people renting for their entire lives. It was like 3 generations ago that you could realistically get a home in your 30's on a single paycheck.

[–] aniki@lemm.ee 23 points 8 months ago

Three generations ago the government was giving land away to anyone that could develop it.

[–] SoupBrick@yiffit.net 16 points 8 months ago

Yeh, but unregulated capitalism

[–] DABDA@lemmy.world 10 points 8 months ago (1 children)

Can't speak for the veracity, but I've got two magnets with the following:

1934

Average income = $1,601.00
Loaf of bread = $.08
Gallon of gas = $.10
Gallon of milk = $.45

New car = $625.00
New house = $5,972.00

1958

Average income = $4,650.00
Loaf of bread = $.19
Gallon of gas = $.24
Gallon of milk = $1.01

New car = $2,155.00
New house = $11,975.00

[–] ShepherdPie@midwest.social 4 points 8 months ago (1 children)

Interesting that pay tripled, staples like food and gas doubled, and the price of a car quadrupled in that time. Houses also dropped from 4x pay to 2.5x pay

[–] KevonLooney@lemm.ee 3 points 8 months ago (1 children)

Well the first one was in the depths of the Great Depression and the second one is the beginning of the post war boom. I would hope it looks better.

Home loans at that time were 10 year mortgages. Homes were so cheap that you could pay them off quickly. Of course homes now are much better made. Back then you might build it yourself or with some friends. A lot of homes from that time suck.

[–] the_post_of_tom_joad@sh.itjust.works 1 points 8 months ago (2 children)

Not really arguing against cuz I've just got this one subjective experience, but my aunt used to live in a Sears house (bought from the catalogue) and that mf was solid as hell.

[–] KevonLooney@lemm.ee 3 points 8 months ago

You are only seeing the one that survived. That's the definition of survivor bias.

Also, the electric system, pipes, roof, foundation, etc. wouldn't be up to code today. And "code" is the minimum level of quality that's legal. Every house built back then would be uninhabitable today, either because of safety issues or because of comfort issues.

load more comments (1 replies)
load more comments (41 replies)
[–] SeaJ@lemm.ee 16 points 8 months ago

Time to short RealPage.

load more comments
view more: next ›