Why Landlord Licensing is Dumb

Here’s a story from the United States about what happens when the city, in this case the city of Bellevue, Nebraska, shuts down a building. Apartment Tenants have 3 Days to Move

Most tenants who live in such places have very few resources. If they had money they wouldn’t live there. Now with a whole three days notice…they get to pick up and move. Except, they have no way to do so.

For many of these tenants their horrible housing is better than no housing at all, the alternative is living under a bridge somewhere. While I’d much rather have a nice safe building for them, where they are is safer then where they are going. For poor people that live in urban centers like Toronto, it’s a big deal.

For instance there has been a 6 alarm fire at at 200 Wellesley Street in St Jamestown and the 1700 or so residents are homeless until further notice.

This even fails to address the sweet, sweet irony in the city of Toronto; that the biggest slumlord is Toronto Community Housing and the worst buildings actually belong to the city.

As you can see, putting people out of their homes for any reason, with short or no notice creates innumerable problems. Landlord licensing and the subsequent possible shutting down of buildings will only add to the problems experienced by the tenants. The tenants, if they have the means, always have the option of voting with their feet and moving. The bottom line is living somewhere, even the worst place in town with bed bugs, cockroaches, violence, is better than living nowhere at all.

If you liked this article, sign up for my email subscription.