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Comment by ErikAugust | Hacker News Reader

Has anyone released a halfway-decent 'Rate My Landlord' site? Asking for a friend.

They'd need to address the powerful incentive to create fake reviews.

While true, I think the bigger issue is that no landlord would, in their right mind, agree to be represented on a website that is almost certainly going to contain nothing but negative reviews.

If one stops to ponder what would make an individual want to rate their landlord on a "RateMyLandlord" kind of site, then the answer is pretty simple: hatred. The biggest reason for people to write such a review is to complain. Usually, the complaints people write stem from issues related to their inability / lack of desire to pay their rent on time.

Landlords hate not getting paid. Especially in major cities, where regulations basically annihilate their ability to operate in an honest and competitive way without significant impact on their financials. Getting their monthly rent on time is really the only way they can turn any kind of profit on their business.

My income is higher than it has to be for the place I rent here in Brooklyn. But I get charged far below market rents. Why? Because I pay my rent every month on time without hassle. Because I don't wreck my apartment, don't need many repairs, and don't bother my neighbors. So even though I could afford to pay the market rate, I am a 'good' tenant, so I pay the so-called "preferential" rent, which is almost $400 per month cheaper than the rent cap instituted by NYC's horrid rent control laws.

That's right. My landlord could actually charge me more, but he doesn't, because I'm not a shithead. What am I supposed to write in my RateMyLandlord review? That I am a good tenant and get charged lower rent than everyone else? There goes all of my reward for being a decent person.

I don't see any way for such a site to work without damaging reputations or ruining nice arrangements tenants already have with their landlords.

My rental contracts are always standard and calculated from a table based on how long I want to commit to a particular unit. I've never gotten any sort of quid pro quo for paying on time and not being an asshole. From the sound of it, though, New York is a whole different ball game as a renter from basically anywhere I've ever lived.

There are reasons to leave reviews for apartments (for which I'm taking landlords as a proxy, which is an assumption that may diverge from your take). I've lived in quite a few places and most of them had good and bad qualities that I'd love to share with someone who wants more information when apartment hunting.

I was a good tenant. I paid on time. I didn't wreck my apartment. I did need repairs once: the hood (required by code) over my stove was never installed. I did ask for an exterminator repeatedly, because mice were coming in through the walls (there was a 2" gap between the floorboards and the sheetrock behind the baseboard radiator cowling; I caught 18 mice in one weekend). I did ask for an exterminator repeatedly, because about 15 months in bedbugs started coming in through my walls. About 16 months in, my landlord informed me they were going to begin eviction proceedings against me for failure to pay rent. I had paid every month, on time. The building had changed owners, and the new owner bungled their rent payment history. Had to hire a lawyer to send them a letter (along with a thick packet of supporting documents) declaring that no, in fact, I did not owe them four months rent.

So yeah, between illegally trying to evict me, never once exterminating that place, etc etc .... I'm glad I don't live in a building owned by a shitty landlord anymore. I'd give my previous landlord a solid F-; I'd give my current landlord an A. I'm also paying 150% what my previous place was for the privilege of having a landlord that doesn't violate the law monthly.

Are you a broker? Because I suspect your knowledge of the rental market might be incomplete.

> Usually, the complaints people write stem from issues related to their inability / lack of desire to pay their rent on time.

That doesn't make much (any) sense to me. People complain about their landlords because they can't pay their rent?

I haven't, but I think it would be very useful here in Boulder, CO where landlords are acting quite cocky.

In NYC, you can look up your building in the DOH complaint database. This ranges from things like damaged flooring (e.g, broken wood floors, pealing linoleum) to rat/roach/bedbug infestations and many other building violations (such as failure to provide heat in the wintertime). It's not usually complaints like 'my rent is too high and my landlord sucks, argh'. It's more complaints like, 'this building is hazardous to live in.'

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