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Comment by monadic2 | Hacker News Reader

Now is the time for landlords to prove their value.

Just going to leave this here: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Georgism

You're living in a place that you couldn't afford on your own or won't buy for economic reasons (wanting to move, temporary job). That's value.

In cities where prices have risen because Airbnb has reduced long-term rentals, it feels more like rent-seeking behavior creating problems than actually providing value because so few can afford to buy.

By that logic feudalism has value?

Build a moat around your business*

*as long as it's not real estate?

If you've been following who owns real estate, it seems to be the moat for businesses these days.

I'm sure that people freely choosing to give landlords hundreds and even thousands of dollars monthly has already proven their worth.

freely choosing

I'm as skeptical of neo-Georgism as anyone, but this is a pretty standard fallacy. I seriously doubt that most people who rent their homes and business properties have viable alternatives to renting.

Define viable. You mean a dwelling place that protects you from the elements well enough that they won't even be in the top 50 ways you'll be likely to die statistically? Homeless shelters take care of that and there are other options in between. As for businesses - I know plenty of multi-million dollar businesses that have no need for a brick and mortar, but the business angle isn't even an argument - there's never a need for anyone to create a business, there's only incentive and the incentive is high enough that people freely choose to pay rent for businesses that require a physical location.

> You mean a dwelling place that protects you from the elements well enough that they won't even be in the top 50 ways you'll be likely to die statistically? Homeless shelters take care of that and there are other options in between.

Yikes.

What do you suggest?

Shelter is valuable.

Many landlords still have to pay for their ownership of buildings and properties and maintenance, etc. They need to see relief first if tenants are to also see relief.

> They need to see relief first if tenants are to also see relief.

You mean concurrently, surely? I don't see an issue with a mortgage relief, but the rent after paying for their portion of mortgage, tax, must go somewhere. Where does it go if not saving for value upkeep?

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