this post was submitted on 19 Mar 2024
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Your landlord is an asshole, but the bigger problem is your laws. In the Netherlands for example if your landlord doesn't give you a very specific short term contract (where it's very clear it's short term renting) the landlord can't kick you out as long as you pay the rent (and even if you stop paying it takes months before a judge kicks you out).
My friend rented this place that the owner just couldn't sell during the financial crisis. A decade later housing prices where high again. The landlord really wanted him gone but had zero legal ground to do so. So when my friend told him he was thinking of moving the landlord offered all sort of help to make him go (like paying for a moving company etc).
Laws is where the change will come from.
You're not wrong, but the fact is that it's actually really hard for tenants to even enforce existing laws, and shitty landlords know it. You need to pay to file your lawsuit, you need to know the law down pat, you really need a lawyer (that you often can't afford because they're all on retainer for the big landlords), and even if you ask the local Department of Health and Human Services for assistance or whatever, you'll be on a waiting list for MONTHS because there's probably also a hundred and a half other people who are trying to do the same thing against their shitty landlord. The people that this system benefits know how much of a pain it is, know how long you'll realistically take to get anything rolling, and know that if they give you a short enough timespan, you're going to shrug and say "well OK then" more often than not.
I guess that's the difference, if a landlord wants to kick you out here, they have to try to physically force you and you just call the police.
If a landlord would go into your house and remove your stuff you would immediately call the police. A landlord just can't do that here and would be treated like a burglar would (by the police).
This is why and how assholes steal security deposits. "Oh you're leaving the state and would have to travel back to participate in small claims court? Get fucked."
The laws are bad enough but it’s the enforcement that’s the real problem.
My brother was on the opposite side of this where a tenant refused to pay rent and refused to leave. However the only avenue for enforcement is a lawsuit or several. Not only are you out legal costs, it it can be dragged out months. It doesn’t matter if you’re in the right or have the law on your side, if you can’t afford your rights. He found it much faster and cheaper to “bribe” them to leave, “I’ll give you $500 to move out before the end of the month”. You do have to swallow your pride and any righteousness, though
I’d feel the same in this story: sure I have a contract, but is it worth my time, costs, and hassle to stand on my rights? Who needs that stress? However, I also agree with those who suggest bargaining with the landlord. They likely know they can’t win and would rather not pay their lawyers to drag it out, nor risk their sale, so there’s a good chance you could get moving costs or something from them