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I've been watching my community deteriorate during the past 8 years as subprime loans were obtained by investors who bought my neighbors' homes and renovated them to be multi-unit rentals. The negative impact has grown from heaps of trash/litter in the street, dangerous traffic, middle of the night disruptions, fights in the streets and is now more severe as there have been recent break-ins plus theft from open garages and vehicles. Perpetrators frequently visit our yards to look through the windows and must be chased away regularly. I recently had to order a replacement window due to a break-in attempt.
The rental owners are not present and penalties from the local government are not substantial enough to have an impact and control the new transient nature of the community. Most of the tenants don't even have jobs - I am starting to feel like a fool for going to work every day. The word on the street is that many of the homes are rented through a government program as subsidized housing. My conversations at Town Hall have been disappointing with the response from my government officials being favorable to converting homes into rental businesses. They insist that a rental house is not a business. My elected representatives sang me a song about Affordable Housing. (It sounded like a sales pitch from developers). As a matter of fact my town even provides tax breaks to homeowners who rent. What is happening to the American suburb??
What you heard from your elected representative is the truth, its no song. Affordable housing is needed on LI for renters, so is subsidized housing. I know it must suck to see your neighborhood change but its a fact of life. What about former undesirable neighborhoods that kicked out all the poor to make way for high end apartments or homes. It sucked for them as well, neither you nor them asked for it but it happened anyway. My advise would be to sell and move.
Why should people accept change without a challenge?
The town makes more tax money on single family homes converted to multifamily units. That's all they care about. Absentee landlords aren't going to complain about the substandard road maintenance in the rental areas, the increased congestion or any other QOL issues. The town won't have to answer to tenants as they do not own the homes.
Why should people accept change without a challenge?
The town makes more tax money on single family homes converted to multifamily units. That's all they care about. Absentee landlords aren't going to complain about the substandard road maintenance in the rental areas, the increased congestion or any other QOL issues. The town won't have to answer to tenants as they do not own the homes.
That's why, he's fighting a losing battle. Your also wrong about some absentee landlords, at least the ones I know. I have a few homes I rent out and I belong to an association of landlords, we benefit when a city stay's desirable. The better the area the more we can charge in rent which means more money for our pocket. In one town we pressured the town to remodel the public pool which I believe was a positive thing for the town. Though there some that could care less.
I know the OP was ranting about illegal renting and I happen to agree especially concerning the overcrowding, garbage and the like. However in a post or 2 somehow there were darts thrown at renters in general on LI; especially about moving to the city if one can't afford a house here. Also there were things said about renters not caring about the property and were apt to more or less be lazy about keeping things up. That's not true of all renters!
Sure I can only speak for myself, but I happen to enjoy living in a nice area, quiet (and I'm living on a main street!) and I certaintly don't live in filth or not care about the property. Not a neat freak, but I couldn't understand someone being sloppy in their surroundings and being 'ok' with trash rolling around whether it was their home/apt. or if they were renting it.
Myself, I'm respectful, I use headphones (no blaring speakers!), take out my trash, clean up (no Stuart Little running around or 'Joe's Apartment' scenario-ick!) and the like. Yea, I've lived in a neighborhood where every other house had way too many people and saw garbage cans overflowing, cars parked nearly on top of each other, etc...but don't kick ALL us responsible, leagal apt. inhabiting renters out of LI!
I am an illegal apartment renter. I'm a 27 year old college graduate, a grad student and I have a pretty good full time job in the healthcare field. I could afford a legal apartment but this one is much cheaper. I'm just starting out and I need to save, especially because I don't have a home equity line of credit to raid when times get tough! I've read a bunch of these posts, I just wanted to say that from a non-homeowner's point of view, some of these concerns seem are a little contradictory and overstated.
Having a renter in your house is nothing new, it's been done for centuries, it is making it illegal that is new. It used to be that what happened in your own home was your business....
Who doesn't loathe trash cans on the street when it isn't garbage day, loud music, arguments etc? But people do that because they're pigs, not because they are renters! And if they owned the place instead of renting, you'd be stuck next door to them forever. There are local ordinances concerning quality of life issues, neighborhoods should work on enforcing those laws. Driving out all illegal renters will harm the community, because you'll get rid of even the responsible renters but you'll still be stuck w/ lousy homeowners.
As for the extra cars, take a look at how many cars your homeowning neighbor has in his driveway, especially if they have teenagers.
And those who say, yes we need more affordable legal housing, but then complain about all the traffic here are not really considering the big picture. Because if you build it, they will come....
I understand being touchy about your home's value, but I think the effort is being misdirected. I want a good community too, and even renters can help you out w/ that.
That's why, he's fighting a losing battle. Your also wrong about some absentee landlords, at least the ones I know. I have a few homes I rent out and I belong to an association of landlords, we benefit when a city stay's desirable. The better the area the more we can charge in rent which means more money for our pocket. In one town we pressured the town to remodel the public pool which I believe was a positive thing for the town. Though there some that could care less.
Well aren't you a sport? Fight for an improvement which taxes all homeowners so that you landlords can increase your profitability as an absentee landlord. How many units are your former one family homes divided into?
Well aren't you a sport? Fight for an improvement which taxes all homeowners so that you landlords can increase your profitability as an absentee landlord. How many units are your former one family homes divided into?
What you fail to see is that the improvements made also benefit the homeowners in the town. Property values go up and their taxes go down. Keep in mind that the residents were fighting for this improvement before we came in. You see converting a home to a two family (if allowed by village codes) brings additional tax revenue to the village and county. The taxes on one home went from 7K to 10K. Increasing my profitability of course is a big driver, don't hate
I am an illegal apartment renter. I'm a 27 year old college graduate, a grad student and I have a pretty good full time job in the healthcare field. I could afford a legal apartment but this one is much cheaper. I'm just starting out and I need to save, especially because I don't have a home equity line of credit to raid when times get tough! I've read a bunch of these posts, I just wanted to say that from a non-homeowner's point of view, some of these concerns seem are a little contradictory and overstated.
Having a renter in your house is nothing new, it's been done for centuries, it is making it illegal that is new. It used to be that what happened in your own home was your business....
Who doesn't loathe trash cans on the street when it isn't garbage day, loud music, arguments etc? But people do that because they're pigs, not because they are renters! And if they owned the place instead of renting, you'd be stuck next door to them forever. There are local ordinances concerning quality of life issues, neighborhoods should work on enforcing those laws. Driving out all illegal renters will harm the community, because you'll get rid of even the responsible renters but you'll still be stuck w/ lousy homeowners.
As for the extra cars, take a look at how many cars your homeowning neighbor has in his driveway, especially if they have teenagers.
And those who say, yes we need more affordable legal housing, but then complain about all the traffic here are not really considering the big picture. Because if you build it, they will come....
I understand being touchy about your home's value, but I think the effort is being misdirected. I want a good community too, and even renters can help you out w/ that.
I agree with you 100%, some people just seam to forget where they came from and others just have a stick up there you know what. What others don't know is that absentee owners who rent their properties out for the purpose of making a profit benefit from keeping the area nice. So I always screen my tenants extensively, I usually try to rent to people that would make a good addition to the area. For instance I have one house that is surrounded by elderly couples, I never rent that house out to anyone with kids or anyone I think would be a big partier.
I agree with you 100%, some people just seam to forget where they came from and others just have a stick up there you know what. What others don't know is that absentee owners who rent their properties out for the purpose of making a profit benefit from keeping the area nice. So I always screen my tenants extensively, I usually try to rent to people that would make a good addition to the area. For instance I have one house that is surrounded by elderly couples, I never rent that house out to anyone with kids or anyone I think would be a big partier.
Be cautious that you do not run afoul of anti-discrimation laws. It is illegal to refuse to rent to someone simply because they have children.
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Is the sentiment about *all* renters the same?
