WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:04.000 Okay, let's dig into this. We use this word every 00:00:04.000 --> 00:00:07.599 single day. It is one of the most common relationships 00:00:07.599 --> 00:00:10.980 in the entire modern world. You know, you sign 00:00:10.980 --> 00:00:12.699 a piece of paper, you hand over a check, you 00:00:12.699 --> 00:00:14.880 get a set of keys. Debtable transaction. Right. 00:00:15.220 --> 00:00:18.760 But have you ever actually stopped to look, I 00:00:18.760 --> 00:00:21.420 mean, really look at the word itself. Landlord. 00:00:21.600 --> 00:00:23.960 It does have a certain weight to it, doesn't 00:00:23.960 --> 00:00:27.079 it? It feels heavy. It sounds surprisingly medieval. 00:00:28.000 --> 00:00:31.269 Forcement. Yeah. Like we should be, I don't know, 00:00:31.309 --> 00:00:33.369 bowing or something when we hand over the rent. 00:00:33.609 --> 00:00:36.729 Here is your tribute, my Lord. And I think for 00:00:36.729 --> 00:00:38.909 a lot of us, for the learners listening today, 00:00:39.049 --> 00:00:41.429 the topic of landlords probably feels purely 00:00:41.429 --> 00:00:43.789 transactional. It's a bill. It's a business arrangement. 00:00:43.869 --> 00:00:46.229 It's just housing. Well, and that's the thing. 00:00:46.270 --> 00:00:49.359 We have a... a stack of sources here today, articles, 00:00:49.539 --> 00:00:51.960 legal definitions, some deep historical records 00:00:51.960 --> 00:00:54.719 that suggest this is way, way more than just 00:00:54.719 --> 00:00:56.780 a monthly payment. Okay, so it's not just business. 00:00:56.960 --> 00:00:58.939 Not at all. If you scratch the surface of that 00:00:58.939 --> 00:01:00.840 transaction, you find yourself looking at a legal 00:01:00.840 --> 00:01:03.380 tapestry that, and this is wild, goes back to 00:01:03.380 --> 00:01:05.480 the Roman Empire. You're dealing with power dynamics, 00:01:05.739 --> 00:01:08.219 you're dealing with philosophy, conflicting economic 00:01:08.219 --> 00:01:11.799 theories, and a set of rules that changes wildly 00:01:11.799 --> 00:01:13.799 depending on whether you're standing in London, 00:01:13.879 --> 00:01:16.680 New York, or Mexico City. This isn't just about 00:01:16.680 --> 00:01:19.569 collecting a check. It's about land tenure. It's 00:01:19.569 --> 00:01:21.890 about who holds the ground beneath your feet. 00:01:22.109 --> 00:01:25.030 So our mission for this deep dive is, I guess, 00:01:25.069 --> 00:01:27.909 to move beyond that rent check mentality. We 00:01:27.909 --> 00:01:30.109 want to understand the history. Why do we call 00:01:30.109 --> 00:01:33.390 them lords? We want to look at the global differences, 00:01:33.489 --> 00:01:36.689 the economics of the so -called accidental landlord 00:01:36.689 --> 00:01:39.670 and the heavy, heavy philosophical criticism 00:01:39.670 --> 00:01:42.409 that has followed this profession for centuries. 00:01:42.650 --> 00:01:44.709 And we should probably clarify right at the top 00:01:44.709 --> 00:01:46.390 what we're actually talking about, because the 00:01:46.390 --> 00:01:48.560 definition itself. it isn't as simple as just 00:01:48.560 --> 00:01:51.060 the guy who owns the house. Right. So definition 00:01:51.060 --> 00:01:53.980 time. A landlord is the owner of property, could 00:01:53.980 --> 00:01:56.859 be a farm, a house, a condo, or even just raw 00:01:56.859 --> 00:01:59.739 land that is rented or leased to a tenant. And 00:01:59.739 --> 00:02:01.900 the tenant is also called the lessee. Lessee. 00:02:01.980 --> 00:02:04.700 And the landlord is the lesser. Or simply the 00:02:04.700 --> 00:02:08.060 owner. But here is the first little bit of nuance 00:02:08.060 --> 00:02:10.400 that really caught my eye in the readings. A 00:02:10.400 --> 00:02:12.939 landlord doesn't have to be a human being. What 00:02:12.939 --> 00:02:14.680 do you mean? The source material talks about 00:02:14.680 --> 00:02:17.819 a juristic person. A juristic person. That sounds 00:02:17.819 --> 00:02:20.159 like a sci -fi term. I am a juristic person. 00:02:20.539 --> 00:02:23.500 Take me to your leader. It kind of does, but 00:02:23.500 --> 00:02:26.020 it basically just means an entity, like a corporation. 00:02:26.080 --> 00:02:29.520 So a massive investment firm can be your landlord. 00:02:29.819 --> 00:02:33.280 It occupies that exact same position legally, 00:02:33.479 --> 00:02:35.780 just as a person would. So when we say landlord, 00:02:36.000 --> 00:02:37.939 we shouldn't just picture a guy in a cardigan 00:02:37.939 --> 00:02:40.020 with a keychain. No, you should also picture 00:02:40.020 --> 00:02:42.919 a multinational conglomerate, too. Which changes 00:02:42.919 --> 00:02:45.550 the dynamic completely, doesn't it? I mean, dealing 00:02:45.550 --> 00:02:48.270 with a person is one thing. Dealing with a faceless 00:02:48.270 --> 00:02:50.849 entity, a corporation, that's something else 00:02:50.849 --> 00:02:52.930 entirely. It creates a layer of abstraction, 00:02:53.229 --> 00:02:55.530 and that abstraction is a key theme we're going 00:02:55.530 --> 00:02:57.949 to see developing over the centuries. And before 00:02:57.949 --> 00:03:00.530 we get too deep into all the heavy stuff, there 00:03:00.530 --> 00:03:03.729 is one very specific, very British exception 00:03:03.729 --> 00:03:06.250 to this definition that I absolutely love. The 00:03:06.250 --> 00:03:08.659 pub exception? The pub exception. In the UK, 00:03:08.800 --> 00:03:11.180 if you run a pub, you are the landlord. You are. 00:03:11.400 --> 00:03:12.960 Even if you don't own the building. Often, yes. 00:03:13.419 --> 00:03:16.020 The manager or the licensee of a public house 00:03:16.020 --> 00:03:19.159 is affectionately known as the landlord or landlady. 00:03:19.759 --> 00:03:22.500 The formal term is actually licensed victualer, 00:03:22.599 --> 00:03:25.879 but everyone just says landlord. Licensed victualer. 00:03:25.960 --> 00:03:28.439 Yeah, it's a great term, but it's a linguistic 00:03:28.439 --> 00:03:31.840 quirk that really separates the UK from the rest 00:03:31.840 --> 00:03:33.960 of the English -speaking world in this context. 00:03:34.419 --> 00:03:36.919 It really highlights how the word has just seeped 00:03:36.919 --> 00:03:40.500 into the culture, you know, beyond just... property 00:03:40.500 --> 00:03:43.539 law. I love that licensed visual. It sounds so 00:03:43.539 --> 00:03:45.879 official. It implies a duty of care, doesn't 00:03:45.879 --> 00:03:48.080 it? Yeah. Like you are responsible for the well 00:03:48.080 --> 00:03:49.939 -being of the people inside, not just for the 00:03:49.939 --> 00:03:51.879 bricks and mortar. That's a great point. And 00:03:51.879 --> 00:03:54.960 historically, that duty was very real. But let's 00:03:54.960 --> 00:03:56.979 go back to that Lord thing you mentioned. Right. 00:03:57.240 --> 00:04:00.319 Why do we use a feudal title for a guy who, I 00:04:00.319 --> 00:04:03.099 don't know, just fixes the sink? Yeah. Why hasn't 00:04:03.099 --> 00:04:04.879 the language evolved? We don't call our bosses 00:04:04.879 --> 00:04:07.500 master anymore, generally speaking. So why still 00:04:07.500 --> 00:04:10.569 landlords? Because originally, that is exactly 00:04:10.569 --> 00:04:13.210 what they were. The lineage of the modern landlord 00:04:13.210 --> 00:04:16.189 traces directly, and I mean directly, back to 00:04:16.189 --> 00:04:19.689 the feudal system of manorialism, or seniorialism, 00:04:19.689 --> 00:04:21.449 if you want to get really technical. Manorialism. 00:04:21.470 --> 00:04:23.810 Okay, take us back. So think about the medieval 00:04:23.810 --> 00:04:27.050 period in Europe. You had lords of the manor, 00:04:27.069 --> 00:04:29.209 or what were called mesne lords. Mesne lords. 00:04:29.350 --> 00:04:31.949 M -E -S -N -E. These weren't necessarily the 00:04:31.949 --> 00:04:34.189 kings or the highest ranking dukes, but they 00:04:34.189 --> 00:04:36.670 were lower nobility or knights, and they held 00:04:36.670 --> 00:04:40.379 fiefs. Fiefs. being plots of land granted to 00:04:40.379 --> 00:04:42.079 them. Exactly. The whole system was called sub 00:04:42.079 --> 00:04:45.120 -infudation. It's a bit of a mouthful. Sub -fudation. 00:04:45.139 --> 00:04:47.699 Yeah. The idea is that the king, in theory, owns 00:04:47.699 --> 00:04:50.379 everything. He grants a huge tract of land to 00:04:50.379 --> 00:04:52.899 a high noble, who in turn grants a smaller piece 00:04:52.899 --> 00:04:55.040 of that to a knight, who then becomes the lord 00:04:55.040 --> 00:04:57.300 of that particular manor. The people living there 00:04:57.300 --> 00:04:59.680 and working the land were subject to him. So 00:04:59.680 --> 00:05:02.410 it was a hierarchy of landholding. A pyramid 00:05:02.410 --> 00:05:04.889 almost. The pyramid is the perfect analogy. And 00:05:04.889 --> 00:05:07.189 even that has roots going back even further to 00:05:07.189 --> 00:05:09.689 the Roman Empire with the villas and the latifundia, 00:05:09.769 --> 00:05:12.689 which were these massive peasant worked farmsteads. 00:05:12.689 --> 00:05:15.290 So this isn't just medieval, it's ancient. It's 00:05:15.290 --> 00:05:17.889 ancient. So when you trace it forward to today, 00:05:18.069 --> 00:05:21.129 the modern concept of a property owner charging 00:05:21.129 --> 00:05:23.829 rent is the direct evolutionary descendant of 00:05:23.829 --> 00:05:27.069 that feudal hierarchy. It's the same fundamental 00:05:27.069 --> 00:05:30.129 structure, just with contracts instead of swords. 00:05:30.389 --> 00:05:32.430 That puts a whole new spin on the security deposit. 00:05:32.769 --> 00:05:34.990 You're participating in the echo of a system 00:05:34.990 --> 00:05:37.449 where someone was literally the lord of the domain. 00:05:37.970 --> 00:05:41.050 It grounds the current landlord -tenant dynamic 00:05:41.050 --> 00:05:44.230 in a history of hierarchy that is, well, it's 00:05:44.230 --> 00:05:46.449 hard to shake. Precisely. And while we don't 00:05:46.449 --> 00:05:49.230 have knights and serfs anymore, the core mechanic, 00:05:49.490 --> 00:05:51.810 one person holding the rights to the land and 00:05:51.810 --> 00:05:54.250 another paying for the privilege to use it, That 00:05:54.250 --> 00:05:57.110 remains the foundation. It's why the term feels 00:05:57.110 --> 00:05:59.769 archaic. It is archaic. So let's talk about that 00:05:59.769 --> 00:06:02.050 mechanic in the modern day. We've traded oaths 00:06:02.050 --> 00:06:04.310 of fealty for something a little less dramatic. 00:06:04.610 --> 00:06:07.709 The lease. The rule book. The modern contract. 00:06:07.990 --> 00:06:10.230 Right. The sources we have break this down pretty 00:06:10.230 --> 00:06:12.949 clearly. The rental agreement or the lease defines 00:06:12.949 --> 00:06:14.990 all the terms. And it's pretty standard stuff 00:06:14.990 --> 00:06:17.629 usually. The price, the duration, penalties if 00:06:17.629 --> 00:06:19.910 you pay late, and the notice period for leaving. 00:06:20.300 --> 00:06:23.160 It sounds standard, but that contract is the 00:06:23.160 --> 00:06:25.819 law of the land for that specific property. It 00:06:25.819 --> 00:06:28.839 dictates everything. And crucially, it outlines 00:06:28.839 --> 00:06:31.759 the division of labor. Who does what? Generally 00:06:31.759 --> 00:06:34.279 speaking, the landlord is responsible for the 00:06:34.279 --> 00:06:37.439 structure itself. They handle repairs, property 00:06:37.439 --> 00:06:40.680 maintenance, the bones of the building. You know, 00:06:40.699 --> 00:06:43.180 if the roof leaks... That's on the landlord. 00:06:43.399 --> 00:06:45.779 And the tenant. The tenant is responsible for 00:06:45.779 --> 00:06:47.819 the daily state of the place, keeping it clean, 00:06:48.019 --> 00:06:51.040 keeping it safe. You can't, you know, trash the 00:06:51.040 --> 00:06:52.899 place and expect the landlord to come in and 00:06:52.899 --> 00:06:54.600 clean it up for you. But the sources mention 00:06:54.600 --> 00:06:56.920 that this line is getting blurry or at least 00:06:56.920 --> 00:07:00.120 more distant because of a third party property 00:07:00.120 --> 00:07:02.519 management company. Oh, that's a huge industry 00:07:02.519 --> 00:07:05.319 now. I mean, think about it. Many owners, especially 00:07:05.319 --> 00:07:07.339 those with multiple properties, they don't want 00:07:07.339 --> 00:07:09.920 to be the one taking a 3 .0 a .m. phone call 00:07:09.920 --> 00:07:11.560 about a burst pipe. They don't want the headache. 00:07:12.180 --> 00:07:15.540 Exactly. So they hire a third party. These management 00:07:15.540 --> 00:07:17.720 companies handle everything. The advertising, 00:07:18.000 --> 00:07:20.100 the showing of the property, the rent collection, 00:07:20.319 --> 00:07:22.759 the repairs. They negotiate and prepare the written 00:07:22.759 --> 00:07:26.139 leases too. They do it all. So the lord is becoming 00:07:26.139 --> 00:07:28.740 invisible. You might never meet the actual owner 00:07:28.740 --> 00:07:30.240 of the building you live in. You're dealing with 00:07:30.240 --> 00:07:33.120 an agent of the owner. Which creates a buffer. 00:07:33.240 --> 00:07:36.420 It removes the human element in a way. You can't 00:07:36.420 --> 00:07:38.220 plead your case to a management portal online. 00:07:38.779 --> 00:07:41.579 There's no one to talk to. Exactly. It professionalizes 00:07:41.579 --> 00:07:44.120 the relationship, for better or worse, but it 00:07:44.120 --> 00:07:46.720 also depersonalizes it. Now, here's where it 00:07:46.720 --> 00:07:49.220 gets really, really interesting, I think. We 00:07:49.220 --> 00:07:52.639 tend to assume renting is renting, right? You 00:07:52.639 --> 00:07:55.540 pay money, you get a roof. But our sources take 00:07:55.540 --> 00:07:58.180 us on a bit of a global tour, and it turns out 00:07:58.180 --> 00:08:02.180 geography dictates the power balance in a major 00:08:02.180 --> 00:08:04.639 way. It varies wildly. I mean, it's night and 00:08:04.639 --> 00:08:06.769 day in some cases. Let's start with the United 00:08:06.769 --> 00:08:09.910 States. The land of the free and the home of 00:08:09.910 --> 00:08:12.910 a patchwork of state laws. That's the key takeaway 00:08:12.910 --> 00:08:15.769 for the U .S. Landlord -tenant disputes are primarily 00:08:15.769 --> 00:08:19.970 governed by state law, not federal law. So your 00:08:19.970 --> 00:08:22.250 rights as a renter in California might be completely 00:08:22.250 --> 00:08:24.410 different from your rights in Texas. Completely 00:08:24.410 --> 00:08:26.209 different. It's a legal minefield if you're a 00:08:26.209 --> 00:08:28.730 landlord operating in multiple states or a tenant 00:08:28.730 --> 00:08:30.769 who moves around a lot. But there are some general 00:08:30.769 --> 00:08:33.090 rules, right? Some common threads. There are. 00:08:33.230 --> 00:08:36.799 For example, eviction. Generally in the U .S., 00:08:36.799 --> 00:08:40.200 a landlord needs a legally valid reason to evict 00:08:40.200 --> 00:08:42.620 someone before their lease expires. They can't 00:08:42.620 --> 00:08:44.700 just kick you out mid -year because they decide 00:08:44.700 --> 00:08:47.200 they don't like your haircut. Legally valid reasons 00:08:47.200 --> 00:08:50.419 being what? Not paying rent? Destroying property? 00:08:50.759 --> 00:08:54.610 The usual suspects, yes. But once the lease ends. 00:08:54.730 --> 00:08:56.889 That's a different story. A very different story. 00:08:57.070 --> 00:08:59.710 Usually they can end the relationship without 00:08:59.710 --> 00:09:02.289 giving a reason at all once the term concludes. 00:09:02.490 --> 00:09:04.289 They just don't renew the lease. And there's 00:09:04.289 --> 00:09:07.029 this concept of habitability. I found this fascinating. 00:09:07.269 --> 00:09:10.639 The implied warranty of habitability. This is 00:09:10.639 --> 00:09:13.080 huge. It's a legal doctrine that means that no 00:09:13.080 --> 00:09:15.139 matter what the lease says or even if there's 00:09:15.139 --> 00:09:18.019 no written lease, the landlord must provide a 00:09:18.019 --> 00:09:21.600 basic, safe, livable space. So things like? Smoke 00:09:21.600 --> 00:09:23.759 detectors, secure doors, running water, heat 00:09:23.759 --> 00:09:25.679 in the winter. You know, the basics. You cannot 00:09:25.679 --> 00:09:27.899 legally rent out a death trap. Okay, but what 00:09:27.899 --> 00:09:30.820 happens when they don't? This is a classic conflict 00:09:30.820 --> 00:09:34.200 loop mentioned in the text. The landlord fails 00:09:34.200 --> 00:09:36.980 to fix something, say the heat goes out in January, 00:09:37.200 --> 00:09:40.529 so the tenant gets mad. Right. And the tenant's 00:09:40.529 --> 00:09:42.889 first instinct is often, well, I'm not paying 00:09:42.889 --> 00:09:46.350 rent until you fix the heat. Which seems reasonable. 00:09:46.509 --> 00:09:48.509 It seems reasonable. But in most U .S. states, 00:09:48.710 --> 00:09:51.470 withholding rent is justifiable grounds for eviction. 00:09:51.490 --> 00:09:54.450 So it's a catch -22. A total catch -22. You stop 00:09:54.450 --> 00:09:57.809 paying to protest the unlivable conditions. And 00:09:57.809 --> 00:10:00.490 Elise says if you stop paying, you're out. It 00:10:00.490 --> 00:10:03.549 creates this spiral of service failure versus 00:10:03.549 --> 00:10:06.190 rent withholding. And it often ends up in court. 00:10:06.649 --> 00:10:08.549 The sources also mentioned discrimination in 00:10:08.549 --> 00:10:10.629 the U .S., specifically these sorts of income 00:10:10.629 --> 00:10:13.649 laws. What's that about? This is becoming a bigger 00:10:13.649 --> 00:10:16.450 issue, especially in city ordinances. It's about 00:10:16.450 --> 00:10:18.789 preventing landlords from refusing to rent to 00:10:18.789 --> 00:10:20.610 someone just because their income comes from 00:10:20.610 --> 00:10:22.750 a government subsidy, like a housing voucher 00:10:22.750 --> 00:10:24.789 or from another specific program. So they can't 00:10:24.789 --> 00:10:27.070 say, oh, we don't take Section 8? In a city with 00:10:27.070 --> 00:10:29.529 one of these ordinances, no. It's an attempt 00:10:29.529 --> 00:10:31.809 to level the playing field and prevent economic 00:10:31.809 --> 00:10:35.490 segregation. And we're also seeing a rise in 00:10:35.490 --> 00:10:38.190 tenants' unions who are organizing to lobby for 00:10:38.190 --> 00:10:41.490 policy changes and protect these rights. It sounds 00:10:41.490 --> 00:10:43.870 like the U .S. system is very adversarial by 00:10:43.870 --> 00:10:46.389 design. It almost assumes conflict will happen. 00:10:46.549 --> 00:10:49.629 It can be very litigious, yes. The courts are 00:10:49.629 --> 00:10:52.409 a major part of the landlord -tenant landscape 00:10:52.409 --> 00:10:55.350 there. Okay, let's hop across the border to the 00:10:55.350 --> 00:10:58.909 north, Canada. Is it just the U .S. system with 00:10:58.909 --> 00:11:02.000 better manners? Or is it fundamentally different? 00:11:02.220 --> 00:11:05.159 It's similar in its basic structure. It's governed 00:11:05.159 --> 00:11:07.720 by provincial law regarding property and contracts 00:11:07.720 --> 00:11:09.659 rather than federal law. So you still have that 00:11:09.659 --> 00:11:11.700 patchwork effect. But there are some distinct 00:11:11.700 --> 00:11:14.240 differences in the power dynamic. And the sources 00:11:14.240 --> 00:11:17.299 point to rent control as a big one. Yes, some 00:11:17.299 --> 00:11:20.039 provinces have very strict caps on how much a 00:11:20.039 --> 00:11:22.559 landlord can increase the rent each year. It's 00:11:22.559 --> 00:11:24.919 often called rent regulation. This provides a 00:11:24.919 --> 00:11:26.740 lot more stability for tenants. So you're not 00:11:26.740 --> 00:11:28.399 going to get a notice that your rent is doubling 00:11:28.399 --> 00:11:31.039 next month. Unlikely in a rent -controlled province, 00:11:31.440 --> 00:11:34.299 no. And regarding eviction, the text notes that 00:11:34.299 --> 00:11:36.720 landlords have a limited number of reasons for 00:11:36.720 --> 00:11:38.519 eviction. So they can't just kick someone out 00:11:38.519 --> 00:11:41.000 on a whim when the lease is up. It's much harder. 00:11:41.100 --> 00:11:43.600 The constraints are tighter. The system tends 00:11:43.600 --> 00:11:46.100 to favor the stability of the tenant a bit more 00:11:46.100 --> 00:11:48.519 than some U .S. jurisdictions might. The default 00:11:48.519 --> 00:11:51.120 isn't the lease is over, you're out. It's more 00:11:51.120 --> 00:11:54.120 like the tenancy continues unless there's a good 00:11:54.120 --> 00:11:56.960 reason to end it. Interesting. OK, let's cross 00:11:56.960 --> 00:12:00.629 the Atlantic. The United Kingdom, the motherland 00:12:00.629 --> 00:12:03.750 of the landlord term itself. This section of 00:12:03.750 --> 00:12:07.370 the source material was dense. It felt like reading 00:12:07.370 --> 00:12:10.549 a law library. It is a complex web of acts. It's 00:12:10.549 --> 00:12:12.629 very, very codified. You've got the Landlord 00:12:12.629 --> 00:12:15.230 and Tenant Act of 1985, which sets the minimum 00:12:15.230 --> 00:12:17.470 standards for repairs. You've got the Housing 00:12:17.470 --> 00:12:19.929 Act of 2004, which deals with health and safety. 00:12:20.309 --> 00:12:22.950 The U .K. legal system loves to legislate this 00:12:22.950 --> 00:12:24.870 relationship. So let's break down the standard 00:12:24.870 --> 00:12:27.509 rental agreement. They call it an AST. An assured 00:12:27.509 --> 00:12:29.970 short -hold tenancy. That's the most common type 00:12:29.970 --> 00:12:32.269 of rental for private tenants. And how does that 00:12:32.269 --> 00:12:34.769 work, say, with rent increases? Well, the interesting 00:12:34.769 --> 00:12:37.389 thing here is the rent review. During a fixed 00:12:37.389 --> 00:12:40.690 term, say, six or 12 months, the rent is usually 00:12:40.690 --> 00:12:43.809 fixed. But once that term ends, rents can be 00:12:43.809 --> 00:12:46.110 freely increased, provided the landlord gives 00:12:46.110 --> 00:12:49.429 proper notice. And if you don't pay, if you fall 00:12:49.429 --> 00:12:52.070 behind... Then you run into the Section 8 notice. 00:12:52.389 --> 00:12:54.350 Now, for our American listeners, we should be 00:12:54.350 --> 00:12:57.509 clear. Don't confuse this with the U .S. Housing 00:12:57.509 --> 00:12:59.950 Voucher Program, also called Section 8. Correct. 00:13:00.149 --> 00:13:02.889 Totally different things. Same name. In the U 00:13:02.889 --> 00:13:05.029 .K., a Section 8 notice under the Housing Act 00:13:05.029 --> 00:13:08.049 of 1988 is an eviction notice. It's served for 00:13:08.049 --> 00:13:10.509 things like unpaid rent. Usually, if you are 00:13:10.509 --> 00:13:13.190 eight weeks or two months in arrears, the landlord 00:13:13.190 --> 00:13:15.769 has a mandatory ground to apply to the court 00:13:15.769 --> 00:13:18.210 for a possession order. So it's a very specific 00:13:18.210 --> 00:13:20.850 legal process. Extremely specific. But the UK 00:13:20.850 --> 00:13:23.110 also has this distinction that confused me at 00:13:23.110 --> 00:13:26.769 first between a leasehold and a tenancy. Right. 00:13:26.850 --> 00:13:28.389 I was going to ask about that. What's the difference? 00:13:28.590 --> 00:13:32.190 It is confusing. In the UK, a tenancy is what 00:13:32.190 --> 00:13:34.210 we've been talking about, the standard rental. 00:13:34.690 --> 00:13:38.389 But a lease or leasehold typically refers to 00:13:38.389 --> 00:13:41.679 a very long term arrangement. Specifically, the 00:13:41.679 --> 00:13:44.220 source notes anything exceeding seven years must 00:13:44.220 --> 00:13:46.940 be registered as a new leasehold estate. Seven 00:13:46.940 --> 00:13:48.519 years. So we're not talking about your typical 00:13:48.519 --> 00:13:51.000 apartment rental. No, not at all. These are often 00:13:51.000 --> 00:13:55.019 for 99 years or even 999 years. It's a system 00:13:55.019 --> 00:13:57.120 where you buy the right to live in a property 00:13:57.120 --> 00:13:59.580 for a very long time, but you don't own the land 00:13:59.580 --> 00:14:02.470 it's on. You are closer to an owner than a renter, 00:14:02.570 --> 00:14:05.090 but you still technically have a landlord, the 00:14:05.090 --> 00:14:07.409 freeholder, and you pay them ground rent. That 00:14:07.409 --> 00:14:09.190 feels incredibly feudal, like you're buying a 00:14:09.190 --> 00:14:11.730 fief. It is purely a remnant of the feudal system, 00:14:12.009 --> 00:14:13.909 absolutely. And what about the commercial side? 00:14:14.250 --> 00:14:16.250 The sources mention something that sounded like 00:14:16.250 --> 00:14:18.889 a pirate maneuver, peaceable reentry. It does 00:14:18.889 --> 00:14:21.700 sound dramatic, doesn't it? In commercial leases, 00:14:21.700 --> 00:14:24.899 though, business rentals, shops, offices, the 00:14:24.899 --> 00:14:28.080 landlord has much stronger powers than in residential. 00:14:28.440 --> 00:14:30.679 If the rent isn't paid, they can sometimes use 00:14:30.679 --> 00:14:33.279 peaceable reentry, which is a form of self -help 00:14:33.279 --> 00:14:35.679 eviction. Meaning what, exactly? They can basically 00:14:35.679 --> 00:14:38.139 go in and change the locks to take back the premises. 00:14:38.580 --> 00:14:40.639 Without a court order? For commercial properties, 00:14:40.860 --> 00:14:43.080 often yes, provided they can do it peaceably, 00:14:43.179 --> 00:14:45.679 meaning without using violence or creating a 00:14:45.679 --> 00:14:47.620 public disturbance. They wait until the shop 00:14:47.620 --> 00:14:50.059 is closed, go in with a locksmith, and that's 00:14:50.059 --> 00:14:54.169 it. Wow. It's a powerful tool. However, the old 00:14:54.169 --> 00:14:57.289 practice of distress, which was seizing the tenant's 00:14:57.289 --> 00:14:59.529 goods and selling them to pay for the rent, that 00:14:59.529 --> 00:15:01.509 has been banned for commercial properties now. 00:15:01.649 --> 00:15:04.590 Okay, so the UK is heavy on regulation, lots 00:15:04.590 --> 00:15:07.129 of specific acts, very particular rules. Now 00:15:07.129 --> 00:15:09.970 let's go south, Mexico. The source says this 00:15:09.970 --> 00:15:12.559 is a tenant -friendly system. Very much so. It 00:15:12.559 --> 00:15:14.659 offers a really sharp contrast to what we've 00:15:14.659 --> 00:15:16.799 been talking about in the U .S. and U .K. In 00:15:16.799 --> 00:15:19.320 Mexico, the legal framework tends to favor the 00:15:19.320 --> 00:15:21.860 tenant heavily. Evictions are described in our 00:15:21.860 --> 00:15:25.320 sources as notably difficult. There was one detail 00:15:25.320 --> 00:15:27.600 here that gave me anxiety just reading it. The 00:15:27.600 --> 00:15:30.779 indefinite trap. It is a massive risk for landlords 00:15:30.779 --> 00:15:32.940 and it's something anyone renting property in 00:15:32.940 --> 00:15:36.250 Mexico needs to be aware of. If a landlord forgets 00:15:36.250 --> 00:15:38.210 to give timely notice to the tenant before a 00:15:38.210 --> 00:15:41.009 lease ends, the agreement can automatically transition 00:15:41.009 --> 00:15:43.789 into an indefinite term agreement. Meaning the 00:15:43.789 --> 00:15:47.110 tenant can just stay forever. Well, not forever, 00:15:47.250 --> 00:15:50.190 but potentially for a very, very long time. The 00:15:50.190 --> 00:15:52.889 lease doesn't just end. It transforms into a 00:15:52.889 --> 00:15:55.769 permanent right to occupancy until a new agreement 00:15:55.769 --> 00:15:58.610 is made or a lengthy legal process is undertaken. 00:15:59.049 --> 00:16:02.330 Wow. And if you do need to evict someone for 00:16:02.330 --> 00:16:05.080 a valid reason. It's not a quick process. The 00:16:05.080 --> 00:16:07.399 text says it requires judicial intervention and 00:16:07.399 --> 00:16:09.919 it often takes weeks or more realistically months, 00:16:10.000 --> 00:16:12.220 sometimes much longer because tenants can file 00:16:12.220 --> 00:16:15.340 appeals or request extensions. It's a slow moving 00:16:15.340 --> 00:16:18.919 legal battle. And it mentioned police assistance 00:16:18.919 --> 00:16:22.440 is often required. Yes. If a tenant refuses to 00:16:22.440 --> 00:16:24.620 vacate following a final eviction order from 00:16:24.620 --> 00:16:27.399 a judge, landlords often need judicial support 00:16:27.399 --> 00:16:29.500 and police assistance to actually enforce the 00:16:29.500 --> 00:16:32.000 eviction. It can become a very tense physical 00:16:32.000 --> 00:16:35.419 and legal situation very quickly. And what about 00:16:35.419 --> 00:16:38.480 rent control? Yes. Rent increases are often capped. 00:16:38.779 --> 00:16:41.259 For example, they might be limited to 85 percent 00:16:41.259 --> 00:16:44.200 of the annual minimum wage increase or tied directly 00:16:44.200 --> 00:16:47.200 to the consumer price index. It's a system designed 00:16:47.200 --> 00:16:49.279 from the ground up to protect people from being 00:16:49.279 --> 00:16:52.200 priced out or thrown out. But for a landlord, 00:16:52.399 --> 00:16:54.899 it presents a significant amount of risk and 00:16:54.899 --> 00:16:58.179 potential loss of control. So hearing all this. 00:16:58.809 --> 00:17:01.710 The legal headaches in the U .K., the risks of 00:17:01.710 --> 00:17:04.789 indefinite tenants in Mexico, the court battles 00:17:04.789 --> 00:17:06.829 in the U .S., it really raises the question, 00:17:06.970 --> 00:17:10.450 why do it? Why be a landlord? That brings us 00:17:10.450 --> 00:17:12.849 squarely to the economics of the role. At its 00:17:12.849 --> 00:17:15.890 core, it's a balance of yield versus risk. Yield 00:17:15.890 --> 00:17:19.049 being the profit. Right. There are two main incentives, 00:17:19.309 --> 00:17:21.650 two ways to make money. First, there's the rental 00:17:21.650 --> 00:17:24.170 yield. That's the monthly profit you make after 00:17:24.170 --> 00:17:25.930 you've paid the mortgage, the insurance, the 00:17:25.930 --> 00:17:28.369 taxes, the repairs. The cash flow. The cash flow. 00:17:28.490 --> 00:17:30.569 And second, there's capital growth. You hope 00:17:30.569 --> 00:17:32.369 the property itself gets more expensive over 00:17:32.369 --> 00:17:34.190 time so you can sell it for a big profit down 00:17:34.190 --> 00:17:36.269 the line. That's property price inflation working 00:17:36.269 --> 00:17:38.589 in your favor. But the list of risks in the source 00:17:38.589 --> 00:17:40.950 material is fresh. It is the stuff of nightmares 00:17:40.950 --> 00:17:43.640 for a property. owner? Tenant disputes, which 00:17:43.640 --> 00:17:45.859 we've talked about. Intentional damage to the 00:17:45.859 --> 00:17:49.019 property or just neglect. What happens if insurance 00:17:49.019 --> 00:17:52.039 is unavailable or too expensive for your area, 00:17:52.160 --> 00:17:54.960 say because of floods or fires? What happens 00:17:54.960 --> 00:17:57.619 if there is a major economic slump and you can't 00:17:57.619 --> 00:18:00.740 find a tenant at all? And then there is negative 00:18:00.740 --> 00:18:03.140 equity. Yeah. That sounds bad. That's when you 00:18:03.140 --> 00:18:05.039 owe more on the mortgage than the house is actually 00:18:05.039 --> 00:18:08.509 worth. This was a huge problem after the 2008 00:18:08.509 --> 00:18:11.150 financial crisis. You're trapped. You can't sell 00:18:11.150 --> 00:18:13.589 without taking a massive loss and you might not 00:18:13.589 --> 00:18:15.190 be able to get enough rent to cover the mortgage 00:18:15.190 --> 00:18:17.990 payments. It's a terrifying place to be for an 00:18:17.990 --> 00:18:20.450 investor. And this gets amplified by a concept 00:18:20.450 --> 00:18:23.109 called leverage. Leverage is the key concept 00:18:23.109 --> 00:18:25.549 here. It's the engine of property investment. 00:18:26.569 --> 00:18:28.890 Leveraged by Dilett, it means borrowing money 00:18:28.890 --> 00:18:31.869 to buy the rental property. Very few investors 00:18:31.869 --> 00:18:34.250 pay cash for a house. So you put down a small 00:18:34.250 --> 00:18:37.029 amount of cash, maybe 20%, and borrow the other 00:18:37.029 --> 00:18:40.539 80 % from the bank. Exactly. And what that does 00:18:40.539 --> 00:18:42.839 is it amplifies your potential gains. If the 00:18:42.839 --> 00:18:45.500 house price goes up by 10 percent, your return 00:18:45.500 --> 00:18:48.839 on your actual cash investment is huge. But it 00:18:48.839 --> 00:18:51.299 also intensifies the risks. It's a double edged 00:18:51.299 --> 00:18:53.640 sword. It absolutely is. Because if the price 00:18:53.640 --> 00:18:56.819 goes down, your losses are also amplified. The 00:18:56.819 --> 00:19:00.160 source notes that this risk is objectively intensified 00:19:00.160 --> 00:19:02.599 if the investor is limited to a small number 00:19:02.599 --> 00:19:05.200 of similar homes in an area lacking economic 00:19:05.200 --> 00:19:07.599 resilience. What does that mean, economic resilience? 00:19:07.700 --> 00:19:10.500 It means the local economy is not diversified. 00:19:10.519 --> 00:19:12.980 Maybe it's a small town that relies on one factory. 00:19:13.160 --> 00:19:15.900 If that factory closes, everyone loses their 00:19:15.900 --> 00:19:18.779 jobs. Property values plummet. And if you own 00:19:18.779 --> 00:19:20.720 three rental houses there, you are in a world 00:19:20.720 --> 00:19:23.200 of trouble. And yet, despite all these risks. 00:19:23.660 --> 00:19:26.539 Not everyone plans to be a landlord. I love this 00:19:26.539 --> 00:19:29.319 term the source uses, the accidental landlord. 00:19:29.640 --> 00:19:31.440 It sounds like a movie title, doesn't it? A quirky 00:19:31.440 --> 00:19:34.339 comedy. Coming this summer, The Accidental Landlord, 00:19:34.460 --> 00:19:36.519 starring someone who looks very, very stressed, 00:19:36.740 --> 00:19:39.529 but it's a real demographic. It is. And these 00:19:39.529 --> 00:19:42.089 are people who didn't set out to be real estate 00:19:42.089 --> 00:19:44.130 tycoons. They didn't do a bunch of research on 00:19:44.130 --> 00:19:46.109 leverage and yield. So who are they? What are 00:19:46.109 --> 00:19:48.410 the scenarios? The sources list a few classic 00:19:48.410 --> 00:19:51.990 ones. Maybe you inherited a property from a parent 00:19:51.990 --> 00:19:53.430 and you don't want to sell it for sentimental 00:19:53.430 --> 00:19:56.730 reasons or the market is bad. So you rent it 00:19:56.730 --> 00:19:59.150 out. OK, that makes sense. Or maybe you moved 00:19:59.150 --> 00:20:00.950 in with a partner and you decided to keep your 00:20:00.950 --> 00:20:04.349 old condo and rent it out just in case. Or, and 00:20:04.349 --> 00:20:06.890 this happens a lot in economic downturns, you 00:20:06.890 --> 00:20:09.279 needed to move for a new job, but you couldn't 00:20:09.279 --> 00:20:11.359 sell your house because prices had dropped. You 00:20:11.359 --> 00:20:13.980 were in negative equity. So your only option 00:20:13.980 --> 00:20:16.079 was to rent it out and hope the market recovered. 00:20:16.400 --> 00:20:18.380 So these aren't the corporate juristic persons 00:20:18.380 --> 00:20:20.720 we talked about earlier. These are just regular 00:20:20.720 --> 00:20:22.940 people who are suddenly thrust into property 00:20:22.940 --> 00:20:24.880 management. Which brings its own set of challenges. 00:20:25.299 --> 00:20:28.200 They often lack the expertise. They don't know 00:20:28.200 --> 00:20:30.339 the specific laws we just discussed. They often 00:20:30.339 --> 00:20:33.390 take things personally like. a late rent payment 00:20:33.390 --> 00:20:36.130 or a damaged wall. It's not just business for 00:20:36.130 --> 00:20:38.950 them. It's their former home. Now, a key part 00:20:38.950 --> 00:20:40.910 of the financial mechanics for any landlord, 00:20:41.109 --> 00:20:44.009 accidental or not, involves the security deposit. 00:20:44.630 --> 00:20:47.509 We all hate paying it. Landlords love holding 00:20:47.509 --> 00:20:49.569 it. It's a huge barrier to entry for tenants, 00:20:49.730 --> 00:20:52.230 absolutely. Coming up with first month's rent 00:20:52.230 --> 00:20:55.289 plus a deposit can be thousands of dollars. But 00:20:55.289 --> 00:20:57.630 for landlords, it's their insurance policy. It's 00:20:57.630 --> 00:21:00.269 the only real protection they have. And its purpose 00:21:00.269 --> 00:21:03.829 is to cover things like... Unpaid rent if the 00:21:03.829 --> 00:21:05.849 tenant leaves without paying their last month. 00:21:06.630 --> 00:21:09.849 Damage beyond normal wear and tear. And significant 00:21:09.849 --> 00:21:13.369 cleaning costs if the place is left a mess. But 00:21:13.369 --> 00:21:15.210 there's an interesting regulation mentioned in 00:21:15.210 --> 00:21:17.829 some places called bond systems. This sounds 00:21:17.829 --> 00:21:19.930 like a way to make it fairer. This is a great 00:21:19.930 --> 00:21:22.089 idea and it's being adopted more and more. In 00:21:22.089 --> 00:21:24.170 some jurisdictions, the deposit money isn't held 00:21:24.170 --> 00:21:26.240 by the landlord at all. So where does it go? 00:21:26.440 --> 00:21:29.259 It is held by a neutral third party, like a government 00:21:29.259 --> 00:21:32.400 body or a licensed real estate agent in a trust 00:21:32.400 --> 00:21:34.440 account. What's the point of that? It prevents 00:21:34.440 --> 00:21:37.019 the landlord from unfairly withholding the deposit. 00:21:37.440 --> 00:21:40.339 At the end of the tenancy, if there's a dispute 00:21:40.339 --> 00:21:43.960 over deductions, this third party acts as a mediator. 00:21:44.079 --> 00:21:47.380 It stops the landlord from just deciding to keep 00:21:47.380 --> 00:21:50.539 the money for a tiny scratch on the floor. It 00:21:50.539 --> 00:21:53.019 keeps the playing field a bit more level. That 00:21:53.019 --> 00:21:55.180 seems like a really sensible solution. It does. 00:21:55.259 --> 00:21:57.319 It professionalizes the process and protects 00:21:57.319 --> 00:21:59.559 both sides. I want to take a quick detour here. 00:21:59.680 --> 00:22:02.460 We've been talking about laws and economics, 00:22:02.599 --> 00:22:04.859 which can get pretty heavy. But let's go back 00:22:04.859 --> 00:22:07.660 to that UK pub thing. The licensed fictionaler. 00:22:07.779 --> 00:22:10.480 Yes. I dove into the notes on this because it's 00:22:10.480 --> 00:22:13.960 so unique. So in the UK, the pub owner is the 00:22:13.960 --> 00:22:17.259 landlord. But the other term for them, publican, 00:22:17.279 --> 00:22:20.359 that comes from Roman tax farmers. Publicanus, 00:22:20.359 --> 00:22:24.000 yes. Properly, it was the appellation of a Roman 00:22:24.000 --> 00:22:27.640 public contractor or, more commonly, a tax farmer. 00:22:27.839 --> 00:22:30.180 It's amazing how many of these terms, when you 00:22:30.180 --> 00:22:32.339 dig deep enough, lead you right back to Rome. 00:22:32.480 --> 00:22:34.420 But what I found most fascinating in the source 00:22:34.420 --> 00:22:36.779 was the charity aspect connected to this. The 00:22:36.779 --> 00:22:39.460 licensed trade charity. Right. It's a specific 00:22:39.460 --> 00:22:42.460 charity for this one profession. It was formed 00:22:42.460 --> 00:22:46.539 in 2004 from a merger of some much older societies, 00:22:46.700 --> 00:22:49.579 some going back to the 1790s. And they actually 00:22:49.579 --> 00:22:52.319 run private schools. The licensed Fichtler School 00:22:52.319 --> 00:22:55.410 in Ascot. That is just wild to me. So if you 00:22:55.410 --> 00:22:57.869 run a pub in the UK, you can get a discounted 00:22:57.869 --> 00:23:00.069 education for your children at a prestigious 00:23:00.069 --> 00:23:02.970 private school in Ascot. Exactly. It reminds 00:23:02.970 --> 00:23:05.269 us that landlording, at least in the pub sense, 00:23:05.549 --> 00:23:08.369 is an ancient trade with its own guilds, its 00:23:08.369 --> 00:23:10.349 own support systems, its own unique culture. 00:23:10.490 --> 00:23:13.309 It's not just a business. It's a community with 00:23:13.309 --> 00:23:16.049 centuries of history and tradition behind it. 00:23:16.069 --> 00:23:18.049 OK, we've done the history, the laws, the fun 00:23:18.049 --> 00:23:20.950 pub facts. Now. I think we have to get into the 00:23:20.950 --> 00:23:23.089 heavy stuff, the criticism. And there is a lot 00:23:23.089 --> 00:23:25.150 of it. The source material makes it very clear 00:23:25.150 --> 00:23:27.349 that the concept of the landlord has been controversial 00:23:27.349 --> 00:23:30.069 for as long as it has existed. This isn't a new 00:23:30.069 --> 00:23:32.089 debate that started on Twitter. No, it starts 00:23:32.089 --> 00:23:33.990 with the very philosophy of land ownership itself. 00:23:34.250 --> 00:23:38.630 Right. The big question. Should land be a commodity? 00:23:39.329 --> 00:23:41.549 Should you be able to own a piece of the earth 00:23:41.549 --> 00:23:43.769 and charge someone else for the privilege of 00:23:43.769 --> 00:23:46.579 standing on it? The sources draw a sharp contrast 00:23:46.579 --> 00:23:49.680 between the European colonial view and indigenous 00:23:49.680 --> 00:23:52.990 perspectives. For many Native American tribes, 00:23:53.210 --> 00:23:55.869 for instance, the idea of owning land in the 00:23:55.869 --> 00:23:58.869 European sense was completely foreign. Land was 00:23:58.869 --> 00:24:01.829 not a commodity to be bought and sold. Ownership 00:24:01.829 --> 00:24:03.789 varied. Sometimes it was communal. Sometimes 00:24:03.789 --> 00:24:07.289 it was based on use. But the concept of landlordism, 00:24:07.309 --> 00:24:09.769 as we know it, was largely a European import 00:24:09.769 --> 00:24:12.369 often imposed by force. And even among Europeans, 00:24:12.650 --> 00:24:15.269 there were some heavy hitters who really, really 00:24:15.269 --> 00:24:18.480 disliked the idea. Adam Smith. the father of 00:24:18.480 --> 00:24:20.480 capitalism you'd think adam smith would be all 00:24:20.480 --> 00:24:22.880 for it but he had a truly staving critique in 00:24:22.880 --> 00:24:25.160 his book the wealth of nations he said landlords 00:24:25.160 --> 00:24:27.539 love to reap where they never sowed that is a 00:24:27.539 --> 00:24:29.680 burn isn't it reap where they never sowed what 00:24:29.680 --> 00:24:31.680 did he mean by that exactly yeah he was making 00:24:31.680 --> 00:24:35.579 a very specific economic argument He was arguing 00:24:35.579 --> 00:24:38.619 that landlords demand rent for the land's natural 00:24:38.619 --> 00:24:41.400 product. They aren't necessarily improving the 00:24:41.400 --> 00:24:42.960 land. They aren't working it. They aren't adding 00:24:42.960 --> 00:24:45.819 value through labor. They're just charging for 00:24:45.819 --> 00:24:48.039 access to a natural resource that they happen 00:24:48.039 --> 00:24:51.400 to own. It's what economists now call economic 00:24:51.400 --> 00:24:54.420 rent, passive income derived from ownership of 00:24:54.420 --> 00:24:57.279 a resource, not from productive work. And then 00:24:57.279 --> 00:24:59.279 there's Henry George. He took this idea even 00:24:59.279 --> 00:25:02.039 further. Henry George is a fascinating figure 00:25:02.039 --> 00:25:04.680 from the late 19th century. He was an American 00:25:04.680 --> 00:25:07.740 economist who believed that land and all its 00:25:07.740 --> 00:25:10.960 natural value belongs to everyone equally. So 00:25:10.960 --> 00:25:13.900 what was his solution? He proposed a public tax 00:25:13.900 --> 00:25:16.460 on economic rent. It's now more commonly known 00:25:16.460 --> 00:25:19.299 as a land value tax. A tax on just the value 00:25:19.299 --> 00:25:21.660 of the land, not the buildings on it. Precisely. 00:25:21.680 --> 00:25:23.599 And he believed that if you tax the economic 00:25:23.599 --> 00:25:25.859 rent of land at a high enough rate, it would 00:25:25.859 --> 00:25:27.740 be so profitable for the public that you could 00:25:27.740 --> 00:25:30.440 abolish all other taxes. No income tax, no sales 00:25:30.440 --> 00:25:33.579 tax, nothing. Nothing. Just a single tax on land 00:25:33.579 --> 00:25:37.220 value. It was a radical idea then, and it's still 00:25:37.220 --> 00:25:40.019 a radical idea today. But moving to more modern 00:25:40.019 --> 00:25:42.559 criticism, the conversation shifts to monopoly 00:25:42.559 --> 00:25:45.759 and power. This is where that juristic person, 00:25:45.880 --> 00:25:48.890 the corporation, comes back in a big way. It 00:25:48.890 --> 00:25:52.109 does. We are seeing a trend of corporate consolidation 00:25:52.109 --> 00:25:56.009 in housing, huge corporations, private equity 00:25:56.009 --> 00:25:59.269 firms buying up vast amounts of housing stock, 00:25:59.470 --> 00:26:01.710 especially single -family homes. The source had 00:26:01.710 --> 00:26:03.829 a jaw -dropping statistic about Atlanta. I had 00:26:03.829 --> 00:26:06.210 to read it twice. It is staggering. It says that 00:26:06.210 --> 00:26:08.690 in a single zip code in Atlanta between January 00:26:08.690 --> 00:26:11.849 2011 and June 2012, in the wake of the foreclosure 00:26:11.849 --> 00:26:15.170 crisis, 90 % of the houses sold were purchased 00:26:15.170 --> 00:26:18.809 by institutional investors. 90%. 9 -0. So if 00:26:18.809 --> 00:26:20.470 you're a regular family trying to buy a home 00:26:20.470 --> 00:26:22.630 there, you're competing against a wall of corporate 00:26:22.630 --> 00:26:24.250 money. You're not just competing, you're being 00:26:24.250 --> 00:26:26.329 shut out of the market entirely. And this leads 00:26:26.329 --> 00:26:28.450 to something the source calls the foreclosure 00:26:28.450 --> 00:26:30.750 loop. The foreclosure loop. Corporate landlords 00:26:30.750 --> 00:26:34.250 buy up thousands of foreclosed homes, often from 00:26:34.250 --> 00:26:36.690 the very banks that initiated the foreclosures. 00:26:36.789 --> 00:26:38.690 And then they turn around and rent them back, 00:26:38.890 --> 00:26:40.849 sometimes to the original owners who lost them. 00:26:40.950 --> 00:26:43.400 Talk about a power shift. You go from owning 00:26:43.400 --> 00:26:45.880 your home to renting it from a massive corporation 00:26:45.880 --> 00:26:48.339 that bought it for pennies on the dollar. It's 00:26:48.339 --> 00:26:50.700 a fundamental shift in the housing market. And 00:26:50.700 --> 00:26:53.579 then you have the extreme version of this monopoly, 00:26:53.920 --> 00:26:57.059 company towns. This is the ultimate monopoly, 00:26:57.299 --> 00:27:00.779 right? A situation where one single corporation 00:27:00.779 --> 00:27:03.079 owns all the housing and all the businesses. 00:27:03.240 --> 00:27:06.500 So your boss is also your landlord. Yes. The 00:27:06.500 --> 00:27:09.819 source mentions the squeeze this creates. Because 00:27:09.819 --> 00:27:12.299 they control the whole ecosystem, they can raise 00:27:12.299 --> 00:27:14.420 your rent and lower your wages at the same time, 00:27:14.440 --> 00:27:16.539 especially during a recession. You have nowhere 00:27:16.539 --> 00:27:18.579 to go. You can't move because they own all the 00:27:18.579 --> 00:27:21.200 houses. And you can't get another job because 00:27:21.200 --> 00:27:22.920 they own all the businesses. That feels like 00:27:22.920 --> 00:27:25.319 the feudal system all over again, just with a 00:27:25.319 --> 00:27:27.500 company logo instead of a coat of arms. It's 00:27:27.500 --> 00:27:29.299 the modern version of the Lord of the Manor. 00:27:29.599 --> 00:27:32.559 Complete economic control. And at the very bottom 00:27:32.559 --> 00:27:35.019 of this hierarchy, the most criticized figure 00:27:35.019 --> 00:27:38.130 of all, we have... the slumlord we're the ghetto 00:27:38.130 --> 00:27:41.309 landlord as some sources call it the text defines 00:27:41.309 --> 00:27:45.039 this as owners often corporate, of large numbers 00:27:45.039 --> 00:27:47.519 of decrepit properties who willfully neglect 00:27:47.519 --> 00:27:49.940 maintenance. And they're targeting the most vulnerable 00:27:49.940 --> 00:27:52.960 people. Exactly. They target vulnerable renters 00:27:52.960 --> 00:27:55.359 who have no other options, maybe because of low 00:27:55.359 --> 00:27:57.940 income, poor credit, or discrimination elsewhere. 00:27:58.299 --> 00:28:01.720 And this leads to rent gouging, raising rent 00:28:01.720 --> 00:28:04.579 to unconscionable levels, often for properties 00:28:04.579 --> 00:28:07.859 that are barely habitable because they know their 00:28:07.859 --> 00:28:10.559 tenants have nowhere else to turn. This is why 00:28:10.559 --> 00:28:12.099 we see the response from governments. Things 00:28:12.099 --> 00:28:15.059 like rent regulation, caps on increases, and 00:28:15.059 --> 00:28:17.259 in extreme cases, compulsory purchase powers 00:28:17.259 --> 00:28:19.700 where the government can step in, seize the properties, 00:28:19.859 --> 00:28:22.460 and clear the slums. It's a constant tug of war. 00:28:22.720 --> 00:28:25.359 The landlord wants yield, the tenant wants safety 00:28:25.359 --> 00:28:27.599 and affordability, and the government is trying 00:28:27.599 --> 00:28:29.359 to referee a game that's been going on since 00:28:29.359 --> 00:28:31.380 the Roman Empire. That is the perfect way to 00:28:31.380 --> 00:28:34.079 put it. It feels like an ancient conflict with 00:28:34.079 --> 00:28:37.059 modern rules. So what does this all mean? We 00:28:37.059 --> 00:28:39.319 started this deep dive looking at a single word, 00:28:39.400 --> 00:28:42.940 landlord, and we found a whole world inside it. 00:28:42.960 --> 00:28:45.420 We really did. We traveled from the Roman Latifundia 00:28:45.420 --> 00:28:48.200 all the way to the modern accidental landlord. 00:28:48.900 --> 00:28:51.700 We looked at the strict codified laws of the 00:28:51.700 --> 00:28:54.799 United Kingdom and the powerful tenant protections 00:28:54.799 --> 00:28:58.140 in Mexico. We saw that being a landlord is, well, 00:28:58.240 --> 00:29:01.019 it's a dual role. It is a service providing housing 00:29:01.019 --> 00:29:03.799 is essential, but it's also undeniably a position 00:29:03.799 --> 00:29:06.420 of economic power that has been criticized by 00:29:06.420 --> 00:29:09.140 everyone from indigenous groups to Adam Smith 00:29:09.140 --> 00:29:11.480 himself. It's a reminder that when you sign that 00:29:11.480 --> 00:29:13.960 lease, when you hand over that check, you aren't 00:29:13.960 --> 00:29:16.619 just engaging in a simple contract. You are stepping 00:29:16.619 --> 00:29:19.059 into a historical stream, a relationship with 00:29:19.059 --> 00:29:21.339 centuries of baggage. I want to leave everyone 00:29:21.339 --> 00:29:22.960 with a final thought. I keep thinking about those 00:29:22.960 --> 00:29:25.220 charity schools for the licensed fitchlers, you 00:29:25.220 --> 00:29:27.559 know, the pub landlord. The schools in Ascot. 00:29:28.240 --> 00:29:30.980 It's such a strange, specific detail in the sources. 00:29:31.079 --> 00:29:32.900 But it reminds me that this isn't just about 00:29:32.900 --> 00:29:35.160 money or law. It's a trade. It has a culture. 00:29:35.359 --> 00:29:37.440 But it's also a trade that creates these deep, 00:29:37.480 --> 00:29:40.400 deep divides we've talked about. So here's the 00:29:40.400 --> 00:29:43.039 question for you listening right now. Next time 00:29:43.039 --> 00:29:44.859 you pay your rent or next time you collect it, 00:29:44.920 --> 00:29:48.240 ask yourself, are you just participating in a 00:29:48.240 --> 00:29:51.200 simple business transaction? Or are you hearing 00:29:51.200 --> 00:29:53.339 the lingering echo of a feudal system that never 00:29:53.339 --> 00:29:54.119 quite went away?