Being a landlord is not a job at least According to the BLS though most of us May agree that being a property manager Or a real estate agent is definitely a Job many landlords are neither property Managers nor real estate agents at its Definition landlord is a title that Involves generating passive income Through ownership rather than labor the Phrase being a landlord is not a job Became a calling card among housing Activists and renters during the Beginning of the pandemic in 2020 it was Estimated that as many as 40 million People in the U.S were at risk of being Evicted from their homes because of the Epidemic and there were rent strikes and Protests and eventually eviction Moratoriums at the time real estate Executives argued that quote landlords Are Working Class People Too Property Owners made these impassioned police for Sympathy some landlords complained about The eviction of moratoriums that they Couldn't just kick people out of their Homes they complained about the fact That they couldn't collect unemployment Like their renters could hence activists Said being a landlord is not a job but Here's the thing when I spoke with Landlords many them agreed being a Landlord isn't really a job and that's Why they got into real estate they Argued that they got into real estate
Because they didn't want to spend the Rest of their lives working jobs that Made money for others that they wanted To spend time with their families they Were born to a system where thanks to Things like capital gains taxes real Estate was the only real pathway they Saw to get ahead here's what one Seattle-based landlord told me he said Quote the richest people in the world Own companies or assets or Investments That pay them Why would you go on and take 80k of Student loan debt to get an entry-level Job for 40K a year when there are like me making a couple million Bucks and paying fewer taxes than you He said it's not because I'm evil and Greedy I'm following the law Here's the thing I have sympathy for This guy in that he was born to the System The capital gains tax system encourages People to make investments in things Like real estate and build wealth that Way rather than through working a job The other thing is there's a bit of a Landlord Spectrum this guy is known as a Mom-and-pop landlord but most landlords Are actually these massive real estate Investment trusts known as REITs these Are things like private Equity firms Housing researchers tell me that these REITs are able to aggressively drive up
The cost of housing and that they pursue Eviction more aggressively than these Mom-and-pop landlords and it's because Of their size and because they are often Super removed and almost Anonymous from The communities that they own here's the Thing we are facing a massive housing Crisis see a weaver a campaign Coordinator at the nonprofit Organization housing Justice for All Tells me whether it's a small landlord Or a big landlord it's an inherently Exploitative relationship where one side Has all of the power as long as the System exists there are going to be Individuals who take advantage of it and It's almost to a point where it's like How can you blame them but if we really Want to address the housing crisis we Need to start thinking about all of These components and we need to start Thinking about how we can make it more Fair for everybody Foreign
