Space Gopher posted:

By gosh, you're right. I think I'll quit my white-collar job (which has been kinda lovely lately) and adopt a budget that is literally "the minimum required to exist in the area, as determined by the federal government." Fun fact: you're not allowed to save on SSI disability. If you manage to put away more than $2,000, the government will literally cut you off of support until your bank account balances and other liquid assets drop below that amount.

Also, the feds and state governments have shut down a lot of pain management clinics, starting a few years ago. Turns out addicts stay addicted even when you cut them off cold turkey. Now there's a massive fentanyl problem. Got a commonsense solution to that one?

quote:

Rent-to-own leases are similar in many ways to contracts for deeds: long-term, high-interest installment contracts that call for the resident to make monthly payments to the seller. Unlike a contract for deed — which typically lasts 30 years, at the end of a Vision contract, tenants still need to find financing to complete the deal. The buyer does not receive legal title to the home until the last payment is made.

LLCoolJD posted:

I agree it would be BWM for an engineer, white collar employee, etc., but for a huge chunk of unskilled, minimum-wage laborers (like the sad folks in that article) it's GWM considering they're not in some poo poo job 40 hours/week yet taking home about the same.

-

What do you get when you cross Rent-a-Center with real estate?
https://www.nytimes.com/2016/08/22/business/dealbook/rent-to-own-homes-a-win-win-for-landlords-a-risk-for-struggling-tenants.html

LLCoolJD posted:

What do you get when you cross Rent-a-Center with real estate?
https://www.nytimes.com/2016/08/22/business/dealbook/rent-to-own-homes-a-win-win-for-landlords-a-risk-for-struggling-tenants.html

quote:

Throwaway: I'm in MA and my lease ended June 1. It was a standard 1 year lease, and I have Venmo proof that rent was paid in full each month on or before the 1st. I took dated pictures when I moved in, and I took pictures when I moved out. I have the lease, my utilities were all paid online so I have access to that, and I have access to that, and I have plenty of people who will testify that all of this happened.
I lived in a one bedroom apartment in this guy's house. I had my own entrance, kitchen etc. We were NOT roommates. He was always a little creepy, but I wrote that off as just being a weird guy. I think his mom (very elderly) actually owns the place. She lived on the top floor, and he had his own apartment in the basement/first floor. I lived in the middle.
I told him in Feb I wouldn't be resigning the lease, and he said that it was "a pain in his rear end to re-rent it every year" and I needed to reconsider, but I had a contract.
Then, in May, he saw me in the shared hallway and asked me out. I politely told him that I wasn't interested, and he told me he'd ask when I moved out (?). I ignored him for the last few weeks, moved my stuff out, cleaned the place etc.
After I was moved out, he asked to meet me to get the security deposit, but made it sound like we'd hang out. I told him to send it to my work address. I told him it was because I was traveling, but really, I wasn't comfortable with him knowing where I lived. He said he'd wait till I got back from my trip.
I waited a few weeks and said I really needed it, and he had to send it to me, and he ignored me, but asked me where I moved. This happened a few times.
Finally, I told him that he needed to send me my deposit check, or I would pick it up, but that I needed it by the end of the week. He asked me for coffee, and I told him that I would not date him, but he owed me $1250 and I need it. He called me a "stuck up bitch". Our last conversation was this text: "The house was a mess when you left. You aren't getting poo poo from me. Take us to court, bitch and see what happens when you try to gently caress over an old lady on social securty (sic)". All of this is via text.
I don't want to be in the same room with this guy, but I need the money. Do I have to sue him? I'm so frustrated and disgusted with this guy, but is it even worth it at this point, or will the lawyer cost more than the deposit is worth?

canyoneer posted:

https://np.reddit.com/r/legaladvice/comments/6opf2z/somerville_ma_landlord_mad_cause_i_wont_date_him/
Somerville MA, Landlord mad cause I won't date him, won't give me my security deposit (self.legaladvice)
submitted 1 day ago by apartmentquestion888


The advice given is that she's entitled to treble damages for not getting her security deposit back within 30 days. This guy spent $2500 to strike out with a girl

Ixian posted:

If the lease is clear on the terms of the security deposit, and if the guy took pictures/etc., and she didn't, and the house was truly a mess, she is probably out of luck.

Subjunctive posted:

She says she took pictures on the way in and the way out.

Ixian posted:

Probably has a better chance then though if he did the same and there wasn't a walk through small claims will probably split the baby.

If he was Captain Creep though then like I said rattling his cage will probably be enough to settle it without having a day in court.

A big flaming stink posted:

yeah the landlord is going to have to defend why he took so long to "refuse" to refund the sec deposit. And you're crazy if you think this sort of creep is going to be composed in court and not cop an attitude to the judge.

canyoneer posted:

https://np.reddit.com/r/legaladvice/comments/6opf2z/somerville_ma_landlord_mad_cause_i_wont_date_him/
Somerville MA, Landlord mad cause I won't date him, won't give me my security deposit (self.legaladvice)
submitted 1 day ago by apartmentquestion888


The advice given is that she's entitled to treble damages for not getting her security deposit back within 30 days. This guy spent $2500 to strike out with a girl

balancedbias posted:

Lease Options are nothing new, and they are a legitimate way to transition a tenant to rent-to-own without a huge down payment, but this is shady poo poo for sure.

"Here, have all of the responsibilities of homeownership and none of the ownership! What could go wrong?" It's worse than Rent-a-Center because with RAC you don't have to worry about the sofa having a lien from unpaid taxes or having an extra screen replacement service charge on an LCD TV before you ever turn it on.

BENGHAZI 2 posted:

so maybe shut up about this because you're wrong

LLCoolJD posted:

Calm down.

Space Gopher posted:

The bottom line is this: yes, most people in poverty have made some bad decisions in their life. But, most people in nicer circumstances have made equally bad or worse decisions; they've just been insulated from them because they have a cushion. Upper middle class 19 year old kid smokes weed and does nothing for a semester in college, and the school therapist writes them up a hardship withdrawal for the quarter because they're just a kid who deserves a second chance. Mom and dad chew them out and pay. Most of the time, life goes on and the kid becomes a district sales manager somewhere. Poor 19 year old kid skips out on a couple of welding classes to smoke weed and hang out, and they're a deadbeat who deserves nothing. If they end up a panhandler, it's because of their own terrible life decisions, says the district sales manager.

If you see somebody walking a tightrope over a long drop with no net, is your first reaction, "oh, that's nothing, I walk around all the time and hardly ever trip?"

brugroffil posted:

"an essentially faultless life"

Lmao

brugroffil posted:

"an essentially faultless life"

Lmao

John Smith posted:

And what if you do literally never trip? I completely disagree with your claims, many decent citizens do in fact never mess up to the extent you are claiming (or at least not without fixing it on their own without this external help). I agree that many do, but many do not and have led an essentially faultless life.

PS I understand and agree with your claim that people who do mess up big themselves have no moral right to say so similarly. But numerous people do not. Therefore, by your own measure, we have the right, no?

ate all the Oreos posted:

Not all of us have the luxury of being immaculately willed into existence by the collective subconscious of a million Ron Paul supporters like you were

BENGHAZI 2 posted:

Lmbo most of ys are perfectly rational actors, gently caress off dude

John Smith posted:

You are full of crap. Why don't you gently caress off then?



Guess you people just can't handle the truth huh. If something is uncomfortable, then let's just ignore it.

Reasonable people can have a discussion regarding the proportion of citizens who are highly conservative (in a non-political sense) and lead life virtuously. Reasonable people cannot have a discussion about the very existence of these conservative citizens. It is blatantly clear that such conservative citizens exist. Denying it is similar to the Iranian government denying the existence of homosexuals, quite simply nonsense.

Imagine how harsh an echo chamber effect you must be subjected to, to actually hold such a viewpoint! That the country is literally without any such conservative citizen. How extreme you must be.

BENGHAZI 2 posted:

Actually what about those of us who are flawless human beings [in a strictly economic and financial sense, within the context of the argument in question] why can't we judge you puny mortals

ate all the Oreos posted:

All I'm gonna say is that "you hate me because you can't handle the truth" is right up there with "I'm not a racist but" in terms of things that when said should immediately trigger reassessment of your whole life up to this point

John Smith posted:

Yes.

Morals can be disputed. Financial performance cannot be as readily disputed. When someone rises from a poor Asian immigrant (family) background to a certain level of financial comfort, then yes. I dare have this arrogance.
And is that meant to be an actual quote of me?

I wholeheartedly agree with this general sentiment nonetheless. Such a position is generally highly indicative of the person himself being delusional rather than the other party.

But in this specific context, no. For the clear-cut straightforward reasons I have cited.

ate all the Oreos posted:

I originally had the actual quote of you in place of that and then thought about it and changed it to this more accurate, let's call it paraphrase, instead

ate all the Oreos posted:

Start a D&D thread about it and I'll be happy to bang my head against your crazy wall there if you wanna keep arguing about how perfect you are or whatever, I'm trying not to contribute to derailing even harder than I'm already contributing so I'm just gonna stop in this thread now.

John Smith posted:

You are full of crap. Why don't you gently caress off then?



Guess you people just can't handle the truth huh. If something is uncomfortable, then let's just ignore it.

Reasonable people can have a discussion regarding the proportion of citizens who are highly conservative (in a non-political sense) and lead life virtuously. Reasonable people cannot have a discussion about the very existence of these conservative citizens. It is blatantly clear that such conservative citizens exist. Denying it is similar to the Iranian government denying the existence of homosexuals, quite simply nonsense.

Imagine how harsh an echo chamber effect you must be subjected to, to actually hold such a viewpoint! That the country is literally without any such conservative citizen. How extreme you must be.

Vox Nihili posted:

Can someone just ban this idiot? This is not a joke.

Weatherman posted:

Put him on ignore already.

Cold on a Cob posted:

I mean, even Tiny Brontosaurus at least contributes outside CONTENT to the thread. John Smith is just attention whoring.

John Smith posted:

And does your concern extends to TB as well, when she is doing similarly? Or is your concern just reserved for the far right, and not the far left?

Weatherman posted:

https://www.reddit.com/r/legaladvice/comments/6oz2km/hoa_please_help/ posted:

I'm still livid from this and I will be speaking to an attorney this week but I just wanted to get this all down in writing because I still can't believe it actually happened.

So I (single male early 30's) bought a house in a neighborhood outside of a large city in TN. I moved in about 6 months ago. I got a job here and after around 2 years of living in an apartment, I wanted to get a house because my employer made a long term path clear to me. However, I think I may have been too quick to buy. My brother in law is from the area and was helping me find a place and he really convinced me to get this house and I pulled the trigger. This is mostly useless info, but some background might be helpful because -

This home was in a HOA. Honestly, the president of the group met with me when I was talking with the realtor and told me how the dues help to keep the communal small park area clean and they also act as a neutral party for neighbor disputes so I thought it sounded great. The dues were low and the house/neighborhood was great. She sent some paperwork when I bought the house, and I signed.

After this, my job got much more busy and I had to work 60-ish hour weeks. On Saturday's I would invite some work friends over and we would have a BBQ in my yard and watch some shows. This was a dream come true for me. I always wanted to own my own place and just be able to be my own landlord.

A few weeks ago I received a letter from the HOA president I spoke to saying that there were multiple complaints of noise "after a reasonable hour" from my home. I honestly thought that was fair so I moved my get-togethers inside and thought it was the end of it.

HOWEVER - yesterday. The HOA president sent me an email saying that my home was ready to be sold. As in she said in the email "Your home has found a buyer and we look forward to you accepting the offer". She immediately sent a second email from a realty company with the further info about the offer on my home. I checked that realtors website and there are pictures of my home with all of my things inside of it. Someone had been in my home when I was not here and took pictures. What the absolute poo poo.

I emailed her back immediately because it was obvious she came into my home, but how? And she said this: "In the HOA agreement you signed, a concerned neighbor may enter your home if there is a risk of harm, or if it might be in the interest of the neighborhood itself". I wish I was making this up. She then said "Because of your repeated noise violations it was in our best interest to facilitate selling your home."

I don't even know where to begin. Did she do something illegal even if it was in the agreement? I know I should have not signed this and it was stupid. But she was obviously just helping herself inside my home for weeks and I just feel like that cannot be right.

Volmarias posted:

Not sure how well this works for content, but it's definitely another reminder to Do Never Have A HOA.


Totally possible that this is stdh.txt of course, but i wouldn't be too surprised if it were real.

Volmarias posted:

Buying 40k figurines is de facto BWM.


WHY ARE OUR TAXES BEING USED FOR PROSTITUTES???