Coming up with 20,000 dollars in a week isn't a middle finger to squatters, it's a complete lock out of the justice system to anyone who isn't rich enough to be a land lord themselves.

This is peak, "the justice system protects everyone equally" bullshit.

I don’t think most people think “oh, some dude signing a contract and then violating it is super cool.” I think most people here realize that the working-class landlord who is renting out a single unit for a little extra cash is basically a unicorn these days and that the vast majority of rental units are owned by people and corporations who rent as their primary or sole source of income; and that the stories of renters deliberately destroying rental units are foregrounded by these large scale landlords as a tactic to erode public sympathy for renters. I’m not saying it doesn’t happen, any time you have a system that can be exploited people will exploit it. What I am saying is that these situations happen far less often than ones like the linked article describes, where a tenant was evicted because they were told the incorrect court date.

How about we just do away with landlords entirely and make every property by default mortgagable so that apartment dwellers at minimum wage can still recoup some of their monthly housing costs when selling the apartment. There's no reason this can't be done. Most cheap old low-end apartments are worth relatively little (dependent on location and other factors, but still). If the market was flooded with them due to redistribution of shelter and an end to landlording, the prices would drop much further, potentially making theoretical down payments comparable with the first month's rent + damage deposit. With the added bonus that no one steals your monthly payments. Housing co-ops are also great. There's just no reason for landlords to exist. Shelter is a human right, and there's no reason for a renting class to exist except to serve the interests of private landlords and enable the existence of a permanently impoverished working class.

A tenant who falls behind on rent isn't a squatter they are still a tenant and normal procedures already allow for removing the tenant in a reasonable time frame. The issue that obtains some places is that courts are too poorly funded and over burdened to deal with issues in a timely fashion.

A squatter is someone who moves in without paying. This gets ugly when as above court issus applies and squatter situations get in line with normal eviction.

WA instituted an expedited process that allows for removal of folks who were never tenants with just police so this doesn't happen.

That is a smart solution to actual squatting fully funding whomever handles your eviction cases is another.

If you want to take it to the next level look at Finland who almost eliminated homelessness by housing people who are temporarily in a bad way and Europeans generally providing support for those with health problems.

People who fall behind usually aren't stealing from the landlord and celebrating they are usually falling into a financial hole and living every day in increasing stress as they scramble for a solution. Ask me how I know.

If you fault squatters in the midst of a homelessness crisis where upwards of 20 houses are left vacant for every unhoused person, you are either a landlord, or you have been oriented by the landowning class to ignore the massive economic and societal advantage that landlords have. To say that the issue comes down to squatters, and not to the hedge funds that are buying up streets-worth of housing at a time, is an affront to working-class people everywhere who are struggling more and more to obtain a home.

I say fuck yeah to squatters. Based. That is the "risk" that comes with being a landlord, and sometimes they strike out, so they can get fucked.

People lose money on investments all the time. Why should rental properties used as investments be any different?

My answer is no. Tough shit, people lose money on investments all the time.

Signing a contract and then intentionally violating it is super unethical.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HumancentiPad

Meanwhile, Cartman's classmate and frequent nemesis Kyle Broflovski, who did not read the Terms and Conditions when agreeing to download the latest iTunes update, is pursued by shadowy agents from Apple Inc., who wish to perform several intrusive acts upon him, informing him that he agreed to them when he downloaded the update. Kyle attempts to flee the men and is incredulous when his friends tell him they all read the entire Terms and Conditions when they downloaded the latest update. Kyle seeks refuge at his father Gerald's law office. Still, the Apple agents taser Gerald, kidnap Kyle, and throw him in a cage with a Japanese man named Junichi Takiyama and a young woman who also failed to read the fine print of their purchased updates.