Landlord karma should be public and out of their control. Just like our rental history.

Posted by Waste-Corgi6641@reddit | CrazyIdeas | View on Reddit | 20 comments

We have credit scores, rental histories and eviction reports that travel with us from state to state for many years. They can run our background information even before signing an agreement and there isn't much we can do about whatever is in there. But a landlord can drag their feet for months to address any complaints, assign repairmen who never come and just leave town to purchase a new building somewhere else. Start afresh without any trace or consequence. I was looking at smth on my phone and thought of something. The solution is quite easy actually. Create a publicly accessible landlord karma score created by verified tenants based on their identity, unchangeable and difficult to repair just like ours. They investigate us before allowing us to live in their property. It is only fair that we are allowed to investigate them in return.

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saichampa@reddit

In Queensland, Australia, (I specify the state because laws vary, and I'm familiar with my state) tenants have just as much right to lodge a breach of lease against a landlord as a landlord does against a tenant.

You also have the right to challenge a breach lodged against you

I once had my AC break, in January, mid summer. I asked them to fix it. They finally sent someone out a few months later who said it just needed to be replaced. Real estate dragged their feet.

In September, start of spring, they asked to do an extra inspection because the owners were in town and wanted to see the property. I agreed.

A week later I received a notice of breach in the mail that was for having a messy unit. Having a messy unit is not a breach of lease. You're allowed to live in your house and use it as you want as long as it's not being damaged and reasonably maintained.

I called them and challenged it. They said that it was actually because of a smell on the unit. There was no smell. I asked a friend I was with who had been visiting recently if there was a smell. They said no. I told them there was no smell and that they didn't put that on them breach.

Air conditioner still wasn't fixed (9 months)

I lodged a challenge to their breach. I also lodged a breach against them for not having fixed the AC.

The breach against me was rescinded, and my air conditioner was fixed 2 weeks later.

Now there have been times when I've encountered difficulty and been breached for late rent and I've accepted I was wrong and done what I can to make things right. I prefer a constructive relationship with the property manager and owner, but I will absolutely assert my rights as a tenant, and inform others how they can do the same.

Young people are especially vulnerable to dodgy tactics.

Thankfully we have pretty strong tenancy rights and the Residential Tenancies Authority, through whom all leases and bonds are (supposed to be) managed. They are a neutral party but they will inform you of your rights and what processes are available to you to address problems.

And filing a breach of lease against a lessor can actually have teeth.

There are still a lot of problems and real estates do have their own private databases of renters but I've not had any problems leasing properties despite pushing back against dodgy tactics.

customheart@reddit

Ratemylandlord would have some legs, I think.

Savings_Difficulty24@reddit

I just checked, and that domain is actually currently available

Aragorn008@reddit

Buy it!

wizzard419@reddit

Do customer reviews not already cover this? Genuinely asking.

PABLOPANDAJD@reddit

Create it. There’s definitely a market for it

iheartnjdevils@reddit

There is https://www.apartmentratings.com which I've used before moving and to report my own experience but obviously, this is limited to rental complexes.

I would def pay $20 to get a background check on a landlord.

FilecoinLurker@reddit

I've had this exact idea for yeaes but no way for me to start ratemylandlord.com

ModularWhiteGuy@reddit

Well, I don't think it been even a whole week since this was last proposed on reddit.

The major problem being that a lot of tenants just plain feel jilted and wronged even when they absolutely destroyed a place, and didn't pay the last three months rent, and they need to externalize their failing by blaming the landlord.

As and operator of the website the surfaces bad landlords to the public, how are you going to weed out people crucifying their landlord because they were shitty tenants, and those that actually had a bad landlord?

How many people do you need to have on your legal team to defend against liable against landlord who don't take kindly to being publicly accused?

Crazy_Suggestion_182@reddit

I'm a landlord, and I love this idea. My tenants are my clients, so anything to make that relationship more stable and productive is absolutely welcome.

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mack_dd@reddit

Google reviews already exists

So something similar, but only for landlords [similar to glassdoor for eomployers]?

I can see that working

BusinessDragon@reddit

I started thinking about this after my landlord wanted me to pay half to fix our shoddy electrical that won’t let me run more than 2/3 of the home office I previously ran out of the dining nook in a 1br condo.

You’d need to run it like a sailing the high seas site, because you’d get a lot of well-financed haters immediately.

Topic_Professional@reddit

I’m a landlord, I support this

themaxtreetboys@reddit

I suspect with the middle class gap tightening and evaporating every year that there will be some kind of ratemyprofessor/rental home carfax type of tertiary market. The main obstacle is that its ultimately a sellers market, and as long as the housing is reasonable for the available jobs in the area, the leverage is land owners > property managers > tenants. Maybe the ratemyrental app could be by property address, detached from the property managers, and the land owners would be incentivized to hire better property managers for fatter margins… I really need to finish my homework lol