Not at all covid related but I think this is the thread where some people contemplated how they could help others with housing. Here's someone that tried. In 2019, they left their house to charities and the town to house people with nowhere else to go. It's not going well. The multiple owners are not playing nicely and maintenance is not happening.
A local home bequeathed to the town and two charities is still in a sort of limbo when it comes to who is supposed to take care of the property and its tenants
www.collingwoodtoday.ca
It's unfortunate but not uncommon that efforts by a generous caring person get perverted. Housing is particularly difficult to control due to the extreme protection given the tenant by the overzealous landlord tenant acts.
Oddly enough, we were downtown today and saw a number of vacant "to be demolished" buildings that could be used for housing but if the owners let one person take up residency, when they wanted to demolish and rebuild in a year or two, they could be held up by the courts.
Then there are the liabilities. But think: If someone wanting housing in the area and could get survivable quarters for a year or two and put the $2000-3000 / month rent savings into a registered homeowners savings plan they'd get a massive boost on their down payment.
It would call for tenants that didn't turn the place into a drug den or other vice locale. Contracts could be written but the rights and freedom advocates would shred them in court for a year or two or more, hanging up the developer.
I have a friend paying less than a thousand dollars a month for an apartment in downtown New York City, near the flat iron building. If the place was torn down and rebuilt, rents would be five figures but the tenant protection acts have the owner stuck with two tenants that won't leave. Said friend turned down a half a million to walk away because he likes the area even though the place is a roach motel. He has another place in the Catskills.
Wouldn't it be nice if a senior with a large, paid for house could live in it forever if a family moved in, rent free, and took care of the maintenance, cooking and cleaning. Everyone wins but who do you trust?
Sadly, I couldn't trust my own family and it's hard to screen people with no potential.
What if the target tenant had $50,000 saved towards a down payment and offered it as a bond that they would leave when asked? If they didn't, the $50,000 would be claimed as back rent. If they left when requested they got the money plus interest plus what they saved by paying no or minimal rent.
www.bnnbloomberg.ca
