Understanding how some people become homeless

[Neighbor]

Many more locally are about to find their home has been labeled as being more than 50% of assessed value damaged, and thus must be torn down  or raised upon stilts. They will find their electricity  and water cut off.  Instant homelessness will visit yet more of us.

Plus locally a large midrise seniors apartment complex has been rated an electrical system fire hazard, and all the tenants removed.

Further problems are coming for condo owners more than four stories tall that have not funded contingency needs, as the State has new rules on that.

There are a whole lot of displaced among the homeless. In the meantime we just had a in person visit/audit from our own home insurance company. Who knows what that will mean.

I am reminded of President Dwight D. Eisenhower's statement that the only person with security on earth is the one under lifetime prison sentence with no hope of parol. Evidently he never envisioned a President Joe Biden to come in the future.

Security for eternity to come is in Jesus alone, short of that we are as subject to calamity as Job.

[Neighbor]

22 hours ago, Marathoner said:

Why? Non-existent enforcement of code. Why is code enforcement non-existent? Lack of inspectors and action by appropriate authorities. Black mold... leaking water heaters... HVAC that doesn't work... inefficient sealing... faulty plumbing... electrical problems that cause fires... these are normal here. 

And "here" since the toppling of the Condo's on the East coast of Florida  there are new laws for inspections. Now we have people on the street  in my community because units have failed electrical code inspection.

Rules just do not make for solutions, they  change the nature of the same problem with the same end result. Runaway inflation new expensive to meet building codes have made it very difficult to build to the need of the poorer individual. It is a matter of math, simple math that "caring" and blaming of others just can't overcome.

Communities do try to force units to be built at a loss in order to get permission to develop profitable units too. What happens? Drugs move in, crime goes nuts,  the whole thing becomes a new dangerous area and the grocery stores move away. Try to mix section 8 residents into upper level housing by paying their rent and what happens; crime  and drug dealing moves in with them and nice neighborhoods  become crime infested.

Some people are just plain  professionally bad people, some are raised that way and have been for over four generations in a loosely assembled families playing  "the system". Without forced work  for pay there will always be crime infesting wherever government programs  and charities reach.

 

[Neighbor]

21 hours ago, NConly said:

When I first moved to Tn I rented for 5 years. And getting land lords to repair anything was almost impossible. Starting on 01/01/25 Tn passed a law that requires a land lord to provide a maintenance contact up front to tenants.

One would think the owner would want that too. I notice telling about asbestos, bedbugs, and black mold, is optional! Really? I found it to my long term financial advantage to provide ac filter replacement every 60 days, annual AC cleaning, annual carpet shampooing, and paint if needed. Plus monthly  bug/pest service and basic cable tv. All vehicles on property must have current tags and no servicing of vehicles allowed on property.

 

[other one]

the vast majority of the homeless here have serious mental problems or debilitating drug problems to the point that they can't hold any kind of productive life.   They simply exist day to day like a feral animal would.   The people on drugs are not interested in getting off them.

[Neighbor]

1 hour ago, other one said:

the vast majority of the homeless here have serious mental problems or debilitating drug problems to the point that they can't hold any kind of productive life.   They simply exist day to day like a feral animal would.   The people on drugs are not interested in getting off them.

Sad but I have to agree, least it is what I experienced near daily for 14 years of employment at a local church body that sat between the beach pier and the enclosed shopping mall. Also when the "State" started pushing the homeless drug addicts into the care homes for the mentally disabled ( Retarded) that I used to pick up for worship services and take out on outings. That got pretty wild and dangerous eventually.

The danger in general due to the more violent of those wandering the streets also became a major expense - security forces, and security cameras, electronic door locks etc, quickly add up to over a half million dollars.

[teddyv]

We own and rent a home in a suburb of the Greater Vancouver, BC area. It was out old home before we moved north for work. The Vancouver area has some of the highest home values in North America. I don't think we could afford to rent our own home, it's like CDN $340o/month for a 1700 sq ft split level. We use a property manager since we are too far away to manage. We are definitely not making any income off rent due to maintenance requirements- it's an old home - but we have no intention being seen as a slumlord. Our value has come in increased equity as house prices rose faster than one could save.

Homelessness is a huge problem in BC, much due to drug and mental health issues, but also the high cost of shelter. A lot of working people have taken to living in RVs and camping along Highway rest areas and other out of the way locations. We saw the same thing, even more magnified, when we passed through San Fran in 2023.