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posted by cmn32480 on Tuesday August 23 2016, @12:43PM   Printer-friendly
from the helping-wiht-the-upkeep dept.

Arthur T Knackerbracket has found the following story:

Squatters who illegally occupy vacant homes or buildings are not always contributing to apathy or social disorder, says a new University of Michigan study that will be presented at the 111th Annual Meeting of the American Sociological Association (ASA).

It can actually be a good situation for a neighborhood to have these individuals move into abandoned homes, lessening the chance of them becoming sites for drug users or burned by arsonists, the study indicates.

In urban communities nationwide, such as Detroit, which are experiencing population decline, homes have been abandoned by owners or left unattended by private investors who often purchase them in bundles of tens, hundreds, or even thousands.

"While attempts to revitalize a city rely on private ownership to induce responsible care for property, that isn't always an option," said study author Claire Herbert, a recent graduate of the University of Michigan, where she earned a PhD in sociology.

That's where squatters come in.

Herbert, who will be an assistant professor at Drexel University in the fall, interviewed more than 60 people, including squatters, city authorities, and residents between 2013-2015, while also gathering ethnographic data on illegal property use from various sources, such as community meetings and squatted areas across Detroit.

Surprisingly, many of the residents in the study welcome squatters to keep abandoned homes occupied. Squatting, however, was not considered acceptable to residents if the home was still occupied or if the legal owner was maintaining and overseeing the property.


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  • (Score: 2, Interesting) by Francis on Tuesday August 23 2016, @04:22PM

    by Francis (5544) on Tuesday August 23 2016, @04:22PM (#392198)

    I disagree, renters are terrible wage slaves, renters don't have a particular tie to the area, so if they aren't being treated well, they don't have to worry about selling their place when they move. They might wind up losing their deposit and a couple months rent, but that's about it.

    A home owner that wants to move across country is lucky to lose that much if they have to move abruptly. Especially during economic crises when the housing market is down.

    One of the reasons why it's good to be a young unmarried man is that you've got a ton of options if you're willing and able to relocate for better opportunities.

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  • (Score: 3, Interesting) by julian on Tuesday August 23 2016, @04:52PM

    by julian (6003) Subscriber Badge on Tuesday August 23 2016, @04:52PM (#392211)

    Renting means you're a slave to the whims of the credit rating agencies and your rental history. You can easily find yourself homeless if you have bad history, or worse, no credit/rent history at all. Even if you can prove you have the money they often won't even consider your application.

    The two credit rating agencies, private corporations, have immense power over millions of people. It's a sinister and regressive system designed to extract wealth from the poor and the desperate and funnel it to the ownership class. This didn't even have to be deliberate; it naturally emerges from individual entities pursuing their self-interest without consumer protections. Diffusion of responsibility, and guilt, allows normally ethical people to participate in this inhuman and inhumane system. No evil cabal of Illuminati necessary. It's all run by otherwise normal people, like you and me.

    • (Score: 3, Interesting) by AthanasiusKircher on Tuesday August 23 2016, @07:01PM

      by AthanasiusKircher (5291) on Tuesday August 23 2016, @07:01PM (#392245) Journal

      Renting means you're a slave to the whims of the credit rating agencies and your rental history.

      Whims? First off, your "rental history" is generally self-made. In most cases, if you pay on time, don't have raucous parties that get the police called, and leave the place in roughly as good condition as when you found it, it's really doubtful a landlord will give you anything less than a stellar recommendation if contacted.

      And while the exact formula for credit scores is a secret, the components that make it up are clearly stated. Pay bills on time -- that's the biggest one. Have a history of paying off loans. Apply for some credit cards, and use them once in a while, but keep low balances. Try to keep most of the accounts for a long time (i.e., don't close and open new credit accounts). Don't apply for new credit on a regular basis.

      That's about it. Is it annoying for some people to have a loan and make payments on it for a while? Sure. But there are lots of ways of doing that -- heck, a few years ago I took out an auto loan just because the interest rate was so low. I've invested the extra money instead and have made a lot more on it than I've lost in a small amount of interest. And I know some people are freaked out by the very concept of credit cards, but you don't need to do much with them. Just use them once in a while to keep them active.

      These little steps may be annoying, but they're actually convenient options for most people. I don't actually have to think at all about maintaining my credit, and my score has been above 800 for many years.

      You can easily find yourself homeless if you have bad history, or worse, no credit/rent history at all.

      What's your alternative? I agree that there are bad things about credit ratings -- in particular, errors can show up with surprising frequency and they can be a pain to remove. But you don't seem to be concerned about stuff like that -- you just hate the whole concept.

      But what's the alternative? Years ago, the way this worked was -- people tended to live in small towns, and everybody knew each other. You'd go down to the local bank and talk to "Bill," who probably knew your dad from the club or whatever. Bill introduced you to the loan officer, and they gave you a loan. You want an apartment? You go talk to "Sam," whose wife was on a church committee with your aunt. He introduces you to a landlord and vouches for your good behavior at church camp 10 years ago.

      That's the way people used to evaluate credit and rental history. If you live in a town for a while and get to know people, you'll likely still be able to do stuff like that. But absent information like that, just how are apartment owners supposed to trust that you're not going to be a "tenant from hell" or skip town without paying rent or whatever?

      Even if you can prove you have the money they often won't even consider your application.

      Some won't. But I've seen a LOT of apartment complexes which have policies like, "Demonstrated income equal to X times the rent amount OR verified bank account balance with minimum of Y."

      The system has flaws. But what's your alternative method for a landlord to evaluate some young person who walks in and has no references, no history of making regular payments to anyone ever, has no local ties, and just wants to rent his space?

    • (Score: 1) by Francis on Tuesday August 23 2016, @09:46PM

      by Francis (5544) on Tuesday August 23 2016, @09:46PM (#392327)

      First off, it's generally illegal to discriminate against certain classes of people. Secondly, renters rarely care about who's renting their units as long as they pay on time, don't damage the unit and don't disturb the other tennants.

      The credit score and rental history are of your own making. Barring a situation where there's been rental documents that were confused, you're not likely to have to worry about that. What's more, if you don't have the credit score to rent an apartment, then how do you propose buying a house?

      Whenever I've looked at rentals, there's multiple ways of qualifying. One of them is to make more than a certain amount of money and the other is to have a certain amount of money in the bank. But, as I've already stated, landlords care primarily about being paid for their units. Just make sure you're a good tennant and keep in contact when the lease is up for renewal and you probably won't have much to worry about.

      • (Score: 2) by jmoschner on Wednesday August 24 2016, @12:44AM

        by jmoschner (3296) on Wednesday August 24 2016, @12:44AM (#392388)

        Most Landlords don't care about anything but collecting their rent check. If there is damage, they will bill the occupants or take it out of their deposit. If there is noise, they don't care. Most just want their money can could care less about the people living there as there are always people looking for a new place to live.

        Place that take Section 8 are usually the worst. They know they are getting a steady paycheck from those tenants (thanks to the government) and jack up the price for everyone else to maintain that check. The Section 8 residents can do just about anything short of burning the place down and the landlords don't care.