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from the this-is-the-most-2020-thing-of-2020-yet dept.
Gig Economy Company Launches Uber, But for Evicting People:
"SINCE COVID-19 MANY AMERICANS FELL BEHIND IN ALL ASPECTS," reads the website copy. The button below this statement is not for a GoFundMe, or a petition for calling for rent relief. Instead, it is the following call to action, from a company called Civvl: "Be hired as eviction crew."
During a time of great economic and general hardship, Civvl aims to be, essentially, Uber, but for evicting people. Seizing on a pandemic-driven nosedive in employment and huge uptick in number-of-people-who-can't-pay-their-rent, Civvl aims to make it easy for landlords to hire process servers and eviction agents as gig workers.
Helena Duncan, a Chicago-based paralegal who also participates in housing activism, saw a Craigslist post from Civvl while searching for jobs. The ad alarmed her.
"It's fucked up that there will be struggling working-class people who will be drawn to gigs like furniture-hauling or process-serving for a company like Civvl, evicting fellow working-class people from their homes so they themselves can make rent," she told Motherboard.
[...] At the time of writing, Civvl and OnQall did not return requests for comment, but did appear to block the author's IP address from visiting OnQall.com.
There is a federal ban on evictions, declared by the CDC, but landlords are still attempting to press on. There is a penalty for violating the ban, which can include a combination of fines and jail time. Civvl did not respond to a question about how the company ensures evictions are legal, though based on the Terms of Service, it appears to pass all risk onto the companies using its platform, stating that it simply "provides lead generation to independent contractors," and does not actually carry out the work itself.
(Score: 2) by loonycyborg on Tuesday September 29 2020, @05:04PM (7 children)
Rents gonna collapse since otherwise only CEOs will be able to afford them and drive for remote work will make current "hot" overpriced properties less desirable.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday September 29 2020, @05:06PM
Starlink vs. Landlords
(Score: 2) by Tork on Tuesday September 29 2020, @05:21PM (2 children)
🏳️🌈 Proud Ally 🏳️🌈
(Score: 2) by RS3 on Tuesday September 29 2020, @09:55PM (1 child)
This is a great idea. We need a "yelp" just for landlords and their history. Trouble is, people will still rent from those landlords because they can't afford anything else, and as the rent goes down, so will the landlord's attitude and treatment of tenants. But it's still a great idea that should help.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday September 30 2020, @08:01PM
Doesn't really help when apartments in most areas are owned by one or two large corporations, and none of them will rent to you if you "owe" another one.
(Score: 2) by fakefuck39 on Tuesday September 29 2020, @08:10PM (2 children)
rent prices are decided by supply and demand. rent for things like student housing and cheap places millennial roommates shared are gone when people move back in with parents. those are not "hot" overpriced properties. The rest of us, successful professional adults, renting high-priced properties, are not moving back in with parents. Demand for those is not going down, since for it to go down, there would need to be less people. The age group for these "hot" properties is not effected by covid, so the count of people is the same.
what happens here is the demand for dirt-cheap apartments has gone down. places where landlords are making almost no money. they lose rent, sell at a loss or get foreclosed on, and you now removed that apartment from the rental supply. increasing the price of the remaining apartments to previous levels - no change in prices, just more vacant homes.
the joke is indeed on the landlords - the ones barely scraping buy - they lost their life savings, which were put into 2-3 condos or a single 3-story house. no rent going down though.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by Tork on Tuesday September 29 2020, @10:32PM (1 child)
I'd just like to mention a complication here: I, as well as a number of my coworkers and colleagues. are pretty much in the boat you've described, living in close-to-work in high priced 'hot' properties. Now that we're doing work-from-home we're starting to look into moving into places where the rent has gone down. There's a strong correlation between rent prices and proximity to work where I live, and we no longer have to worry about that so we can upgrade our living standards while lowering our rent. I'm not attempting to refute your point, just pointing out that your language is a bit strong. The complex I live in is unlikely to shut down over it but they are hurting... at least to hear them tell it.
🏳️🌈 Proud Ally 🏳️🌈
(Score: 3, Insightful) by fakefuck39 on Wednesday September 30 2020, @08:26PM
I don't see anyone doing that. Working remote is a temporary thing, and everyone realizes it will be over next year. By the time your current lease is over, and before your next year of lease on a cheaper apartment is over, you're back in the office already. In fact, many companies are resuming partial onsite work - as in come in a day a week on a rotation, to minimize the number of people in the office.