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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 Azuma Hazuki on Wednesday September 30 2020, @02:40AM (2 children)
The Invisible Hand of the Free Market (TM) is flipping you the digitus impudicus. You chose to try and make money on rent instead of productive work, now take your lumps like a man. How dare you blaspheme against your God, the Free Market! Sad! Loser! Low-energy! =P
I am "that girl" your mother warned you about...
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday September 30 2020, @03:44AM
The invisible hand of the free market™ is making me postpone my plans to expand the available housing market for renters by competing with others. Increased supply would have been good for renters. Instead, I'll allocate my investment assets to those the government is currently smiling upon. Likely, those don't benefit people looking for affordable housing.
(Score: 2) by fakefuck39 on Thursday October 01 2020, @05:16AM
umm, how about no. i'll take my lumps like a man, but i certainly won't take your lumps just because you aren't a man. i got no issue of not having a rented out property. i'm in no way obligated to house you when you have issues. you're free to die on the street for all I care -not my problem.
now, that doesn't mean you should be left to die on the street via gov programs funded by our taxes. it just means I, personally, am not here to support you, personally. if my car breaks down and i need to getnto work, i don't have the right to steal your car that you're not using that day.it's up to society as a whole to help. and it does. if you can't pay rent because you got fired, unemployment was $5k/month, then 4k/month, and now will start at 2.5k/month. that is plenty for food and a cheap place to live. and no, when you're unemployed, you're not entitled to live in an expensive city area or a nice place. fucking move. da fuck out of my house. bitch.