Re: 鈥淒on鈥檛 tell landlords how to do business,鈥� letter, Dec. 15.
If you buy property with the express intent to make as much rental income as the market will bear, then you should also consider that the tenants who occupy that residence use it as their primary source of shelter. While Adam Smith might have believed that an invisible hand would guide the market based upon the balance of supply and demand, John Maynard Keynes knew that government policies were essential to stabilize the economy.
The federal, provincial and municipal governments are doing the right thing by taking action to combat the housing-affordability crisis. When we have tent cities up and down this Island, it is beyond time to do something drastic to ensure that people are adequately housed. Perhaps that means that there has to be rent control, crackdowns on slumlords and teeth in the Residential Tenancy Act.
The proceeds-of-crime legislation allows for seizure of homes that are used in the commission of a crime. If landlords are illegally evicting people, make it a criminal offence.
The risk of losing your investment property if you violate other people鈥檚 security of the person, by forcing them to sleep on the streets, in order that you can double, triple or quadruple the rent, would be quite the deterrent.
Why stop there? Expand the Criminal Code of sa国际传媒 to include crimes against tenants.
A few landlords in jail ought to help set a moral standard. One that is clearly lacking currently.
Riga Godron
Victoria
