Question

On page 12 of Evicted, Sherrena is described as sharing "something with other landlords: an unbending confidence that she could make it on her own without a school or a company to fall back on, without a contract or a pension or a union." What systems do you think are in place in the United States that might affect the success or failure of landlords, no matter how hard they work to "make it?

Answer 1

Department of Neighborhood Services, is one of the systems that negatively affect successes of the landlords the most. In the reading, DNS shut down one of Sherrena’s units because the tenant stole electricity. Sherrena also had a hard time with the building inspectors from DNS who can charge her huge fees for code violation. Since most of the buildings Sherrena owned are in very poor conditions, tenants always use calling the building inspectors as one way to act against eviction. However, landlords also cannot afford to refurnish their units when they cannot get their rents back from tenants. Another system that might have impact on landlords would be social service agency. After evicting Arleen due to late payment and her mother’s call to the building inspector, Sherrena received the phone call from the social service agency that again asked her to accommodate Arleen.