Interesting.
Do YOU support the current system that has decided it is the landlords who are to "wander off and die"?
Why was it set up that way to begin with?
Lets screw over the landlords because there are far less landlords than there are renters....right?
NO, I am not a landlord.
So there goes that theory....
That's been the response for every other class of investor.
I know I certainly didn't get offered any sort of bailout when my investments tanked last year. Neither did the people going into retirement who wouldn't be able to wait a few years for their portfolio to come back.
Why do landlords deserve this special treatment?
Or it might be they understand that an empty property is better than one obtaining wear and tear with no income at all...
One wonders where this "landlords have to be rich" attitude comes from...
What is YOUR proposed solution?
Landlords definitely don't have to be rich.
There are a shocking number of people who have overextended themselves with mortgages on investment properties. They've put themselves in a situation where they can't handle the carrying costs of their investment without tenants who are willing to pay the rent they need.
These people failed to heed the advice that every investor worth his salt takes to heart: leveraging with borrowed money greatly amplifies your risk.
These people might not have had enough ready cash to buy a house, but if they had enough for a down payment, then they had enough to buy a decent amount of mutual funds or - if they just had to be in real estate - shares in a REIT. They looked at their likely return from those options (or at least they ought to have), decided it wasn't high enough, and decided to roll the dice, overleverage themselves, and hope the gamble would pay off.
These people took on extra risk with the hope of extra return, so, well, they took on extra risk. They gambled and lost. I see no particular need to bail these people out.
The landlords I do have sympathy for are the widows, widowers, single parents, etc. who are renting out their basement or whatnot so that they can afford to stay in their family home and the neighbourhood they raised their kids in... but these people are covered by homeowner protections that help people who live in the property, so they don't need special protections for landlords.