Child Protection Services can get all up in your business if you have kids. Just strictly from a business standpoint, kids are a liability to landlords, and they actually provoke evictions.

Just strictly from a business standpoint, kids are a liability to landlords, and they actually provoke evictions.

The profits were staggering. In 1966, a Chicago landlord told a court that on a single property he had made $42,500 in rent but paid only $2,400 in maintenance. When accused of making excessive profits, the landlord simply replied, “That’s why I bought the building.

Hundreds of data-mining companies sell landlords tenant-screening reports that list past evictions and court filings.

Eviction comes with a record. Just like a criminal record can hurt you in the jobs market, eviction can hurt you in the housing market. A lot of landlords turn folks away who have an eviction, and a lot of public housing authorities do the same.

I don't think we can fix poverty without fixing housing, and I don't think we can address housing without understanding landlords.