388300+ entries in 0.32s
mircea_popescu: you mean, like it is "obvious"
that
the rental agency suycks ?
HeySteve: and it's public, so if I
take bribes pretty soon it'll become obvious
mircea_popescu: leaving aside
the failures of "evidence based" in "process", be it political, juridical or otherwise
HeySteve: well, say landlord claims "but you broke lightbulb so I'm keeping it all."
there's a process based on evidence.
mircea_popescu: and you promise. for all he knows you
throw dimes
to figure out who
to side with.
mircea_popescu: but
the
tenant still only gets his deposit back maybe.
HeySteve: well no,
tenant and landlord are 2 parties. if both sides keep
to contract, my only role is
telling
them how
to set it up
mircea_popescu: the outcome is
that he gets his deposit back SOMETIMES. so maybe.
HeySteve: but I wouldn't recommend it as a carry
trade destination
pete_dushenski: mircea_popescu: aww, ethereum only down 1%
today ? << sun's barely up.
mircea_popescu: in fact, your idea sounds
to alf like it was invented by
the landlords in question, because
the mere presence of
this bad (horrible!) option on
the
table makes
the miserable first more palatable
than it would be on its own.
mircea_popescu: so let me get
this straight, you want
to give people
too poor
to litigate,
too stupid / desocialized
to
talk
to
the landlord and
too scared
to act
the option "you can either pay 100
to
the landlord as deposit or 300
to me and unlike
the landlord I PROMISE
to give it back (maybe), except im not anywhere near you and you can't burn my house down" ?
☟︎ pete_dushenski: just cuz
they legalised weed doesn't mean anyone wants
to live
there
HeySteve: pretty brutal but
that's what I found when looking at renting
that side
HeySteve: pete_dushenski, apparently
that's
the standard garantia in uruguay
HeySteve:
http://log.bitcoin-assets.com/?date=18-10-2015#1301624 <<
there's nothing outside
the paper rental contract at
the end of
the day. but i guess i'm still about foggy about what 'this' is < haven't reached clarity yet myself but
this discussion is helping a lot. basically a multiple of
the rental deposit normally paid
to
the landlord gets escrowed in cryptocurrency.
☝︎ pete_dushenski: HeySteve: as high as 6x <<
that's. bananas. and not
the kind for practising deepthroats either.
gribble: Bitfinex BTCUSD
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shinohai: When I find
them in my
travels, I will generally buy
them whether one or
ten. I bought
these cases from a store
that went out of biz.
HeySteve: yeah warm white bulbs look a lot better
than cool blue, or however
they call
them
pete_dushenski: i set my screens at 5`500k in
the daytime and dial it back
to 4`100k before bed
to wind me down
shinohai: I suppose when my supply runs out I will have
to learn
to blow glass and make my own.
HeySteve: heard about
the SAD lamps but screen settings?
mircea_popescu: yeah. evne if you don't have a crt, 6300k is better
than 9
mircea_popescu: anyway, as a
take-away : if you're depressed, before you
try seroquel or whatever,
try changing your lightbulbs.
shinohai: I like
them for reading, I mainly use
them in my library/lab
mircea_popescu: but at home, ima have
the warm
tones of old style filament,
tyvm.
mircea_popescu: i have no problem flood-lighting industrial spaces in sodium lamps, or blowing
the shit out of consumable beauties in
the studio with halogen projectors.
shinohai: I am glad
that someone still likes incandescent bulbs. I have an entire case of GE 60 and 100 watts in my basement.
mircea_popescu: haha no, actual light bulb (proper incandescents, not
the bullshit halogens emplaced in an incandescent ampoule) is still produced, and still sold.
HeySteve: what was
the story
there, random find or
they actually made
them for you?
HeySteve: ah right, sure
those are more but even if
they're upgrading
them it's still over-priced and outside contract
mircea_popescu: they're often in rental units because hey, "energy efficiency". i have
to
take
them out every
time.
mircea_popescu: no but i mean
the "energy efficient" mercury dispensers.
HeySteve: well maybe for marijuana growers but I mean just regular 60W bulbs, shouldn't be more
than $5 here
HeySteve: about competitors advertising deposit fairness, hope
they will use
this system I propose
to enforce it.
HeySteve: they inflate
the repair and cleaning expenses at least 5x from
the bills I've seen
mircea_popescu: well, if you don't know where it goes maybe it's legitimate ? maybe
they actually spend ~1.1k after each
tenant leaves, on average.
mircea_popescu: this is not in any sense related
to
the concept of bezzle.
mircea_popescu: a slush fund is money a government body, such as an embassy, secret service, captured "business" runs
to bribe people with.
HeySteve: I don't know where
the money goes but
they are raking in all
these deposits
HeySteve: lol
there's plenty of
those here, could
tell some stories. but in
this case of
this agency who are more high end market, it's
the expense of running a slush fund
mircea_popescu: if
they have expenses,
the only reason can possibly be insanely shitty
tenants,
mircea_popescu: what's a property manager spend money on anyway ?!
they're all cash flow positive,
that's
the point.
mircea_popescu: specifically :
there exist
two classes of solutions and
they both come from stakeholders in
the problem.
mircea_popescu: anyway. if
there's actually a problem agency you got
there,
the solution is either for
the
tenants
to start an association/class action suit if you have
them/whatever is
the equivalent in
the jurisdiction ; or else for a competitor
to start advertising deposit fairness.
HeySteve: well, what happens in practice is
the agency spends
those funds and claims
the rate is
that low
to disguise
the fact
mircea_popescu: so you're saying a
tenant
taking a property with a market value of 120k for a year at
the usual ~10% ie 1k a month is being gypped for
the fabulous sum of 60 bux ?
this can't quite be right can it ?
mircea_popescu: not really. you're offering
them
the opportunity
to push up your venture for free on
their own influence/dime. which
they won't
take - if
they were
the sort of derp
to fall for
that
they'd be on reddit complaining about how
they have no money and
the landlord's scamming
them.
HeySteve: competing for rich
tenants, well I offer
them
the guaranteed return of
their deposit without
the hassle of litigation. courts may be effective in some cases but
there's always legal risk and
time costs involved.
HeySteve: <+mircea_popescu> no landlord makes a
tidy living off scaming
tenants. <- perhaps I should say, "make frequent bonuses."
there's a rental agency infamous for it in SA and also a few private owners I could mention. it's also very common for
them
to not keep
the deposit in an interest-bearing account by law or
to skim
the interest. from
that same rental agency,
tenants apparently get back
mircea_popescu: none of
this will ever work in any sense, but if you play it right and get lucky might get you dinner with obama, which... i hear
the food sucks and
the
table manners are worse, but
then again
they're not inviting me so it's all good.
mircea_popescu: anyway, not for me
to change your mind. let me only suggest
that once you get
this business off
the ground
there's a ready avenue
to expand : you could do
the same for paycheck loans.
mircea_popescu: (and
they can do A LOT of damage with
that, many jurisdiction have
the notion of problem landlord in some manner, and you can often get
treble damages, heck in one case a guy i know got
the landlord kicked out of
town. as in, had
to sell ALL his property and not buy
there again, ever.)
mircea_popescu: seems dubious landlords compete for passive-agressive
tenants with no options.
they do compete for rich
tenants, but you don't have a value proposition for
those guys.
mircea_popescu: this is like saying
the mcdonalds makes a
tidy living off giving out wrong change.
☟︎ HeySteve: also, landlords do compete for smart
tenants with options, as as per pete's point 1. so here is an aspect other
than lowering prices which owners can use
to attract good
tenants (who can appreciate
the benefits of "no" custodial risk).
HeySteve: mircea_popescu, I understand your point. my gf agrees with you. I can make
this better for property holders if
tenants pay a double (or even
triple) deposit, or perhaps I must
think on further improvements.
those making a
tidy living off scamming
tenants will of course never go for it, but a good-faith landlord might appreciate having more insurance against property damage / non-payment.
mircea_popescu: and
the dispute isn't whether "You have
them" or not,
the dispute is whether you are one. because
that's fundamentally what you're
trying
to do here, redistribute resources "for fairness" is how
the government calls it, but you're neither a government nor have
the option
to be come one. at
the level where you go into business,
the
thing is not a government but a gang.
mircea_popescu: HeySteve
the point is
there's a big demand for such a service << yes, but
the demand is from people who aren't willing
to
take any steps
to enforce it. and it's for you
to magically oppress property holders on
their behalf.
this isn't how property works,
the fact
that
the landlords hold
that property "free and clear" specifically means
that
they are immune from a guy named heysteve and his plans for
the future.
this is
assbot: Logged on 02-08-2015 00:05:56; mircea_popescu: blocker's in past
tense now ?
assbot: Logged on 16-10-2015 13:23:33; mircea_popescu:
http://log.bitcoin-assets.com/?date=16-10-2015#1300279 << so a) you'll spend your life driving between bickering nuts.
this is a worse deal
than what psychs get, at least
there you gotta drive
to his office. ; b)
the blockchain and everything else is entirely superfluous here. your entire idea is "hey, make me
the mp of renting in south africa". maybe
they will or maybe
they won't but you really don'
assbot: Logged on 16-10-2015 13:21:44; mircea_popescu:
this "o noes we are opressed"
talk is
the stock in
trade of
the worthless class. for good reason.
assbot: Logged on 16-10-2015 13:19:58; mircea_popescu: and if he doesn't, well,
twice
the deposit worth of damage + whatever it costs him
to break in should be just about fair.
HeySteve:
http://log.bitcoin-assets.com/?date=16-10-2015#1300458 < it's
true
that
tenants can
threaten
to withhold keys and/or
trash
the place but if
this was common practice
then
this
type of deposit fraud wouldn't be such a widespread problem. what many
tenants do is refuse
to pay
the last month's rent but
this is only viable if
the deposit is set at 1x month's rent. many places it's at 2x or
☝︎ mircea_popescu: sure, it can be good, but it leaves you with some
things you don't know what
to do with
mircea_popescu: once you buy into
the
theory
that "the state isn't
the CAUSE of criminality but
the protection from it", you'll necessarily swallow
the "science is
the path
to knowledge" string all
the way into "paradigm good".
mircea_popescu: but
the point stands.
the only
thing you can definitely say about a paradigm (kuhn sense) is
that it has nothing
to do with reality.
the one
thing people involved WISH
to say is
that it is
the only basis upon which science can be produced. which happens
to be
true.