I sold all my stocks and bonds today.

[BaronHK]

You, the reader, should do more than the government minimum, like having a few hundred thou in an IRA/ 401k. It's like the parable of the bear chasing the hikers-- don't be the slowest hiker. Macroeconomics. There will always be a gaggle of poor people who get hit the hardest. Be above them and you can out-compete for beds in nursing homes, home health care, senior apartments (but you should try like heck to own your own place), etc. There are waiting lists for all that stuff, and their lengths vary depending on the social services available in your state.

I was putting money in my 401k when I was making ten bucks an hour and patching my cars together with soup It was during the late 90s Asian financial crisis. It worked out for me, and then some.

Yes, I drove my mom's Impala for a few years, and that thing was being held together largely by hopes and dreams when I got it. I just repaired it and gave it back eventually. It's got over 400,000 miles on it and she's still driving it. It didn't take me long after my breakup with my ex to push forward again.

The definition of what a "senior apartment" is, is expanding quickly.

It doesn't necessarily mean subsidized rent, it can just mean that the landlords don't want a bunch of young people causing problems.

Around these parts, some are starting to openly list that you can't even rent an apartment if you're not 45. They figure almost nobody who will be a huge problem lives that long.

I've thought about applying for one (40) and suing them when they turn me down. The Illinois Human Rights Commission says that it's illegal to discriminate against someone over "age" if they're over 40. So I'm going to wait for my spouse to turn 40 and then we'll both apply.

I've represented myself pro se in various contexts and won before.

A lot of people here rent. The property taxes alone on a house cost more than rent does. Nevermind the mortgage and all that.

When you see a house hit the market here it's almost always a fixer upper that fell apart around the last guy who couldn't pay for it and keep it up. Then someone gets it as a distressed property and converts it into a rental.

Red hot rental market.

I do like where we're at though. I necessarily have to make some noise because of audio work and the structure does lend itself to soundproofing.

 

[BaronHK]

I don’t consider my home part of my net worth….. but that’s just me.

Right, because if you sell it you still have to live somewhere, so you can sell it then you have to pay for something else.

Meanwhile, it's sitting there as an insurance policy that says anyone who sues you may own that house.

Someone waited almost twenty years to sue my mom's third ex-husband, the lawsuit's been going for over a year. He'll be in contempt and get a default ruling against him if he doesn't show up next week.

He owns his house, they can move to take it. If he files bankruptcy, the Trustee will hand him a $15,000 check for the house, throw him out of a $150,000 house, and sell the house.

He finally managed to pay something off for once in his life only to maybe lose it immediately and have nowhere to live in his 60s.

I don't know, I'm not a lawyer. But the thing he got sued over was a mortgage from 2006 that they say he made no payments on, that he got with his ex-girlfriend. They must have tolled the statute somehow.

They admit they foreclosed on it and sold it again, but they say with interest he owes them over $50,000. They're not his only creditor with outstanding civil judgments.

 

[Dave Hess]

Curious... Why not? Your equity is an asset, right?
Owner's Equity = Assets - Liabilities.

I consider my home a huge asset for 2 reasons:

1. I never wanna be homeless again. Period.
2. Appreciation is beyone my wildest dreams. I bought the worst house in a great neighborhood. And everything's done; it needs nothing. I even charge my car with the sun via solar panels. And my electric bill is peanuts.

If things got bad, I could rent a room or let others crash here. An amazing asset for sure.
My mantra is, if you aren't paying your mortgage you are probably paying someone else's...

I understand your point of view.

Our paid off home is just a place of shelter, the kids will consider it of value when we pass away and they inherit it.

 

[JeffKeryk]

Right, because if you sell it you still have to live somewhere, so you can sell it then you have to pay for something else.

That assumes only 1 property. Contingency planning is an important part of a good strategy.
In CA we are known for our earthquakes. Plan ahead.

 

[JeffKeryk]

I understand your point of view.

Our paid off home is just a place of shelter, the kids will consider it of value when we pass away and they inherit it.

And you have done a great job of preparing for them after you are gone. Outstanding.
I have found doing something, like helping someone get an education or buy a home, is a path to happiness.

Having said that, your home is still part of your portfolio because it is an asset. Your children will inherit your million$ in your stocks, bonds and other investments as well, right?

 

[Dave Hess]

And you have done a great job of preparing for them after you are gone. Outstanding.
I have found doing something, like helping someone get an education or buy a home, is a path to happiness.

Having said that, your home is still part of your portfolio because it is an asset. Your children will inherit your million$ in your stocks, bonds and other investments as well, right?

Yes, they get everything split 4 ways.

I can’t take a penny to the grave.

Luckily they are mature, responsible adults with careers not lazy unemployed bums that will squander the money.

 

[Cropduster172]

Yes, I drove my mom's Impala for a few years, and that thing was being held together largely by hopes and dreams when I got it. I just repaired it and gave it back eventually. It's got over 400,000 miles on it and she's still driving it. It didn't take me long after my breakup with my ex to push forward again.

The definition of what a "senior apartment" is, is expanding quickly.

It doesn't necessarily mean subsidized rent, it can just mean that the landlords don't want a bunch of young people causing problems.

Around these parts, some are starting to openly list that you can't even rent an apartment if you're not 45. They figure almost nobody who will be a huge problem lives that long.

I've thought about applying for one (40) and suing them when they turn me down. The Illinois Human Rights Commission says that it's illegal to discriminate against someone over "age" if they're over 40. So I'm going to wait for my spouse to turn 40 and then we'll both apply.

I've represented myself pro se in various contexts and won before.

A lot of people here rent. The property taxes alone on a house cost more than rent does. Nevermind the mortgage and all that.

When you see a house hit the market here it's almost always a fixer upper that fell apart around the last guy who couldn't pay for it and keep it up. Then someone gets it as a distressed property and converts it into a rental.

Red hot rental market.

I do like where we're at though. I necessarily have to make some noise because of audio work and the structure does lend itself to soundproofing.

Bless your heart...wingnut.

 

[BaronHK]

Bless your heart...wingnut.

I've never ever lost a case in any legal context. I've even gotten a law in Indiana struck down (they didn't take me seriously and the representative of the State was made a fool under cross examination) and won a major settlement in an antitrust lawsuit I filed against Lenovo.

Some people said just hook up an external flasher to it and overwrite the chip. Instead I sued them and made them fix it for everyone and agree not to do it again. The settlement is on file with the State government in Illinois.

After the settlement, Intel released driver code that they had been refusing to hand over for over TWO YEARS claiming that it was never going to be released outside of the company. This driver code allows systems that do not have that UEFI setting exposed to the user to work.

I think I could handle some idiotic landlord who is posting an illegal apartment ad. (I hate to use that word, but idiotic is the only way I can describe knowingly and willfully breaking the law on a public facing housing ad.)

 

[SC Maintenance]

I've thought about applying for one (40) and suing them when they turn me down. The Illinois Human Rights Commission says that it's illegal to discriminate against someone over "age" if they're over 40. So I'm going to wait for my spouse to turn 40 and then we'll both apply.

They will likely rent to you if you meet all there requirements and have good rental history. Wife and I lived in a "senior" apartment complex in our mid 20's. Long story short, it had been a regular complex and was under renovation and we showed up to take a tour. The agent said "were turning this into senior complex". We said, oh sorry for the misunderstanding, and turned to leave. He said - you have kids? At the time - no. So he said we can rent to you - you have to agree to all our rules (quiet hours, no loud anytime, etc etc). Also need perfect credit and rental references. Location was perfect so we did. We stayed a year and moved for other reasons. No issues.

If they turn you down I am sure they will have there reasons lined up. I am sure this isn't there first rodeo.

 

[BaronHK]

They will likely rent to you if you meet all there requirements and have good rental history. Wife and I lived in a "senior" apartment complex in our mid 20's. Long story short, it had been a regular complex and was under renovation and we showed up to take a tour. The agent said "were turning this into senior complex". We said, oh sorry for the misunderstanding, and turned to leave. He said - you have kids? At the time - no. So he said we can rent to you - you have to agree to all our rules (quiet hours, no loud anytime, etc etc). Also need perfect credit and rental references. Location was perfect so we did. We stayed a year and moved for other reasons. No issues.

If they turn you down I am sure they will have there reasons lined up. I am sure this isn't there first rodeo.

Simply putting up that ad is evidence against them. I don't even have to apply there, honestly. But it would help the case.

Maybe you heard of the case where the owner of a downstate bed and breakfast nearly lost his entire business and ended up paying a gay couple over $100,000 for refusing to host their wedding reception after advertising that they hosted wedding receptions to the general public.

The original ruling only required them to pay $81,000, but they stonewalled it for a few years and statutory interest piled up and they ended up cutting them a check (in 2020 iirc) the day before the business was set to be seized and handed over.

They may not have won, except instead of just declining the business, the owner started harassing the Plaintiffs over GMail.

The owner racked up most of the statutory interest appealing it to SCOTUS, which refused to hear it.

But just posting a discriminatory housing ad is enough to run afoul of the law and be sued. If you want to run a dirty business, don't "say the quiet part out loud".

Maybe the landlord I saw the listing (45 and over) would rent to me, I don't know. I certainly don't have a criminal record (unless you count a dismissed case for allegedly running a red light 3 years ago), and my credit score is great, and I've never been evicted from anywhere. But I am saying, I am not surprised that people in the landlording business don't care what the law says and violate it so openly.

I believe in walking softly and carrying a big stick. So first of course I would apply and ask nicely. And then if they say no, the ad becomes "an issue", and you don't tell them you'll do it. They'll find out about it when they're given the papers.

I didn't just sue Lenovo. First I asked nicely. Then I went to the media, which reported on it in a completely unfair and biased way that echoed Lenovo's lies and propaganda. Then when I saw what was going on, I sued.

I mean, I'd tried everything including bypassing the setup program with EFI shell. The command worked, but the firmware reset it when you rebooted.

This is Illinois. There are laws here. Indiana is over there. Thanks for playing.

I like Illinois better. Whenever I've had to resort to contacting the AG or suing someone for doing something horrible here, stuff got done. In Indiana, the AG's office never responds to anything.

When my proposed remedy if Lenovo didn't fix the computer they sold was recalling all of them sold in Illinois and paying a full refund, they didn't like that. They got ahold of their BIOS distributor and tweaked it back.

 

[BaronHK]

Speaking of landlords, I realize that's an investment, but watching many of them I wonder how some of them make any money at all.

The one we rent from is being sued. Nothing much happened two days ago except they set it for trial in December, and the both parties appear to be girded for war. A settlement seems likely to me and this is probably just posturing. But if this guy costs him hundreds of thousands of dollars, on a business that's not going terribly well for him anyway (lots of problems with his buildings, high tenant turnover, lots of evictions where they haven't paid rent in months totaling about a third of his tenants a year to evictions) I don't see his "investment" going terribly well.

When someone says "multiple properties", they've usually gotten into landlording. My cousin tried it, the renters tore everything up and then she ended up having to evict with unpaid rent and move back in and gut the house. They never paid. My friend in the UK had the same thing happen at one of his properties.

 

[SC Maintenance]

Simply putting up that ad is evidence against them. I don't even have to apply there, honestly. But it would help the case.

TLDR.

You have to actually have been harmed. If you never apply my guess is the judge will dismiss immediately. I imagine the owners of a multi million dollar property have had their lawyers all over it already. But good luck I guess.

 

[BaronHK]

TLDR.

You have to actually have been harmed. If you never apply my guess is the judge will dismiss immediately. I imagine the owners of a multi million dollar property have had their lawyers all over it already. But good luck I guess.

You don't have to sue them in a typical court. You can sue them at the Illinois Human Rights Commission based on any of the protected attributes and in any covered area specifically 775 ILCS 5/3-102 which states that simply publishing the listing in such a way that would cause a violation based upon the protected attributes violates my rights under the Illinois Human Rights Act.

Since Age (over 40) is a protected attribute and they have listed an apartment that says you have to be 45 years old, and it is not part of a program intended by the government to help the elderly with affordable housing which would be exempt from the IHRA, then I would have standing to sue right now if I wanted to. It's not a legal defense that I never attempted to conduct business with them if they violated the law in this manner.

The damages awarded by the IHRC can be every bit as serious as those issued in a ruling by a circuit court, but the process is more streamlined.

 

[SC Maintenance]

It's not a legal defense that I never attempted to conduct business with them if they violated the law in this manner.

Your mixing civil and criminal. In any civil case you must show harm to get money.

The state can take them to court for violating the law if they so wish. Since they have not my guess is its a no go.

But like I said, good luck. Let us know how it turns out.

 

[BaronHK]

Your mixing civil and criminal. In any civil case you must show harm to get money.

The state can take them to court for violating the law if they so wish. Since they have not my guess is its a no go.

But like I said, good luck. Let us know how it turns out.

You don't have to show actual damages to get money for punitive damages in an IHRA case. The gay couple that won $100,000 from the bed and breakfast just went somewhere else right away and had their wedding reception, but the person who told them he wouldn't host it still ended up paying them because putting up a listing and admitting you would break the law is sufficient to carry penalties which go to the person who is suing you.

That's why as a business owner you need to be aware of what you're putting in advertisements for public accommodation and housing.

There are people who sue hotels they never intended to stay at because their website shows that they're not handicap accessible or they fail to provide enough information about whether they are. The Americans with Disabilities Act doesn't require them to stay at the hotel or intend to. Punitive damages are intended to punish the wrongdoer and deter future misconduct.

The only thing the B&B guy did by stalling and appealing for five years and complaining that it was so unfair that there are laws was to make the damages $20,000 more due to statutory interest that vastly outpaced inflation during those years and pay more legal bills on both sides.

I love compounding interest because I'm on the right side of that. Investing. I don't care much why they're borrowing my money as long as I get a good return rate and they're reliable about paying it back.

I suppose it is true that those who understand compounding interest earn it, and those who don't, pay it.

 

[gfh77665]

One can access the equity in their home. Sell it, or obtain a reverse mortgage or HELOC. If equity is accessible, then I believe ones home is a part of their net worth. Everyone can view it differently but thats how I see it.

Disclaimer, I am not suggesting anyone do any of the above, just voicing possibilities.

 

[JeffKeryk]

One can access the equity in their home. Sell it, or obtain a reverse mortgage or HELOC. If equity is accessible, then I believe ones home is a part of their net worth. Everyone can view it differently but thats how I see it.

Disclaimer, I am not suggesting anyone do any of the above, just voicing possibilities.

You can also live in it. Beats the snot outta the streets, lemme tell ya.

 

[Dave Hess]

Speaking of landlords, I realize that's an investment, but watching many of them I wonder how some of them make any money at all.

The one we rent from is being sued. Nothing much happened two days ago except they set it for trial in December, and the both parties appear to be girded for war. A settlement seems likely to me and this is probably just posturing. But if this guy costs him hundreds of thousands of dollars, on a business that's not going terribly well for him anyway (lots of problems with his buildings, high tenant turnover, lots of evictions where they haven't paid rent in months totaling about a third of his tenants a year to evictions) I don't see his "investment" going terribly well.

When someone says "multiple properties", they've usually gotten into landlording. My cousin tried it, the renters tore everything up and then she ended up having to evict with unpaid rent and move back in and gut the house. They never paid. My friend in the UK had the same thing happen at one of his properties.

Yep, some lost lots of money landlording….. especially the younger folks on social media bragging about how many ‘doors’ they have and Cap Rates.

Now these idiots are desperately trying to dump their properties.

 

[BaronHK]

Yep, some lost lots of money landlording….. especially the younger folks on social media bragging about how many ‘doors’ they have and Cap Rates.

Now these idiots are desperately trying to dump their properties.

He's got it structured under some LLCs. He bought this building without a proper inspection. He paid over 300% more than it's worth. As soon as he started raising rent, he destabilized the tenancies and started losing more money to eviction court, unpaid rent, and listing vacant units than he raised with the rent.

When he did the walk through of my unit, his only question to the last owner was "Does that air conditioner work?" The last owner said, "Oh yeah, I haven't had to replace an air conditioner in years." He was replacing them all the time. The next year, mine failed and this new guy had to pay to install another one. The plumbing goes out or clogs, people put things down pipes that don't need to be going down pipes.

But that's his problem I guess. My mom, who had experience with home "ownership" (never paid the mortgages off, lost them, and dumped her retirement account into increasing resale value for the bank that foreclosed on them) said "If you owned a home you'd be fixing something constantly."

If I was going to invest in real estate, specifically rentals, I'd probably go with one of those real estate funds that diversifies it across apartments and renters who have good jobs and stable credit scores. It would be very hands off, diversified, and most importantly if one of them sued over something I personally would not have to lawyer up and deal with this mess myself and potentially lose my buildings.

They're not dealing with these people my landlord does who tear things up and get the "Gang Police" out there, or the narcotics/vice unit. I mean, they're classier. My ex worked property management with these types of people, many are kind of clueless considering the amount of income they're pulling down, but they pay their bills.

With tens of thousands of units across many buildings in various cities across the country, the odds of losing everything go down dramatically.

 

[tedsweet]

so now its earaning nothing?