Hi, this is @zachariahwells. I’m based in Halifax, where I wear a number of different hats: husband, father, writer, editor, passenger train attendant, labour rights activist, landlord. 1/11

Balancing my disparate roles isn’t easy, but it’s the last two—labour activist and landlord—that generate the most cognitive dissonance. The former is socialist/left, the latter is capitalist/right. One opposes exploitation, the other exploits. Right? 2/11

Except, it was employment precarity and income insecurity that first made my wife and me landlords in 2004. We couldn’t readily afford a house unless it had a secondary unit. In 2013, we bought another duplex when my job went pear-shaped. 3/11

In 2017, both of us had better work situations and we moved from a house we could afford to live in, to a house we would LOVE to live in. It also had a secondary apartment, so we found ourselves owners of six homes. 4/11

The #COVID19 pandemic and the economic chaos it has sown has given landlords an opportunity to demonstrate humanity towards and solidarity with their tenants. A few have. More have chosen to double down on their already parasitic behaviour. 5/11

Some landlords are in legitimate financial peril if they lose income. But they shouldn’t be. #IMHO they gambled and over-leveraged themselves to the point that their operations have no risk tolerance. Others are simply exaggerating. 6/11

My wife and I are far from uber-rich land barons. We owe more than we own, and the combined value of our properties is less than a Vancouver townhouse. But still, if none of our tenants were able to pay rent for one to three months, we would be alright. 7/11

Our debts would take longer to pay down, but we wouldn’t lose anything. So there was no question of pressuring our tenants—four of whom work in healthcare—if they were in a squeeze. We have a legal right to collect rent, but we have a moral responsibility to provide homes. 8/11

On the back-end of this lockdown, I’d like to see a lot of things change to protect tenants: more public housing, more co-ops, better regulations and enforcement vis-à-vis both long-term and short-term rentals. 9/11

But something all landlords, like all employers, can do—regardless of market conditions and legislation—is treat their tenants with care and respect. 10/11

Thanks to The Walrus for sharing their Twitter account, @zachariahwells signing off. Read my full story here: https://thewalrus.ca/do-good-landlords-even-exist/ 11/11