Lessons from my mom the landlord: **gasp*** a renter activist with a landlord mama?! Yes. And we don’t disagree on a lot. I always ask her perspective on housing policy.

1. Never be a landlord as your sole income. Even if you live in the building. Like anything else, it’s a gamble and having a stable job is still necessary for upkeep of a home.

2. Remember you’re in the business of providing somebody a home. This means if you wouldn’t deal with it your house, don’t make somebody deal with it. Never delay repairs or fixture replacements.

3. NEVER raise the rent in a recession. They need a home, you need a person in that home. Work something out. Pull the equity, work with your bank. There’s many options.

4. Tenants rights are the bare minimum. Everything else is human decency.

5. Evictions aren’t a problem solver. Only evict if it’s endangering the community in some way.

6. Don’t rely on credit scores. Especially now. Rely more on their routine behavior of responsibility.

7. Take the voucher family. What a great opportunity to provide them a home.

8. Housing is a human right. Let’s fight for laws that let everybody have a home with less strings attached.