FranLab is getting evicted

[james_s]

Lots of people don't want to pack up and move to the middle of nowhere to save a buck.  And nobody wants to move to Camden....

Forget a mortgage, she may have enough trouble getting landlords to rent to an unconventional business.  Here the typical light industrial condos are full right now except for the crappy ones, and if they do happen to have an odd unit available here or there, they want full financials and so forth just for a crummy glorified storage unit.

This is not a matter of want, we are talking basic survival and having a roof over one's head. When you need a place to live, you do what you have to do. If that means packing up and moving to the middle of nowhere so be it. It doesn't have to be a permanent solution, once you own a property it is much easier to buy a different property because you now have that asset that hopefully has a bit of equity. Lots of people buy a home, live in it for a year or two and then sell it and buy a nicer home. Fran works from home, she can live anywhere that has broadband. From the sound of things though this is just going to repeat and this thread will start up again with the same discussion in a year or two. I've seen this whole thing play out similarly before with other people, offer them a handful of viable options but they invent reasons why none of them will work and just keep trying the same thing over and over hoping for different results. Rent something affordable in a region that is rapidly gentrifying and this is going to be the result, every time.

[james_s]

When you dig, the wages they want these workers at are unrealistic. A lot of these alleged jobs are not good jobs at all. They are not even real jobs where they intend to hire people. They just want to document how they failed at hiring Americans. Its for some work visa form.

If Fran looks for work judging by where she is, a signifcant number of advertised jobs will be these fake jobs. As a trans person my hunch is that that fact also is going to limit her job opportunities significantly, here in the tradition bound East Coast. I would hope that wouldnt be the case but I suspect it might be.  Does she have transportation? if she doesnt own a car, maybe she should buy a motor scooter.

If she buys a car, It needs to be reliable.

That was certainly the case for a while, but right now there are genuine shortages. A friend of mine is a carpenter working for a company that remodels houses and he's up to his eyeballs in work and they can't find enough people. I work in the software industry and we have been interviewing like crazy and can't find enough mid and senior level software engineers, I've been interviewing at least 2 candidates a week for several weeks now and my team is only one of several that has been doing it. We have made offers to several candidates only to have them already accept a job somewhere else and right now we are pretty much treading water, hiring just enough people to fill in for people who departed for greener pastures. My partner manages an animal hospital and she has been interviewing regularly and can't find enough veterinarians or techs. Friends of mine own a machine shop and finally resorted to hiring a highschool kid to do some assembly work, $16/hr is not fantastic money around here but it's a job that anyone can do with minimal training. A few weeks ago I was at Home Depot and it took 45 minutes to find someone who could cut and thread a piece of iron pipe, they said they were short staffed and couldn't find enough help. There are jobs to be had right now, some of them better than others, but they are available.

I don't see the relevance of her being trans, frankly I didn't even know she was until it was mentioned here a while back, certainly it isn't something an employer is going to ask about.

[james_s]

The thing is they will usually refuse to acknowledge that you have a long track history of paying off the credit card on time every month. You are actually better off having a debit card. And in fact we have just ditched our credit card in favour of a debit card for this very reason, it's one less thing they can hold against you when you apply for a loan.

I have a credit card only for the layer of security it provides. If I buy something online and the number gets stolen and used for fraudulent purchases, which has happened to me twice, I simply call them and report the fraud and I don't have to pay the bill. If the same happens to a debit card as happened to a friend of mine, you can still get the money back eventually, but only once the investigation is completed. They drained his bank account and he only realized his card number had been stolen when he tried to buy lunch and the card was declined. This was over 10 years ago so it's possible things are different now, I don't know.

When I bought my house 16 years ago I don't recall my credit card being a factor one way or the other, I've always paid it off in full every month with exception of once or twice when I simply forgot.

[SilverSolder]

Well managed credit cards (i.e. where you carry a debt of max 25% of your overall credit limit or less) are actually a boost to your credit score.

[MrMobodies]

Every time I see this thread appear at the top I think it could not be good news before looking.

UPDATE: Eviction 3.0 
She has 2 months to get out:

I didn't know she was in trouble again with the building be sold for renovations.

I read today in the UK that some flat leaseholders? are looking to go bankrupt with being charged for the removal and replacement of fire Grenfell style fire prone cladding that they had no choice in and in some cases costing more than half of what flats were brought for.

[Kasper]

Lots of people don't want to pack up and move to the middle of nowhere to save a buck.  And nobody wants to move to Camden....

Forget a mortgage, she may have enough trouble getting landlords to rent to an unconventional business.  Here the typical light industrial condos are full right now except for the crappy ones, and if they do happen to have an odd unit available here or there, they want full financials and so forth just for a crummy glorified storage unit.

This is not a matter of want, we are talking basic survival and having a roof over one's head. When you need a place to live, you do what you have to do. If that means packing up and moving to the middle of nowhere so be it. It doesn't have to be a permanent solution, once you own a property it is much easier to buy a different property because you now have that asset that hopefully has a bit of equity. Lots of people buy a home, live in it for a year or two and then sell it and buy a nicer home. Fran works from home, she can live anywhere that has broadband. From the sound of things though this is just going to repeat and this thread will start up again with the same discussion in a year or two. I've seen this whole thing play out similarly before with other people, offer them a handful of viable options but they invent reasons why none of them will work and just keep trying the same thing over and over hoping for different results. Rent something affordable in a region that is rapidly gentrifying and this is going to be the result, every time.

In Canada, you don't even need to sell the first house to get a 2nd house. You leverage the equity in the first house to get downpayment for 2nd house and you add potential rental income from first house to your income and next thing you know, you're shopping for house #3.  As long as the bubble keeps growing, we'll be fine

Get a house in a nice area and you can pretty much guarantee people will pay whatever rent you ask for because a lot of people just can't seem to say: "no, that's too much, I'm moving somewhere cheaper."

[EEVblog]

Sure, she mentioned not spawning a gofundme this time, but at a certain point some financial plan will have to be put in place to escape this. Ownership and less expensive location are the options with the longest roadmap. The country changed a lot in the past few years w.r.t. acceptance, thus that would be a venue to be revisited.

Unfortunately I'm now 100% sure that's not going to happen.
Unless she can raise a crazy amount of money for a big deposit for a Philly unit, and get a mortgage, she will be stuck in the rental trap forever   

[EEVblog]

I don't see the relevance of her being trans

It shouldn't matter. Unfortunately it is the essential reason she is not going to move out of the city of Philly.

[mikeselectricstuff]

The thing is they will usually refuse to acknowledge that you have a long track history of paying off the credit card on time every month. You are actually better off having a debit card. And in fact we have just ditched our credit card in favour of a debit card for this very reason, it's one less thing they can hold against you when you apply for a loan.

I have a credit card only for the layer of security it provides. If I buy something online and the number gets stolen and used for fraudulent purchases, which has happened to me twice, I simply call them and report the fraud and I don't have to pay the bill. If the same happens to a debit card as happened to a friend of mine, you can still get the money back eventually, but only once the investigation is completed. They drained his bank account and he only realized his card number had been stolen when he tried to buy lunch and the card was declined. This was over 10 years ago so it's possible things are different now, I don't know.

This.
I only ever use a debit card for cash withdrawals and very large purchases ( like a car).
If you have  a credit card, it makes little sense to use a debit card for routine payments as protections are stronger with a CC ( this probably varies by country but I believe true to some extent everywhere).
In the case of fraud or dispute, the amount is frozen - worst case if the card company doesn't play ball you have the option to not pay and tell them to sue you for it.
In the case of a debit card, your bank account could be empty (or overdrawn) immediately, which is a much more serious issue and potentially a lot more hassle to deal with. Even getting hold of a real person at a bank or card company can be difficult these days.

[DEV001]

I basically treat my credit cards as debit cards paying them off using their app as soon as it posts. My reasons are similar to Mike mentioned above about any issues are easier dealt with if needed. My Capital One Quicksilver card adds an additional year warranty which I haven't needed to use but it comes as part of the membership. Some cards have diff perks like insurance for rental cars, % cash back bonuses, etc... I earn a small chunk of rewards cash I usually apply to whatever balance I have at the time every couple of months.

I forgot the biggest bonus for them to me is online purchases as Capital One offers a virtual credit card generator (Eno) that will generate a number for the site you are on and then you can cancel the number later if needed.

https://wallethub.com/answers/cc/capital-one-quicksilver-extended-warranty-2140670320/

[Kasper]

Speaking of rentals in Philly, there's a channel on youtube, 'Airbnb Automated' where Sean explains how to do rental arbitrage: rent homes and then host them as STRs (short term rentals).  Sounds like he has lots of places in Philly and is considering getting out of some.  Maybe he can help Fran find something, maybe in return for Fran making him some security devices.

In this video, Sean mentions regulations in Philly are changing on Apr 1, 2022.  That may make it harder to host STRs which could bring some extra long term rentals to the market soon.

"The Hard Truth About Airbnb Arbitrage and WHY I may give it up"

[nctnico]

In the case of a debit card, your bank account could be empty (or overdrawn) immediately, which is a much more serious issue and potentially a lot more hassle to deal with.

No. There are daily withdrawal limits you can set to minimize the damage. Many banks have quite low defaults so the damage is minimal. On top of that, unintentional withdrawels by criminals are covered by the banks.

Over here most regular shops don't even accept credit cards. Credit card companies do charge a high commision which in the end needs to be paid somehow by the consumers.

[EEVblog]

Speaking of rentals in Philly, there's a channel on youtube, 'Airbnb Automated' where Sean explains how to do rental arbitrage: rent homes and then host them as STRs (short term rentals).  Sounds like he has lots of places in Philly and is considering getting out of some.  Maybe he can help Fran find something, maybe in return for Fran making him some security devices.

In this video, Sean mentions regulations in Philly are changing on Apr 1, 2022.  That may make it harder to host STRs which could bring some extra long term rentals to the market soon.

I've sent that to Fran.

[james_s]

It shouldn't matter. Unfortunately it is the essential reason she is not going to move out of the city of Philly.

Is she not aware that there are trans people in other places too? I've personally known a couple of them and have seen others around. I fail to see what is unique about Philadelphia in that respect. Like I said before, I didn't even know she was trans until somebody mentioned it here, I doubt the average person walking past on the street would notice or care.

[james_s]

No. There are daily withdrawal limits you can set to minimize the damage. Many banks have quite low defaults so the damage is minimal. On top of that, unintentional withdrawels by criminals are covered by the banks.

Over here most regular shops don't even accept credit cards. Credit card companies do charge a high commision which in the end needs to be paid somehow by the consumers.

It's different in the US. I've never encountered a business that would accept debit cards but not credit cards. You can set a limit on withdrawal from an ATM machine but I don't think it applies to retail and online purchases. The fraudulent charges are covered by the bank, eventually, but you are out the money during the course of the investigation.

[EEVblog]

It shouldn't matter. Unfortunately it is the essential reason she is not going to move out of the city of Philly.

Is she not aware that there are trans people in other places too?

She is, but I believe her reasoning is basically better the devil you know in Philly.
Unfortunately this thinking has her trapped in Philly.

[mikeselectricstuff]

In the case of a debit card, your bank account could be empty (or overdrawn) immediately, which is a much more serious issue and potentially a lot more hassle to deal with.

No. There are daily withdrawal limits you can set to minimize the damage. Many banks have quite low defaults so the damage is minimal. On top of that, unintentional withdrawels by criminals are covered by the banks.

That is something that will differ by country and bank. I've twice bought cars for >£10K on a debt card with no check or verification from the bank - just normal chip & PIN.

Over here most regular shops don't even accept credit cards. Credit card companies do charge a high commission which in the end needs to be paid somehow by the consumers.

I've never seen that in the UK in retail, only some time ago in a few higher-value business-orientated situations like factory liquidation auctions.
You do see occasional places that don't accept any cards, but that's reducing due to the cheaper options available nowadays - it's actually become more common to see places that don't take cash

The bottom line is that a credit card will give a layer of isolation from your bank account, which if nothing else buys more time to deal with any problems, more so if you have more than one card. 

[thinkfat]

No. There are daily withdrawal limits you can set to minimize the damage. Many banks have quite low defaults so the damage is minimal. On top of that, unintentional withdrawels by criminals are covered by the banks.

Over here most regular shops don't even accept credit cards. Credit card companies do charge a high commision which in the end needs to be paid somehow by the consumers.

It's different in the US. I've never encountered a business that would accept debit cards but not credit cards. You can set a limit on withdrawal from an ATM machine but I don't think it applies to retail and online purchases. The fraudulent charges are covered by the bank, eventually, but you are out the money during the course of the investigation.

It's still common for shops in Germany to refuse credit cards, some who do accept them ask for a processing fee, which means there is apparently a considerable percentage of the total going to a payment processor. SEPA debit charge is almost for free in comparison.

[Bud]

Actually you can use credit cards to "earn" profit. Some banks offer so called 'cash back' credit cards which accumulate a percentage of amount spent on eligible purchases ( typically when you buy groceries, gas, and when you pay bills using that credit card). You take advantage of it by being disciplined  and paying off the card balance twice a month so interest does not kick in. Then the bank pays you the accumulated cash back amount per the agreement, usually at the year end. This way i get $400-$800 every year as a Christmas gift. What not to love? 

[nctnico]

Actually you can use credit cards to "earn" profit. Some banks offer so called 'cash back' credit cards which accumulate a percentage of amount spent on eligible purchases ( typically when you buy groceries, gas, and when you pay bills using that credit card). You take advantage of it by being disciplined  and paying off the card balance twice a month so interest does not kick in. Then the bank pays you the accumulated cash back amount per the agreement, usually at the year end. This way i get $400-$800 every year as a Christmas gift. What not to love? 

Something inside me says that you are getting your own money back with some profit deducted that goes into someone else's pocket.

[Bud]

Banks want consumers to use THEIR's (that bank's ) issued cards. It is a fight for getting customers in the competitive environment. So banks come up with all sort of offers to acquire more customers. In this case the catch is certainly in the expectation that most of the customers will still carry a balance and not pay it off monthly, so the bank will still charge interest. That is why i said you have to be a disciplined cardholder to game the system.

[Caliaxy]

Actually you can use credit cards to "earn" profit. Some banks offer so called 'cash back' credit cards which accumulate a percentage of amount spent on eligible purchases ( typically when you buy groceries, gas, and when you pay bills using that credit card). You take advantage of it by being disciplined  and paying off the card balance twice a month so interest does not kick in. Then the bank pays you the accumulated cash back amount per the agreement, usually at the year end. This way i get $400-$800 every year as a Christmas gift. What not to love? 

Something inside me says that you are getting your own money back with some profit deducted that goes into someone else's pocket.

Each time you pay with your credit card, the merchant pays the powers that be (banks, card issuer, network etc.) a “processing” fee typically a fixed amount + percentage of the transaction. I imagine the cash back comes from these fees and is intended to encourage you use a certain card and not other one.

Of course, you have to be careful and pay on time your balance in full, otherwise they’ll hit you with a late fee and start charging interest on all your balance and you’ll end up paying much more than you earned by cash back. That’s probably the other source for the funds they use to give you “cash back”.

Why would you have to pay your card twice a month though?

[Alex Eisenhut]

You pay the same price whether you pay cash or whip out your CC. I used to redeem my CC points to get merchandise, ten years ago I got a Breville toaster oven that I still use today, of course I did have to repair it once. But the quality of the merchandise you can get with points these days is not as high so I use cash back. This year I paid part of my property taxes with cash back.

I also don't know why you'd pay twice a month. I am curious. Maybe to follow your pay cycle?

[Quarlo Klobrigney]

This Thread
https://giphy.com/gifs/train-trainwreck-wreck-JYEEdjzlsb280

[dr.diesel]

Myself and most of my friends live out in the sticks, we'd all welcome her.