The "poor" make their choice

Some exceptions, but most actively choose

from JoeUser Forums

This is my observation after 15 years making a comfortable living off of the poor.

I have to confess, I am a "Affordable Housing Provider", with monies I made selling, financing, and repossessing cars, I bought Real Estate. Not fantastic mansions, but 800 to 1200 sq ft houses, a couple of duplexes, and 1 small apartment building ( 6 units). I do not participate in Title 8, or any other government subsidy program. Those programs provide me with plenty of people who do not qualify for anyone else, 'cept me. It's quite simple, and with the exception of houses that need major repairs ( due to tennent damage ) I keep my rentals full. This is a "high risk, high return" game.

My average tennent is unmarried, 2 children, and receives on average a net of $2000.00 per month in income !!! This income is derived from AFDC, SSI, Child Support. They are typically enrolled at Community Col, have free daycare, and have the nicest nails and hair you'd ever want to see. This doesn't include the windfall in the spring when "Tax Season" begins, our government has created the Earned Income Credit, (which I really believe is veiled reparations), if my renter has held any job and earned at least $2000.00 in the past year, the average refund of my renters has been $3500 !!!!!!!

This cash is what runs the economy of my area. Our chamber of commerce has stated that the 1st qtr of the year( tax time ), has
surpassed the Christmas season in spending....

So, my renters, to collect my rent is like pulling teeth, I have to personally vist every one every month. Then I get to see how much the boyfriends have torn up, I get to see the big screen TV's, stereos, Sat dishes, new furniture, and the bills stacked up in the kitchen. Oh, forgot to mention the cars with new tags in the yard.

The cars, heh, I used to tell my car customers at closing to always remember " you can sleep in the car, but you can't drive that house ", I'm eating those words now. Seems everything comes before the rent, Hair, Nails, CD's, rims, clothes, goodness, the clothes. I had a renter to skip out, we locked down the house so she couldn't return, and she never did ( tried to sue me, but never returned) The House was left in such a mess, it was a 3 bedroom but we threw out over 10 mattresses, a DUMPSTER full of clothes( no, none of this was fit to donate ) They had kindly burned holes with an iron into the carpet of every room....She was 3 months behind and had been in the house for only 4 months....oh well.

I rent a house to a family who had worked hard to buy a house, and then just gave it up. The maintanance was killing them, when the toilet clogged up there was no one to pay for the repair......No one to cut the grass, or paint the shutters.......I bought that house out of foreclosure for about half of the balance they owed, spent $2000 on repairs, and rented it back to them. They're happy now? I find that it is culturally ingrained in the "poor" of this area to work the system, it offers a comfortable life, without having to try hard at all.

They receive a fantastic education from their churches who teach accessing those benefits ( along with the need to tithe...), the social services assist them with everything but an enviroment for a Nuclear Family.
Women run this entire operation, "poor" men in this area are devalued to the extreme, if they are caught in the Housing Authority the woman can lose all of her benefits, they are constantly brought to court for child support, and subsequently locked up for non-payment ( but the mother of the baby has to keep having children to maintain her lifestyle ) We have over 9% unemployment in this area, there is no job out there, yet the men have to stay on the fringe of this culture for the survival of the mothers and children........Hey, I didn't create the system, I just live off of it.

politics
27,875 views 52 replies
Reply #1 from JoeUser Forums Top
If you care to comment please understand that this article is written based on my experience, not statistical information ( other than my own ), not conjecture, but my observation.
I have previously owned and operated a couple of used car lots, specializing in on-lot financing, I have sold, financed, and repossessed in excess of 8000 cars in the 15 years I was in operation.
Morally I have no problem with how I support my family, I treated my customers with respect, provided them with transportation they otherwise could not secure, and do the same now in providing housing to those who otherwise would be homeless.

Some would call me a bottom feeder, hum, catfish and lobster taste pretty good.............
Reply #2 from JoeUser Forums Top
I am in awe at your sheer stupidity. I honestly can say nothing in response to this, except that I've heard about you, but never believed that people could exist that were so dumb.
WindowBlinds - Free yourself of the default settings, customize your desktop.
Reply #3 from JoeUser Forums Top
I love your look on the world, reminds me of my home, the UK. I see more satalite dishes and new cars on council/subsidised estates than anywhere else. I wish you the best of luck in your trade and feel proud that you provide for your self by whatever means.
Reply #4 from JoeUser Forums Top
What the hell are you talking about??? The "Poor" do not choose that for themselves.My parents are trying their damnest to get themselves out of what they were taught. Out of the way their parents were. It's not fair that you make an assumption based on the people from your [B]carlot.
Reply #5 from JoeUser Forums Top
csuperman7,
How is it that I am the dumb one?
I didn't make the lifestyle choice to live as my renters do, I only provide for them the means to an end,
Perhaps you'd like them to move into your basement?
Reply #6 from JoeUser Forums Top
djny,
I commend your parents for recognizing the trap set for them, I truly wish them all the luck in the world, and sincerely hope they escape the cycle.

As to my "assumptions", they are based on simple facts, gained over 15 years.
I am only 1 of 15 used car dealers serving this demographic in my area, I am 1 of over 25 rental agents serving this demographic.
The area in question encompasses 50 sq miles, has a population exceeding 100,000, and is 50% minority.
90% of my business is minority, so in 15 years I have sold 8500 vehicles to an appox 50,000 people, that's damn near 15% of that minority population, now figure that Social Services states that only 25% of that population lives below the poverty line, and that leaves you with 12,500 people who need my services.
With that in mind I think my view is certainly a true representation of my little chunk of North Carolina, and is more than likely duplicated throughout the US, with slight variation for regional differences.
Reply #7 from JoeUser Forums Top
There was a trailer park in the middle of the town I grew up in.  It was filled with single wide trailers that were built in the early 70's.  When I started to drive (in the late 80's) I picked up one of my friends who lived there.  Half of the trailers should have been condemned, but almost all of them (including my friends) had a nice car out front.  I never understood that.  But, after reading your article, I see that still happens and happens everywhere.
Reply #8 from JoeUser Forums Top
I have often gone by those trailer parks, and wondered if those people were really happier than I was.
I mean they worked probably 40 hrs a week, had toys, and time to play with them, as I worked 100 hrs a week, chasing my cars, payments, and running a business.........
To each their own, just don't blame their capitalisticly challenged financial situation on anyone other than themselves.
It is their choice. Their priorities.
I really think they are happier.....................
Reply #9 from JoeUser Forums Top
OH, and by the way, my properties are not run down, nasty, housing code violations one step from condemnation. I now spend my days repairing what got broke..........
Have plunger, will travel.
Reply #10 from JoeUser Forums Top
There are many types of poor people. Some of them are like the ones you are talking about, but not all. I've met those types and I've met ones who were hard working but didn't have the education or skills to have a high income job.
Reply #11 from JoeUser Forums Top
I only speak of the majority of those who fall under the "poverty" guidelines as determined by our government.
I also concur that there are those that are poor, who do not qualify for assistance, or opt out for whatever reason.
That too, I believe is a lifestyle choice.
Reply #12 from JoeUser Forums Top
Actually, you don't speak for a "majority" of those who fall under the poverty guidelines, you speak of those in your experience, that's something else entirely.

Cheers
Reply #13 from JoeUser Forums Top
He's right. The majority of poor people do pay for their big screen TVs and nice cars.
Reply #15 from JoeUser Forums Top
Why are we so worried that Poor man A) might be offended because we call poor man B) A complete total loser not worth the oxygen they steal from the atmosphere?

Please, Santa..for next chrismas, bring the world thicker skins.
Reply #16 from JoeUser Forums Top
Why are we so worried that Poor man A) might be offended because we call poor man B) A complete total loser not worth the oxygen they steal from the atmosphere?

Please, Santa..for next chrismas, bring the world thicker skins.
Reply #17 from JoeUser Forums Top
Jeebus, all I did was press a freakin key and got a double post LMAO..ANyways, ahem..'cuse me.

Hey, dynosoar..You see the same kinda places that I do daily. Thumbs up for admitting things are screwed up..but working.
Reply #18 from JoeUser Forums Top
Jeb,
I comment on the majority in my little world here in Eastern NC, I opin that this area is no different than most, as demonstrated daily in every community.
I do not judge them. Hell, they're probably happier than I am.
That's all this country promises anyone, the pursuit of happiness, they just found theirs at taxpayer expense.
I often tell people the only government monies I'll ever get are from other people
Reply #19 from JoeUser Forums Top
It's ironic that poor people are happily screwing the system and screwing others yet there are individuals still out there acting as though they are the victims of the people they screw over.
Reply #20 from JoeUser Forums Top
Super,
Heh, I'm glad the system is there, I'm happy, they seem happy.
What bothers me is the folks that seem guilty over these "poor Folks" and their socio-economic situation.
It's where I see it as a cultural choice, or trap if some so deem to define, the people I have observed do not seem
to have a desire to leave this "good life", they're not stuck, opportunities abound, but it requires commitments and sacrifices
they're not willing to make.
Are we to subsidize that as well?

I'm totally against that because it would raise their incomes above my rental target, leaving me broke, possibly having to become a burden on society, requiring governmental assistance..........hmmmmm.....
Reply #21 from JoeUser Forums Top
Lun,
It's really a no lose situation all around.
Of course there are some that say "we" are artificially "holding these people down", I tend to believe "we're" actually artificially
"holding these people up", but I'm not complaining, just observing.
Hell, if it weren't for the various assistance programs out there I might have to actually work for a living !!!!

I'm seriously thinking about low income elder care, warehouses for old folk.....Soylent Green anyone? ;-)
Reply #22 from JoeUser Forums Top
One phrase I get so sick of hearing is "The rich get richer, and the poor get poorer." I've heard it all my life, and it leads me to wonder just how much poorer the poor can get. I mean, they should be living in shantytowns by now.

No, wait. That's south of the river in Mexico. And the irony is that Mexico is a well-to-do nation compared to those in Central America. Get out of the country and see what real poverty is, folks.

I get so sick of hearing about poverty in America. As somebody who grew up hanging around a somewhat lower-class neighborhood, I can heartily attest to Dyno's statement.

I also did delivery to various ghetto areas in a nine-state region (I was on the Family Dollar stores account, and they always aim for the poorest part of town.) Lots of satellite dishes, lots of new cars, lots of irresponsibility. Are there people who get caught in the trap, good people? Sure. I know people I grew up with who never get that mindset out of their system. But they're the same ones who will complain about not having enough money to make ends meet, while sitting on the couch cycling through a hundred channels of cable. My sympathy is rather limited.

Truthfully, as somebody who used to work 120 hour work weeks only to have forty hours of that work week get siphoned straight away into federal coffers to support these parasites, my sympathy isn't just limited, it's nonexistant.
Reply #23 from JoeUser Forums Top
It may be more accurate to say "The rich get richer and the poor get richer very, very slowly".

"as somebody who used to work 120 hour work weeks only to have forty hours of that work week get siphoned straight away into federal coffers"

Case in point. Unfortunately - politicians spout off about tax cuts and the extra $600 you get, all the while shifting the burden from the super-rich to the middle class. And for some inexplicable reason, "middle america" doesn't see through this. Possibly because they've been bamboozled into thinking it's an issue of entitlements for the poor, when in reality it's about the progressivity of the tax brackets. Well... economics is complex.

It's all about the downward / upward spiral, right ?
Reply #24 from JoeUser Forums Top
Well, this blog takes the cake, I'll give you that. I was not going to comment, but after looking in this morning, I'll not only comment, but I'll be writing about five more blogs, one dedicated to slumlords, one to elder care, and the rest to poverty.

You said in your blog.... "We have over 9% unemployment in this area, there is no job out there, yet the men have to stay on the fringe of this culture for the survival of the mothers and children........Hey, I didn't create the system, I just live off of it."
Then you said in your comment.... "It's where I see it as a cultural choice, or trap if some so deem to define, the people I have observed do not seem
to have a desire to leave this "good life", they're not stuck, opportunities abound, but it requires commitments and sacrifices
they're not willing to make.
You said in your blog...."I do not participate in Title 8, or any other government subsidy program."
Then you said later in your blog...."Women run this entire operation, "poor" men in this area are devalued to the extreme, if they are caught in the Housing Authority the woman can lose all of her benefit"
You said in blog...."My average tennent is unmarried, 2 children, and receives on average a net of $2000.00 per month in income !!! This income is derived from AFDC, SSI, Child Support"

NORTH CAROLINA 1998 Welfare-to-Work Formula Grant http://wtw.doleta.gov/formula/98formula/ncplan.asp
North Carolina's Welfare-to-Work (WtW) program will address work first clients who have up to one year remaining in their cash assistance program, non-custodial parents of children whose custodial parents meet the TANF/WtW criterion, work-first clients who are not engaged in intensive employment activities and two-parent families who have significant challenges to long-term employment.



Reply #25 from JoeUser Forums Top
Wisefawn,
I look forward to your post.
I have a cursory knowledge of the work first program, I believe that's why my renters are all enrolled in Community Col.,
( that and Pell Grant income ).
The system is being worked, it's a way of life, and I believe it is promoted within their own society, for the benefit of others.
Why ?
Preacher gotta have a nice car, bigger church...... Social Worker gotta have a client base to rationalize HER job, her supervisor
has to have more Social Workers to rationalize HER job.......
Too many people depend on these "poor" to be just that....myself included.