Doesn’t the Rent Cover Decency?

I was appalled when I read the Sept. 26 Rent Watch column.

One homeowners association wants to evict a single mother and her three children because they “bother other residents.” Another landlord wants three times the rent as a security deposit because there is a dishwasher in the unit. And yet another landlord wants to charge an extra $400 to his disabled tenant whose rent payment will be 10 days late because of a mix-up in her disability check.

Project Sentinel’s responses were on target as far as the law is concerned: No, you may not just throw out a family, nor charge an exorbitant security deposit, nor assess late fees that bear no relationship to your costs.

But they did not address another aspect of the questions: Where is these people’s sense of human decency?

I was appalled at the callousness and greed revealed by the questions. Have these people no shame? Have they no sense of human decency left, that they would stoop as low as to gouge a disabled tenant? They paint a picture of utter selfishness, where children are unwelcome and the poor and the weak are fair prey for the strong.

I shudder to think where our society is headed if these few letters are representative of the general mind-set.

Yes, landlords are entitled to a fair return on their investment, but the key word is fair. This is foul.

LAURENCE HAUBEN

Santa Barbara