I was surprised the Housing Solutions Network ever suggested rents should be no more than a mortgage payment. Liz Revord’s March 12 letter now acknowledges other costs, but still promotes the myth that all landlords do is collect rent and write checks.

In 2020, I was asked to put together the “How to Be a Great Landlord” webinar for the Housing Solutions Network. Our goal was to encourage people who own property to, for example, add an ADU to create more affordable housing for our community.

Participants learned about leasing, maintenance, taxes, “fair housing” and other pertinent laws, and how to deal with “bad” tenants (admittedly, I’ve never had one in 40 years as a mom and pop landlord.)

One question was whether landlords can collect a wage for their labor. The answer is no; but it’s something to consider when setting rents.

Landlording isn’t for everyone. Two years ago, a huge tree branch yanked the power line out from one rental. Never mind the $1,000 electrician bill – I spent days cutting up and hauling off storm debris. Last Sunday, I spent the afternoon repairing water damage in a kitchen. I wish the tenants had noticed the leak sooner, but it wasn’t their fault. I just made the repairs without complaint, like when I installed grab bars requested by an elderly tenant starting chemo the week before.

As you can imagine, people attending the webinar saw dual benefits in creating an ADU: someone gets an affordable rental, and the owner can better afford to stay in their home as they age.

Maybe there are a few people willing to spend and/or borrow $100,000 (or several hundred thousand) to build an ADU generating no cash return until they sell or die. But suggesting all landlords should get no more than what amounts to reimbursement for receipts is unreasonable, and it sure ain’t gonna solve our housing crisis.

Instead of telling other people what they’re entitled to earn, maybe Ms. Revord could put her own money at risk, alone or with others, to build the affordable housing we need. Let that remind her that landlords cannot “solve” homelessness on their own.

After all, rent control — spare us the “stabilization” euphemism — does not address the toughest reasons so many people remain homeless for years: substance abuse, mental and physical health crises, unemployment (and underemployment) and incarceration. All of us should chip in on that, too.

Rents are high because we’ve failed to build enough housing. As with egg prices, the solution is more chickens, not unlike when car prices spiked and fell with computer chips a few years ago.

But what surprises me most about being a landlord in this “progressive” town is how many people have asked me to stop renting to families with children, as if that would sully the neighborhood. I tell them I wouldn’t discriminate even if there were no laws against it.

No family with children should be homeless until the youngest child turns 18, and all of us —not just some of us — should pitch in to address the causes of poverty, including discrimination.

Barney Burke is a former Leader reporter and a landlord. He lives in Port Townsend.