Tenants commonly called Renters, should Landlords be called Owners?

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circularrd

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The term "Renter" instead of Tenant is commonly used now across the media.
I feel the terms Tenant/Landlord are obsolete and belong to another era.

The term "Landlord" has not changed.
It implies wealth and has historical negative connotations in our country.
It does not reflect the real circumstances of owners, many of whom are in difficult financial circumstances.

I favour using the term "Owner" instead of "Landlord".

Not the most pressing issue I know but what do you think?
 
“Landlord” is a useful term because it doesn’t need to be qualified and it doesn’t overlap with anything else.

That said, language evolves both organically and by fiat and there is nothing that you or I can do about it.
 
I have always referred to myself (and others in the same business) as a property owner.
 
Nothing whatsoever..it just seems to be replaced in general across the media by "renter" which I think is fine and perhaps more modern.
I think Landlord is an outdated term for the reasons I mentioned.
Dr Strangelove thanks for your views..
 
circularrd said:
Nothing whatsoever..it just seems to be replaced in general across the media by "renter" which I think is fine and perhaps more modern.
I think Landlord is an outdated term for the reasons I mentioned.
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The "meeja" do lots of stupid things with language, like referring to shops as stores. The sheeple follow suit.

There was a time when the primary function of a building or premises or the activity or profession of a person was reflected in its name and his/her job title. A"store" was used to store goods in bulk, like the corn and wool store my grandfather and his brother operated. When engaged in buying from farmers and selling on in bulk they were referred to as wholesalers. My granduncle also operated a licensed premises, and when engaged in this activity has was referred to as a publican. My grandfather ran a dairy farm and when engaged in the this activity her was referred to as a dairy farmer.
 
Not all property owners are landlords.

Plus, while the landlord is a an owner (of the freehold interest in the property) the tenant is also an owner (of a leasehold interest in the same property).

For these reasons "owner" isn't perhaps the most apt word to identify the landlord.

If you don't like "landlord" how about "lessor", with "lessee" for the tenant? Those terms are commonly used in connection with the letting of commercial property, so I don't see why they wouldn't work in relation to the letting of residential property.
 
To clarify...From a legal perspective there is of course a critical requirement for clarity, the terms landlord & tenant are crystal clear and I do not suggest any changes to the Act, RTB communications etc. I am not talking about that or suggesting any legal changes..

I am referring only to common usage or the "meeja" as Mathpac mentions and how the word Renter has emerged. I feel that the term "Landlord" has a negative historical bias, implying that you own land and are a lord...I wish! Tom, Lessor/Lessee sounds better to me if still a little legalistic for common usage.

I would like to see "Property Owner" emerge in common usage over time. The Irish Property Owners Association (IPOA) is correctly named.

As I stated, not the most pressing issue but I wondered what your views might be.
 
circularrd said:
would like to see "Property Owner" emerge in common usage over time
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So just use it yourself, you'd be surprised.

I'm old enough to recall the enormous fuss when the Irish Times adopted Ms as a prefix. Nowadays many papers use a second name / family name with no prefix at all & its no big deal.
 
circularrd said:
I would like to see "Property Owner" emerge in common usage over time. The Irish Property Owners Association (IPOA) is correctly named.
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Is a home owner not by default a property owner? Or if I inherit a house and don't rent it out or live in it am I still not a property owner? Is the name not used to be more sympathetic than Landlords Association? I don't believe they represent homeowners.

circularrd said:
Lessor/Lessee sounds better to me if still a little legalistic for common usage.
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I think renter is being used incorrectly when compared to lessor/lessee.

Should the person who owns a property be referred to as the renter and the person who pays to live there the rentee. I have heard both referred to as the renter depending on context.

dictionary.cambridge.org

renter

1. someone who pays money to live in a house or apartment that someone else…
dictionary.cambridge.org dictionary.cambridge.org

rentee seems to appear in a few places.
 
circularrd said:
am referring only to common usage or the "meeja" as Mathpac mentions and how the word Renter has emerged.
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The media's use of terms like renters comes from a dislike of repetition as it is shown to have a negative effect on reader engagement. They will however, generally only use synonyms once the context has been clearly set.

Failure to identify that you are really only referring to a small minority of property owners in any context is a recipe for confusion.
 
circularrd said:
The term "Renter" instead of Tenant is commonly used now across the media.
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I watched a bit of Tom Hanks in "A Man Called Otto". He uses the term "renters" for tenants. I wonder is this where the media first got hold of it and just sheepled along?
 
mathepac said:
He uses the term "renters" for tenants. I wonder is this where the media first got hold of it and just s
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Language and slang are ever evolving, many terms we now use meant something else 5 or 6 decades ago.

For example in the 1940s or 50s describing a man as a "gay fellow" meant he was the life and soul of a get together, a generous likeable extrovert.

Roll back another 5 or 6 decades to the late Victorian era, Oscar Wilde, a hugely talented likeable and extrovert fellow, would have used the term "renter" but it would have meant something completely different to the modern renters....a male prostitute.
 
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With landlords/landladies only the male version seems to be used, 'renter' is gender neutral. It's an archaic term on that basis, if you convert it to 'Landperson' it doesn't really work, which just highlights the flaws in the term and the reliance on the word 'lord' and all that entails, inequality, imbalance of power etc.
 
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