Renters Deserve the Same Consideration as Owners

by Jenny Blanchard

We’ve all seen those iconic images – the house with the blue shutters, the red chimney, and the white picket fence, complete with a driveway and a two-car garage. There is often an apple tree in the front yard with a tire swing. American schoolbooks and culture are replete with these images, despite the fact that children living in Puerto Rico are totally baffled by these images since none of their house resemble those depicted and apple trees do not grow in Puerto Rico. 

What is lionized in our society is not so much the dwelling itself, but owning the home, as home ownership has long been considered an integral part of that increasingly unattainable American dream. This worship of property has led to the cruel dismiss al of a large swath of our population known as renters. Those who rent are often unfairly stigmatized as less mature and financially irresponsible. Cities and towns view often view renters as a transient population that is less invested in the health of their local communities.

If a municipality has a high percentage of renters, they are often looked down upon as eroding the tax base by not paying property taxes. This is a common fallacy: While they do not pay property taxes directly to the government, they contribute indirectly through their monthly rent, as landlords factor these tax obligations into their rental prices. Credit applications often ask if you are a renter, and use these responses as a way to measure financial stability. Worst of all, renters are far more vulnerable to evictions. As of 2026, roughly to 90% of landlords are represented by attorneys in eviction cases, while only about to 10% of tenants have legal representation.

All too frequently, the worship of the ownership society means that you’re on your own. Renters clearly need more protections against arbitrary evictions, excessive rent hikes, predatory leasing and unfair fees. But more than anything, they need to be afforded respect and freedom from societal shame and judgment.

In his book Eviction , Matthew Desmond speaks eloquently of home as “the center of life. It is a refuge from the grind of work, the pressure of school, and the menace of the streets. The home is the wellspring of personhood. When we try to understand ourselves, we often begin by considering the kind of home in which we were raised.”

These words are true regardless of whether we rent or own a home. Home is not the property we own, but the place we live, and it should always be a refuge.