Landlord no more

[Jeet Sangha]

The California Association of Realtors (C.A.R) plans to launch updated real estate forms that will replace the term 'Landlords' with 'Housing Providers.' This change has been perceived by some as an example of political correctness gone too far. What is your opinion on this alteration?

[Greg M.]

I think that there are two camps trying to make this change.

The PC camp is trying to make the change because the word is allegedly gendered (even though landlady is available, landnonbinary and landgenderqueer are not yet popularized). These people can jump off a bridge.

Then there is the pro-landlord camp that believes the word has become too associated with negative connotations and housing provider is a softer term that easily reflects what a landlord actually provides. I think this is a losing battle. No one looks fondly on correctional institutions just because they renamed prisons. 

My guess is that CAR falls into the PC camp.

I'm going to continue to call myself a landlord and if a prospective tenant is offended by it, then it was a good screening method to pass on the whiny PCer.