Absentee landlords own and rent property far from where they live, which can lead to neglect or abuse. They can also have negative economic impacts on regions, especially if they invest elsewhere. Laws exist to prevent neglect, and the term has been extended to other fields, such as religion.
Absentee landlords are people who own property, which is then leased to another individual, and live in a geographical region that is far away from that property. This term is used in different contexts and can refer both to perfectly respectable practices and to rather unpleasant rental situations, which has led to a rather negative connotation being associated with the term. There are also a number of economic issues associated with this type of arrangement, especially if the absentee landlords live in different countries than the land being leased. The term has also been generalized for use in other contexts.
While there are a number of alternative uses for the term, absentee landlords are essentially individuals who rent properties that are a long way from where they live. In the United States, for example, it can refer to a property owner who lives in a different state than the property he or she is renting. This type of situation has often led to occasions of neglect or abuse, as the landowner is so far away from the property that he may not care for it properly. In other situations, however, absentee landlords provide excellent remote property maintenance, especially through hiring a local property manager.
Absentee landlords can also have a negative economic impact on a region. This is because such landlords receive money from one area, but often invest it in another area’s businesses and government. This can be especially devastating if large swathes of land in one country are owned by people living in other countries, as various goods and resources end up leaving the country. Absentee landlords have been responsible for disastrous effects on the economies of numerous countries in recent centuries, including Ireland, often through land grants by foreign powers during colonial enterprises.
An unfortunate number of absentee landlords have been purely greedy and selfish individuals, causing many areas to pass laws restricting property neglect. In many countries and territories, government agencies can be called upon to carry out property inspections and repairs or other maintenance by remote owners. The idea of “absent landlords” has also been extended to numerous other fields. Some religious movements, for example, include the concept of a deity who acts as an “absent housekeeper”, in which the deity created the universe and everything in it, but is otherwise not involved in the day-to-day activities in the world.
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