Once you’ve served your sentence, are there rights you never get back?

"The Second Amendment should be honored, but it shouldn't put a weapon in the hands of someone who's incompetent," Morrissette said. ———————————————————————

Does this go for incompetent police officers?

I bet Desmel Cooper has a long criminal record.

So we have to put up with dog pooping and peeing in the stores or these snowflakes with special mental needs cannot possibly manage. How about these snowflakes with mental issues train their dogs and be considerate of others, just as they’d like others to be considerate of them?

I’m not asking much from them. Don’t put my health at risk!

Some people need to have their dogs with them either because of their psychiatric issues or their perceived psychiatric issues of their dogs.

You’ll never solve this problem. Denying pets is the new racism.

I would love to see all stores enforce some sort of health laws against all pets except for blind people. And I’m a dog owner!

Any big box store or supermarket that tries it will get demagogued to death in the media.

Here’s an argument for building low income housing in town centers across Maine: you can build without providing 1 parking space per unit because many low income people don’t have cars. Vacationers from away won’t want to rent such places. It’ll create a much needed demand for public transportation.

Downtown is exactly where low income housing should be built; walking distance to stores, and if you’re going to get public transportation, that’s where it will be.

There's more profit catering to luxury than to economy.

That apartment complex looks very high end. We need Governor Mills to build a low income housing project in every town including Freeport.

I’m originally from Massachusetts and chose to live in Maine.

I love Maine.

If I want to disagree, that's what my three minutes at the microphone are for. —————————————————— Look, if your expressed opinion was to zone in such a way as to racially exclude someone, then the media would happily report it. What I mean by shaming is simply reporting it.

Let people see for themselves who is causing the housing crisis. Reporting on it isn’t preventing you from expressing your opinion.

If you believe that expressing your opinion and having it appear on the 6pm news is bad, then there’s a flaw with your opinion.

We publicly shame people all the time for their opinions by simply showing it in broad daylight.

Reporting on the root cause of the housing/apartment shortage is very much a reporter’s job.

I have said this very same thing.

There's not only not enough housing, there's not enough multifamily housing.

Multi family housing is the easiest way that a first time buyer can qualify for a house.

Build more multifamily housing and you also get more apartments which will lead to a stabilization of rents, and a decrease in the rental value of apartments that are not well maintained.

With regards to to NIMBYism, reporters need to start showing up at town meetings and city council meetings and publicly shame NIMBYists.

The Governor could start the ball rolling with a carrot; more state funds to cities and towns that provide zoning ONLY for 2-3 family homes on 5000-10000 sf lots.

Yeah, native NH people hate Massholes until it comes time to sell their homes.

I’d go to jail too. I’m a lousy dancer.

Nothing will change as long as builders are not allowed to build a 3 family on a 5000 sf lot.

There are lots of towns in Maine where you could do that if only zoning allowed it. Wherever there are stores, that’s where you could have such zoning. That would instantly increase the value of a single family sitting on a 20000 sf lot in the town center. There’s no need for a house in the town center to be sitting on such a large lot. Change the zoning, raise assessed values to reflect highest and best use, and such owners will voluntarily subdivide their lots and sell them just to lower their taxes. Builders will buy up those lots, build multi families on them and new buyers will have rental income to support their mortgages. Multi families on small lots won’t appeal to buyers of short term rental vacation type properties.

>Paying cash for a house is just about impossible for the average person. Which means most everybody will need to use a bank. The difference between not qualifying for the bank's (arbitrary) standards for a loan and "not being allowed" seems more pedantic than meaningful.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Banks are in the business of making loans. Any buyer with a thought in his head will contact a mortgage representative from a bank and get pre-approved or pre-qualified. The rules for qualifying are a little different from lender to lender. They will tell you what they are. I would also advise becoming a member of a local credit union because sometimes their guidelines are more easygoing if you're buying a home in the city or town where they're located.

The days when lenders refused to lend to a to a qualified buyer because of race or ethnicity are long gone. If they refuse you despite your having good credit may be due to some minor rule, like inability to account for the source of your downpayment. If that is the case, the mortgage representative (who is also in the business of bringing in loans) will work with you to create a history for the source of the downpayment. The only time I had a hard time qualifying for a loan was back in 1981, and that was because depositors had withdrawn their money from banks and put it into high interest money market funds like Fidelity. Most banks had no money to lend. Mortgage companies had not yet been created.

The OP also does not address the huge expenses a landlord incurs when a tenant doesn’t pay the rent. Sure, you can evict. Try evicting an elderly tenant or a single mother with kids. Even if the tenant is in the wrong and the landlord is in the right, a judge will automatically grant the tenant an extension. During that time, you think the landlord will be forgiven utility bills? Real estate tax bills? Mortgage bills? What do you think happens to a landlord who depends on the rents as their only income? That’s right! They stand a good chance of losing their investment. Now, is a landlord allowed to discriminate against single mothers or elderly tenants and only rent to single people or DINKS? They are not.

The above are just some of the reasons a prospective landlord prefers to turn rental properties into short term rentals. You get your money up front, and a dud tenant is gone in a week.

Assuming the bank allows you. —————————————————————- Incorrect phrasing. The bank wants to lend. You don’t want to use a bank? Pay cash. If the bank doesn’t give you a loan, it’s not because they don’t want you to buy a house. It’s because you don’t qualify.

What is GOAT?

Can a lawsuit be brought against a judge?

You didn’t address a single point I made. I proposed solutions. All you’ve done is complain.

I suggest YOU become a landlord and keep us informed about your altruistic progress.

Screw landlords, that is all.

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No, that is not all. Being a landlord is a business. They have expenses too. Real estate taxes. Water/Sewer bills. Maintenance.

I'll tell you who's at fault. Your NIMBY neighbors. And YOU if you don't show up at town meetings or hold your mayors, town managers, etc. feet to the fire.

You set aside zoning for multi family homes in EVERY town, and soon you'll have all the apartments you'll need.

I was a landlord in another state. City I lived in was mostly 2-3 family homes on small lot sizes. Single family homes were the minority; in fact, a lot of older victorian single family homes had been converted to 2 and 3 family homes.

Here's what you do. Show up at town meetings. Shame the NIMBYs and those responsible for zoning. Use your cameras and go on social media. Call the networks.

Do it now while it light and fluffy because it it rains, it’ll soak up water and become dangerously heavy. No amount of fluffy snow should be allowed to stay. Next time it snows, it could be light and fluffy but you might be too busy to take it off, then if it rains, you’re in trouble.