Legal Benefits of Homeownership

The law prizes expensive, single-family homes above all other forms of housing. This Article details the many ways that the law benefits homeowners and distains renters, mobile-home owners, and the homeless. There are seven topics: (1) zoning laws mandate single-family homes and ban localities from requiring affordable housing, (2) the Tax Code allows homeowners to write off innumerable expenses but virtually nothing for renters, (3) lenders seeking to foreclose on a mortgage must surmount many hurdles, but landlords may act with nearly a free hand to evict, (4) federal, state, and local institutions all work to support the housing market and give homeowners disproportionate power and opportunities, (5) courts extend far more privacy to homes, especially large ones, and give homeowners more authority to defend their properties, (6) owners of manufactured housing, also known as mobile homes, have few protections against abusive landlords, and (7) the homeless are actively targeted by the law and punished for merely existing. Overall, the wealthier the homeowner, the more benefits the law grants them.