this post was submitted on 01 Apr 2025

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Why do some say they own or have bought something that they technically haven't (e.g. domain names, expensive things, etc.)? (lemm.ee)

submitted 3 days ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

60 comments fedilink hide all child comments

Wouldn't leasing or renting be more accurate depending on what's involved and the circumstances?

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[–] [email protected] 6 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago) (1 children)

It's a scam that you're forced to pay homeowner taxes on a home that the bank actually owns.

And, they force you to pay mortgage insurance (against yourself) if for some reason you can't pay your mortgage. In the event you can't pay, they make you leave the house AND reap the benefits of the insurance claim. I'm sorry, if the bank wants to bet against you that's one thing, but forcing you to pay the bill to bet against yourself is massively unfair.

It's entirely possible that you could be unable to afford the mortgage payment because of the additional costs of the extra insurance they force you to pay, to insure them against you not being able to pay. Think about that.

This is entirely separate from homeowners insurance, which is a whole other scam they force you to pay.

There should be a law to force mortgage lenders to disclose the full price of the loan at the time you take the loan. For example, if a home is $200k, a typical 30-year mortgage for that home will have you paying something like $450k by the time you finish paying it off. This should be shown to the buyer at the time you take the loan.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 1 day ago

I mean technically you own the house and the bank owns your loan (with house as collateral), but I do get your point about taxes. However, if the bank had to pay the taxes, they'd just wind up incorporated into the loan. And if the bank actually owned the home, you'd need their approval for any changes.

As for mortgage insurance, you can avoid that with a large enough down payment (20%).

As for the full cost of the loan, I thought that is part of the standard paperwork? If not, sounds like you might have had a bad realtor. You can also look up that info online with any mortgage calculator.

[–] [email protected] 26 points 3 days ago (2 children)

FYI, some domains can genuinely be acquired for an indefinite period, as the delegation has no expiration period. So long as the domain is kept in good standing (eg two working authoritative nameservers) and doesn't violate the parent domains' policies, it will persist. Granted, few people go through this rather-old process to get such domains but they do exist. See my earlier comment.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 3 days ago

Thanks for this info! I was unaware of this given how rarely it's mentioned.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 2 days ago

I requested a PTR record once from my ISP. They first didn’t understand what it was, then said they didn’t provide it. I didn’t have a static IP but still.

[–] [email protected] 15 points 2 days ago (1 children)

I just thought it's more of an issue of language/expression than anything... Methinks the concept of "leasing/renting" for an indefinite amount of time might be quite new in human history, so maybe we just don't have a better word for it

Case in point... From a pure technical standpoint, I thought a game I purchased on Steam or an audiobook from Amazon is technically "leased indefinitely with no additional fees", but doesn't the lack of additional fees make it equivalent to owning something?

And as otherwise pointed out, under capitalist systems you can literally own a home, but would still have to pay taxes to pay for maintenance of publicly shared resources... so at what time should we call it "leased" instead

[–] [email protected] 4 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago) (1 children)

Well, we do have the words leasing and renting.

The difference between owning games on steam and actually owning a game? When steam shuts down, you suddenly don't own any games anymore.

When you own a house, you can do whatever you want with it. If you choose to use it without utilities, you can for no extra cost. And paying taxes doesn't really have anything to do with ownership.if anything taxes are proof of your ownership.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 day ago (1 children)

What are you talking about? "Taxes don't have anything to do with ownership"

Your county sends the person on the deed to the house a tax bill every year. For me, it works out to over $300 per month for a very modest house. If you have a mortgage, it's bundled into the mortgage payments.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Yeah, owners pay taxes to fund the government. But paying taxes does not mean you don't own something, as if you were renting.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Functionally, there's no difference. The amount they demand is based off your house's value, and they take it away from you if you don't pay. The label is just a detail. And it's not a trivial cost, I inherited a small, aged, worn out house and I pay over $300/mo just to exist in it. The tax office wildly overestimated it's value and there's nothing I can do about it.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 22 hours ago* (last edited 22 hours ago) (1 children)

When you're renting, you're always also paying this tax indirectly. Functionally it's a tax for having a roof over your head, whether you own it or not*. So it has nothing to do with ownership.

I guess you can argue somewhere in the direction of "tax is theft", but that's a different discussion.

*kinda opposing my previous statement, I guess it would be more accurate to say that paying the tax directly to the government is kind of a proof of ownership.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 18 hours ago (1 children)

It's interesting to note that Puerto Rico doesn't have property tax. When you pay off your home, the tax collector's office just leaves you alone.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 8 hours ago

That's nice, I guess they found other ways to fund their government.

[–] [email protected] 20 points 3 days ago

For domains, you actually own them. If you define ownership as being able to trade them compared to leasing something where you are not allowed to sell the item for example.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 3 days ago (1 children)

'Expensive things'? Houses? Cars? Stocks? Businesses? Art? What are you thinking of here?

[–] [email protected] 1 points 2 days ago (2 children)

In the vein of houses and cars, yeah. I should get in a better habit of elaborating on ambiguous terms in the body, only haven't as I've mixed experience with people skipping over those.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 2 days ago (1 children)

When you take out a loan/mortgage, the bank does not own the property you purchase with those funds. You own the property, and you use it essentially as collateral to secure the loan. (It's considered a lien.) The bank can take ownership of the property if you violate the terms of the agreement, typically by failing to pay what you owe, but the bank doesn't own the property.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 2 days ago (1 children)

Mentioning @[email protected] here to address you both in your similar corrections rather than duplicate my reply: I stand corrected.

I see that I had misconstrued my personal misgivings with the penalties of failing to pay with a lack of legal ownership.

It still feels off, precarious, to describe it as ownership to me, but I recognize what you're both saying regarding the legal standing of it all.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 2 days ago

It does, sure. It helps to understand that the debt is separate from the property, same as if you borrowed $20 for lunch—it feels a lot different from your friend buying you lunch, but it doesn't feel like your friend owns your lunch until you repay them, either.

With real estate especially, once the property begins to require your attention and money, you begin to feel that ownership more acutely. The bank has no idea when the gutters need to be cleared or there's a drainage issue. They're concerned only with the loan.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 2 days ago (2 children)

I'm still confused. I own my houses and cars. I'm still paying for one of my houses (the one my mum lives in) but it's legally mine as long as I continue to pay the mortgage.

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[–] [email protected] 2 points 2 days ago (1 children)

I never understood the concept of owning a home when for most it's actually owing a mortgage and maybe owning part of a home, depending on how it might sell.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 2 days ago (1 children)

It could be owned out right if you paid it off...

Or inherented lol

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

You can't just pay off your house and expect to be left alone. The county sends the person on the deed a tax bill every year. If you don't pay, they will take the house from you.

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