When landlord Elaine Stenson couldn't get her tenants to pay their rent for months and ignored legal notices to vacate the premises, she decided on a very old (medieval, actually) technique: public shaming.
And while the technique worked, it sparked an outrage by some:
A letting agency in Dundee is taking radical measures to name and shame tenants who are running up rent arrears. Lease2Keys are installing “for sale”-style signs outside properties with "Rent Dodger Lives Here", emblazoned on them. [...]
Gordon MacRae of the homeless charity Shelter is outraged by the letting agents’ actions. He said: “We thought tarring and feathering went out with the middle ages. People who find themselves in rent arrears usually have multiple reasons for being in debt.
Do you think it's right to publicly embarrass a rent dodger or a deadbeat?
George Stenson - Lease2Keys
I have been wanting to re-intorduce the stocks for some time now.
With most jails at or above capacity these days, why not let lesser offenders have the choice between a short jail time or public shaming?
Drunk driving or petty theft? One week in prison, or 5 weekends standing in a public square, with full name and offense on a poster around your neck.
Of course, an anonymous, uncaring or impersonal landlord will simply have the police come and haul you off for trespassing. But even a management agency is made up of people, and people can be persuaded that a tenant with a good history may be worth more than the uncertainty of a new tenant at full rent.