It SHOULD Be A Rule

I do not believe that it is okay in Monopoly to not pay rent when you land on a property, just because the owner didn't notice or ask! It is one of the things I hate about playing the game. This is probably because I do not pay close enough attention and I never remember to ask - so get screwed over all the time. Then I become angry and indignant because I feel like my friends have cheated and rudely stole from me!

But I am wrong, because according to the 2007 Official Monopoly Rules from the Hasbro website, it states that "the owner may not collect the rent if he/she fails to ask for it before the second player following rolls the dice." So. the owner of the property does have to ask for it. However, that sentence is faulty at best. What does 'second player following' mean? It actually doesn't seem to suggest the next player, so you have two turns to remember to ask? Huh?

I truly believe that it should be YOUR JOB TO TELL PEOPLE YOU LAND ON THEIR PROPERTY. You are either paying rent for a house or staying in a hotel. Would you just not pay rent because the landlord didn't show up to request it? Or would you just walk out of a hotel without paying? NO. So the onus is on you to inform and pay!!

You would think that connecting the principles of the real life when nothing has been built yet on the property wouldn't work. Wouldn't it just be an empty street, what would you be paying rent for? Well, I think the streets already have houses on them when you buy them, since the bottom of the card states: "If player owns ALL the Lots of any Color-Group, the rent is Doubled on Unimproved Lots in that group." I love that the implication is that owning an entire neighbourhood ups the rent. since you would be able to literally create a monopoly in the area. Anyway, the word 'unimproved' seems to mean that the houses and hotels built are just improvements that you, the owner, is making to the street to up its value and that there are properties to rent already there.

And, you should have to pay that rent to the owner each time you are staying on the street, regardless of being asked. Because if you don't, basically you have become a squatter and that is illegal in Canada.