Rent Control

[admin]

What do you think of rent controls? As rents continue to rise there are increasing call for rent controls.

When I bought a condo I had to evict on old man who had been there for 17 years. He was paying well below market. He’s a nice guy….. but he was a hoarder and the place was very dark and depressing. He had changed the lock and the previous owner didn’t even have the keys. Nothing had been done to the unit in 17 years.

Such is life….. business is business.

This dude would have benefited from rent controls in NYC, or some European cities.

[PCinSD]

Go to the search bar. Top right. Type “rent control”. This will reveal several threads addressing thoughts on rent control. Including your own.

Your welcome.

[FlyerInHi]

Thank you for following me. I appreciate the support.
I don’t recall what what my thoughts were in the past. Times change, and there seems to be Increasing support for rent control across the country.

[scaredyclassic]

sometimes I think it really doesn’t matter what the rules are, as long as they’re stable, everything adjusts. it’s sudden changes that seem ridiculous, like forgiving everyone’s debt. windfalls are bad

[temeculaguy]

[quote=PCinSD]Go to the search bar. Top right. Type “rent control”. This will reveal several threads addressing thoughts on rent control. Including your own.

Your welcome.[/quote]

Brian, it’s not support, it’s fatigue.

[Coronita]

Cliff notes version: “I think we should do something about rent control for old people that have very little options…. But everyone else OTHER THAN ME should do something… I’m going to buy and evict an old person so I can increase my profits, and for me earning money is way more important than my ideology I preach…..Not my problem…By the way, I’m an elitist and I am refined. I think richer people should pay more taxes for the poor. Everyone…but me…But now that I’ve proudly threw someone out on the street, I’m going to get on piggington and brag about how I threw someone out onto the street….”

[FlyerInHi]

Flu, didn’t you say that people who have hands on knowledge are more qualified to comment on issues?

Nobody got thrown to the street. It’s just that a lot of people are bad financial managers. They don’t have downpayments, cash or credit to buy. So they rent forever and they develop a sense of “ownership” where they live. However, the reality is that length of past tenancy has no bearing on current and future rents and the continuing quiet and peaceful enjoyment of a rental.

Flu, you are again committing the fallacy of composition. Capitalism says that individual greed results in aggregate welfare. Would you disagree with that?

[gzz]

NY State just passed some really intense new rent control laws. They will primarily apply to NYC but other cities are allowed to adopt them. They basically got rid of every single exception to the old laws.

One old rule was if the tenant made 200k+ two years in a row you could raise the rent. Not anymore.

Another rule said if you initially charged less than allowed you could later go up to the controlled amount. Not anymore, your initial discount is fixed forever.

Also no more owner-move-in evictions without proving “exceptional hardship.”

No converting apartments to condos unless the majority of tenants buy units, so basically never.

SF’s rent control looks quite restrained by comparison. I think SF voters would pass similar rules if the state allowed them, and that could happen soon, either now or in 2 years when the legislature probably gets even more liberal. It is a big risk to buy a rental property in SF for this reason. Santa Monica as well.

With laws like this, it can make sense to either AirBNB, only rent to wealthy foreign students who are unlikely to stay long term, or just keep a unit empty while it appreciates.

[FlyerInHi]

[quote=gzz]NY State just passed some really intense new rent control laws. They will primarily apply to NYC but other cities are allowed to adopt them. They basically got rid of every single exception to the old laws.

One old rule was if the tenant made 200k+ two years in a row you could raise the rent. Not anymore.

Another rule said if you initially charged less than allowed you could later go up to the controlled amount. Not anymore, your initial discount is fixed forever.

Also no more owner-move-in evictions without proving “exceptional hardship.”

No converting apartments to condos unless the majority of tenants buy units, so basically never.

SF’s rent control looks quite restrained by comparison. I think SF voters would pass similar rules if the state allowed them, and that could happen soon, either now or in 2 years when the legislature probably gets even more liberal. It is a big risk to buy a rental property in SF for this reason. Santa Monica as well.

With laws like this, it can make sense to either AirBNB, only rent to wealthy foreign students who are unlikely to stay long term, or just keep a unit empty while it appreciates.[/quote]

Yeah. Rents are rising in the major metros faster than wages. Rent control is gaining support.

https://knpr.org/npr/2019-03/return-rent-control

[lindismith]

I’m a dyed-in-the-wool liberal, (and lurking after many years of non-posting to see if Piggs think we’re recession-bound,) but I am opposed to Rent Control. It just doesn’t do what it’s supposed to do, and everyone loses.

I recently invested in some RE in Portland, and was a little worried about their RC initiatives, but so far they are saying 7% annual increase for landlords, and that seems more reasonable than other areas, but I’m still nervous.

[an]

7% isn’t that bad, unless we experience something like the 70s again. It just mean that I will no longer be doing long term lease and will be raising rent every year up to the maximum. Don’t want to get left behind. It just suck for good renters. One of my tenant have been getting the same rent for >7 years. It’s a few $hundred less than market. But they’re great tenants, so I kept their rent the same and signed a 4 year lease. Won’t do that again if CA pass rent control.

[zk]

[quote=lindismith]I’m a dyed-in-the-wool liberal, (and lurking after many years of non-posting to see if Piggs think we’re recession-bound,) but I am opposed to Rent Control. It just doesn’t do what it’s supposed to do, and everyone loses.

I recently invested in some RE in Portland, and was a little worried about their RC initiatives, but so far they are saying 7% annual increase for landlords, and that seems more reasonable than other areas, but I’m still nervous.[/quote]

Dang, great to hear from you, lindismith! It’s been a really long time.

As a left-leaning centrist with positions across the spectrum, I’m also against rent control. But apparently not for the same reasons as you. This is one of my conservative positions. I don’t agree with the idea of rent control in general. I don’t think a person is entitled to live somewhere he can’t afford the rent.

I am generally for rich people paying more than poor people in order to fund…the country in general. But taking money pretty much directly from property owners and giving it pretty much directly to low-middle income people places the burden too directly and too deeply on too small a segment of the population.

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