All About Rent Control
Rent control is the practice of regulating or restricting what tenants pay for rent in a city. Most areas in the U.S. do not have rent control, though it is widely seen in some major cities such as New York and Los Angeles and other areas on both the West Coast and the northeast. Generally, rent control is managed by a board or commission and includes much more than just the price that renters pay for apartments.
Details of Rent Control
In cities that regulate what landlords can charge for rent, additional regulations and restrictions are usually also involved. Rent control often also includes relations in general between tenants and landlords, offering an authority with the power to ensure that both sides fulfill their obligations. Landlords can report tenants delinquent on their rent and go through a process to have the tenant removed. On the other hand, tenants can report landlords who do not make required repairs or order an eviction that a tenant believes is against the law.
Benefits of Rent Control
- Guarantees more affordable apartments. Regulations are put in place that limit the number and amount of rent increases landlords can charge. This is designed so that rental prices don’t skyrocket so that lower-income residents are unable to afford most apartments.
- Encourages long-term relationships. By putting limits in place on the number of rent increases that can be handed down to existing tenants, rent control makes it more likely that existing tenants will establish long-term relationships with landlords. That’s generally to the benefit of both the renter and the landlord.
- Provides protections. In the majority of cities where rent control also includes broad controls over the renter-landlord relationship, both sides have a third party to go to in the case of a grievance. That means landlords are more likely to provide maintenance and make timely repairs and renters are more likely to keep their apartment in good condition and pay the rent on time.
Issues with Rent Control
- Adversary relationship. Critics of rent control argue that it creates an adversarial relationship between the renter and landlord that is in neither party’s best interest.
- May reduce apartments. Rent control critical also contend that landlords who are unable to charge the rents necessary to cover increasing costs may be more inclined to switch an apartment building to condominiums to avoid rent control. Condos are purchased, not rented, reducing the inventory of apartments in a city.
- Creates apartment hoarding. Tenants are less likely to freely move from apartment to apartment because rent control limits the number and amount of rent increases as long as a renter remains with a landlord. This can lead to tenants “passing” apartments to friends to enjoy the favorable rental terms.