I have been a property owner and manager renting single family residences (condos and apartments), for over 40 years. I could support rent control and rent freeze measures but not in their current configurations.
A commonly applied metric is that, to be sustainable, a tenant’s rent shouldn’t exceed 30% of their income. The 70% difference consists of expenses for food, utilities, transportation, healthcare, etc.
When rent controls or freezes are enacted to keep within this metric, the landlord is asked to alleviate the difference. Meanwhile, with their income controlled, a landlord’s personal expenses, (food, utilities et al) remain free to rise. Unless these items are also controlled, landlords are asked to pick up the tenant’s entire shortfall.
Richard Nixon, not exactly progressive by any stretch, enacted price controls on wide areas of the economy. While his motivation was political, a similar practice needs to be in place to make rent controls fair.
Sincerely,
Glenn Egelko
Ventura
