rent control

[Asiadeep]

Hey guys, sorry for the stupid question but I'm not very sure what rent control actually means. Does this mean that the rental price of an apartment must be below a certain amount for any tennant or does it mean that if the current tannent stays for long periods of time that the rent can't be increased thus only protecting that one long-staying tennant.

[Ultrarunner]

There is not any one answer because rent control is very specific to the each area. Where I am, Rent increases are ordinarily limited to a cost of living index approved by the city council... 1 or 2% at best.

Vacancy Decontrol allows the owner to raise the rent to market rate IF the previous tenant moved voluntarily or for cause such as failure to pay rent... In other words, I am not allowed to raise the rent if I caused the tenant to move for no reason.

It can become quite complicated. Generally, the property owner must provide you with at least minimum information on any rent control in place in that jurisdiction and contact information for the rent board.

[celticman]

Hey SandyCo, I heard you mention a russian lady that yells at you to not use your water over the weekend. I belive I know this woman!!! I think she is a manager at my work. She is actually Romanian, and has a little daughter!!!

[avantgarden]

I am a die-hard liberal, but I happen to think that economically rent control is a horrible policy, and in the end it is the "poor" that often suffer from rent control. A much better policy is offering the lower-income brackets housing subsidies.

[UB50]

I think some rent control laws are good though probably not every one of them.

The last building we rented in was sold during our tenancy. The new owners immediately raised the rent. A couple of months or so later, they raised it again. Then they gave us a 60 day notice and raised it again. I think they would have raised the rent every month if the law had allowed them to do so. At one point, they demanded that everyone clean their parking spaces so that there was no oil or anything under the cars. We either had to clean the spaces or pay them to clean the spaces. (This was something like another $100.) I thought this was outrageous since the parking spaces were not clean when we moved in!