Should the City of Atlanta enact rent control? (Decatur: apartment, for rent)

[Gulch]

and why/why not?

[primaltech]

I live outside the city, but I voted no. Rent control as a policy has fallen out of favor even among liberal economists. It has almost disappeared in the cities that have it, so I don't see why Atlanta would want to start now. Let the market do its thing. Just my take on it.

[Pemgin]

Does it ever work?

[lorilove]

Does not necessarily achieve the goal and is wide open for fraud.

[JMatl]

I don't think it does, Pemgin. I think almost all new residential development would grind to a halt, making things uber-expensive.

We have a good friend in a rent-controlled building in San Francisco. She loves the location, but has had to make all of her own repairs & improvements over the last 15 years. Her balcony is also no longer safe to use. Her landlord refuses to do absolutely anything, and openly welcomes lawsuits from his tenants.

[Iconographer]

The original goal of the Emergency Price Control Act (1943) was to prevent inflation in the booming, fully employed wartime economy by setting price controls nationwide. New York and a handful of other states took over the program when it expired in 1947. Its' main intent was to protect elderly and fixed-income residents from escalating rents.
To qualify for rent control in NYC, you must:
1) Live in a building constructed prior to 1947.
2) Have resided in the house or apartment since 1970, or be a qualifying family member of the original applicant (here's where the abuse kicks in).
Also, housing cannot lie vacant for more than one year or else it drops out of the program.
Obviously, over time attrition will take care of NYC's rent control situation and it will cease to exist.
I really don't see establishing a rent control program in Atlanta as tenable in any way. If your concern is for the welfare of elderly, disabled or low-income residents facing rising rents, there are far more effective methods of addressing this without cutting property owners off at the knees.

[fieldm]

hell no

[toll_booth]

Somebody has to do it:

[Iconographer]

Originally Posted by toll_booth

Somebody has to do it:

He must be the one who voted Yes on the poll.

[JMatl]

Originally Posted by LovinDecatur

He must be the one who voted Yes on the poll.

LMAO! Thanks for making me spray my wine, Lovin!