["We need universal rent controls in this country, and we actually
need the federal government to champion them." ]
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RENT CONTROL EXPANDS AS TENANTS STRUGGLE WITH THE RECORD-HIGH COST OF
HOUSING  
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Jennifer Ludden
November 28, 2022
NPR
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_ "We need universal rent controls in this country, and we actually
need the federal government to champion them." _

Tenant activists from around the country rally outside the White
House on Nov. 16 in Washington, D.C. They want the Biden
administration to regulate rent increases on federally backed
housing., Jennifer Ludden/NPR

 

Last spring, a month after an out-of-state investor bought the
apartment building where LaMonica Dickerson lives in Louisville, Ky.,
she and more than 100 others got an eviction notice
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If she wanted to stay, she was told her rent would be $500 higher.

"They're forcing homelessness
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she says. "Married couples are having to split because they don't have
anywhere to go together."

Dickerson negotiated to stay put and pay only $200 more a month, but
if rents rise again when the lease is up next year, she doesn't know
what she'll do.

"I was going to go back to Nashville, and when I saw the rent in
Nashville — because that's my home, I love Nashville — it broke my
heart."

Dickerson is part of a vibrant tenants' rights movement that has
revived a push for rent control, fueled by anger and desperation after
years of rent hikes
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have outpaced wages and inflation [[link removed]]. This
month, voters in Florida, Maine and California approved ballot
measures to impose or tighten caps on rent hikes.

This expansion
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happening despite years of research
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shows rent control can actually reduce the overall amount of
affordable housing, and may not help
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who need it most. But supporters say solutions for the housing crisis
take years to play out, and people at risk of eviction or
even homelessness
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help now.

To that end, Dickerson recently joined dozens of other tenants from
around the country
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Washington, D.C., to lobby Biden administration domestic and economic
policy officials
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In addition to strengthening tenant protections, the group
has suggested an executive order
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set rent caps on federally backed mortgages and subsidized housing.

"We need universal rent controls in this country, and we actually need
the federal government to champion them," says Tara Raghuveer of the
advocacy group People's Action, which organized the trip.

Raghuveer argues that federal action is needed because many states
largely ban cities from enacting rent control (though often with
exceptions and possible workarounds.) She also cites the growing share
of housing bought by institutional investors
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"They own properties in Kentucky and Missouri and Illinois and
California, and therefore they need to be regulated by federal law,"
she says.

It's not clear the Biden administration agrees with that, or would
have such legal authority. But more states and cities are debating
rent control and taking action.

Tenant activists calling for regulation of rent hikes outside the
White House.  Shedrick Pelt/Courtesy of People's Action

Rent control is both controversial and politically popular

Jim Lapides, with the National Multifamily Housing Council, tracked 19
state legislatures that had rent control proposals this year —
nearly all of them to expand it. Combined with local measures, he says
it's the most he's seen
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working on the issue for a decade.

Lapides understands the appeal of what seems like a quick, easy fix,
but says this is not it.

"It's a shame, because rent control attempts to address the symptoms
of the problem while making the core issue worse," he says.

That core issue is a shortage of millions of homes and apartments
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It began when construction plummeted after the 2008 housing crash, and
it's led to historically low vacancy rates that have helped drive up
rents
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everywhere. Lapides says capping rents does not add to the housing
stock, discourages developers from building in that market, and over
the longer term can actually lead to fewer affordable units.

"Either they go into disrepair and fall to obsolescence because they
don't have the resources to reinvest into those units, or they get
converted to other uses," he says. "Maybe they're converted to condos,
or even not residential at all."

That's the dilemma landlord Brit Vitalius is facing in Maine, now that
Portland voters approved a ballot measure to tighten that city's rent
cap to 70% of the consumer price index — a rough measure of
inflation. Vitalius heads the Rental Housing Alliance of Southern
Maine and also rents out 30 places.

"I have some vacant units right now. I'm trying to decide what to do
with them," he says.

He expects to keep renting; Portland's new measure imposes a $25,000
fee if landlords convert property to a condo. But normally, Vitalius
says he'd use a vacancy to upgrade kitchens and bathrooms, maybe
replace a worn, clawfoot bathtub in a century-old home.

"I take great care of my tenants," he says. "But there is no reason
that I can justify putting any more money into these buildings. The
market is hot, I don't have to do anything, and I'll get the rent that
I get."

On the other side of the country, voters in Pasadena, Calif., also
passed rent control, along with measures to make it harder to evict
people.

Tenant activist Jane Panangaden says the state already caps rent, but
not enough to keep it from rising higher than the rate of inflation.
Now Pasadena will limit hikes to 75% of the consumer price index.

The aim is that, over time, a smaller share of people's income
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"And that will hopefully create a lot more stability," Panangaden
says, "because right now, tenants are moving, you know, every two or
three years as the rent goes up."

Rent control helps some people, but more is needed

Research shows rent control does keep people from being displaced
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But to actually create more affordable places to live, housing experts
say cities will need to do something else that's not as politically
popular
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eliminate single-family zoning laws, many designed decades ago to
prevent Black residents from buying in certain neighborhoods, and
allow for denser housing. Then, build lots of it.

A number of cities
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taken steps to make this happen, though it's too early to assess the
impact
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Housing experts also say far more public funding is needed to create
housing for the lowest-income renters. This month, despite struggling
under the sting of inflation, voters around the country approved
raising taxes to build, preserve and subsidize 
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affordable housing.

Analysts say the meteoric rise in rents has slowed
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the moment. But fixing the historic housing shortage
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especially affordable housing
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remains a long-term solution. In the meantime, both supporters and
opponents expect more places to consider rent control for those
struggling to avoid displacement or eviction.

_Jennifer Ludden is an NPR National Correspondent covering economic
inequality, exploring systemic disparities in housing, food insecurity
and wealth. She seeks to explain the growing gap between
socio-economic groups, and government policies to try and change it._

* Housing Crisis
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* Rent Control
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* affordable housing
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