Do you agree with implementing rent control? Thoughts on Tenants Rights?

Question

The White House just released a blueprint for a “Renters Bill of Rights.” It outlines a proposal for federal protections for renters.
What are your thoughts on tenants rights? What type of right should a renter have? Do you agree with rental control? I haven’t read the full blueprint yet, so I don’t know if there is anything about rent control, but I’m excited to see the right to organize in there. I’m just curious as to CC’s stance on this topic. I’ll include my thoughts in the comments.

Answer

Tbh I kind of lost motivation with this post lol. I’m tired. So it may not be as good as I intended or as informative as the topic deserves. So sorry. 
Anyway, I believe rent control is incredibly important and needed. I don’t believe a landlord should be able to increase rent the way they do. I see it everyday in my line of work. Im currently working a case where the landlord raised the rent $550. From $1,100 a month to $1,550. That’s just not a sustainable increase for nearly anyone.
I am working another case where a landlord bought a whole block of row homes and also raised the rent by $500. The neighborhood is outraged and they deserve the right to organize and protest this without harsh risks. The economy is already struggling, and now landlords are adding stress to an already disadvantaged population.
What happens when there are rent increases that the community cannot afford? They are forced onto the streets. Some may think it’s the landlords property and they can do what they want with it, but please consider the effect this has on communities. Children are ripped from their families and their school, which creates trauma and can disrupt their education, meaning the impact is generations long.
Something needs to be done and I’m willing to advocate for the rights of tenants and hope others are onboard with this as well.

Answer

Good topic. Ok. I pulled up the new White House doc. It’s pretty long though, so I haven’t had the chance to read it in full yet. I’ll try to get to it before tomorrow and add a comment about specific thoughts on it. 
In general though, yes I enthusiastically support renters rights, including rent control. However, that needs must come along with a public education campaign for tenants, and government funded agencies to help everyone navigate changes. I have a lot of thoughts and feelings on this, so sorry ahead of time if I get ranty lol. 
Landlords have gone completely wild the last few years, and it is not ok at all. Corporate ownership of property is a huge concern of mine, but even smaller scale owners are increasingly problematic as well. I legitimately don’t know how they expect adult renters to keep up, or young adults to start out. 
I’ve heard arguments that we should do away with the system entirely, but I don’t agree. Most of my adult life I have had zero desire to own property, I’m not even interested in co-ownership/co-ops. I just want want to pay my rent, be treated fairly, and have owners follow through on their end with upkeep etc. 
My area in particular is dealing with extremely bad gentrification. Traditional three flats are being torn down and replaced by single family dwellings at an alarming rate. It’s pushing families out, and the entire area is getting richer and whiter. It’s destroying the very culture and qualities of the area that people are moving here for. 
We had rent control for decades here. Then they put a moratorium on it to let rent catch up to costs. That was fine, but the moratorium was never lifted, and it’s now becoming a crises. 
That aside, we do have some of the strongest renters rights in the country, and I couldn’t be any more thankful. The biggest issue is that most tenants are not aware of what their rights, or how to assert them. Landlords far too often take advantage of this. I like to flatter myself that I’m at least average intelligence, with fairly strong research skills, and an ability to read legal jargon. Fuck though, it was a pain in the ass. I had a steep learning curve educating myself, and I still have had to fight to assert myself. It should not be this difficult. 
“No, you can’t come in as you please. I require written notice in advance as this is not an emergency. No, I’m not paying that ridiculous increase, and you have no legal right to expect me to. Yes, fine call the police. I’ll be calling the tenants rights org, and my lawyer while we wait.” 
These are all real things I’ve screamed through  doors at landlords. Landlords who refuse to fix broken shit. Landlords who assume I don’t know my rights, and try to take advantage of it constantly. Landlords who are basically just predators, and my experiences are nowhere near the worst I’ve heard.

Answer

Yep 100 percent agree and especially with increase restrictions. I own a home now but the large metro I lived in before we moved had no rent control. There would be areas that were being gentrified and I had friends who were in units that were $1100 for a 2 bedroom (super cheap for that city) and got notices that their rent was increasing to $3500 a month. So many people were forced out of units and so many places had 6+ month long wait lists so moving was very trying. While I was in college in a different area and lived in my car because I couldn't afford rent and life so many people were also living in cars because rent increased and even those with jobs and career were forced out. Renters should have rights to privacy, safety, and the ability to seek these things without fear of retaliation from a landlord...as well as the ability to not have their rent more than double with no warning. Not all landlords are sketchy but enough are that yes there needs to be more protections. It shouldn't be renters have absolute say and rights to the point it swings to landlords being totally stuck but there needs to be a balance and right now in many many cities there is not and landlords hold way more power than they should amd tenants just have to deal.

Answer

I haven't looked into this bill but I will when I have time later today. I'm happy to hear something is being done. My city had an 85% overall increase in rental prices from 2021 to 2022 which is absurd. We're also number 1 in the country for remote workers moving here. Remote workers can afford the high rent but long time residents can't.  Something has to give. I'm 100% in favor of national rent control and would love to see it happen but I've seen the idea branded as too radical when it was floated in the past so I don't have high hopes

Answer

I’d have to do more of my own research on everything rent control involves, but from the sound of it, I agree. There are definitely some good landlords out there, but from my experience, most are greedy old men. I live in a very rural area. The average cost of rent for a 2 bedroom apartment in my area was around $650 to $700 a month until the past year or so. Now I’m seeing prices as high as $1,200. Our landlord thankfully hasn’t increased rent. We pay $700 for a 3 bedroom house. However some of you that follow along in chit chat may remember me posting about the car that wrecked into our house in early December. It busted out a window, knocked down some drywall, and put a small hole in one of the walls. Our landlord still hasn’t fixed any of it. Our front door doesn’t even shut all the way because of the way the house shifted. No repairs have been made, but he still shows up every month for his rent check. If I make a big deal out of it, I have to worry about being evicted with my 3 year old daughter. And then trying to come up with the money to take him to court. I would hope rent control would also do something about those types of landlords.

Answer

I tried to research as much as I could on it, and like that it wants to provide clear and fair leases. Often times leases are confusing as heck, and sneaky. Rent shouldn’t be so high either for every time it renews! I’ve seen dangy and beat up looking apartments for like 2 grand a month. Simply because it’s in Florida. 🥴 Meanwhile wages do not match up with how high rent goes up. Someone I know had a $200 increase in their rent from their last year’s lease. So sad. I’m for anything that makes life easier for people.

Answer

I support rent control 100% I was born and raised in Los Angeles where rent has sky rocketed to the point that we couldn’t afford to live there and had to sleep on my aunts couch to save up money to leave the state. My whole family had to move out the state or into smaller towns because it’s simply impossible to survive on a middle-class salary. At the time we had a combined income of 110k a year and we were stretched so thin that we had to choose between living in LA and being able to meet our family’s needs. Homelessness is at an all time high out there and it’s heartbreaking how many CA natives are being bought out by out of state investors and short term rentals on top of unbelievably high rent.

Answer

There should be rules about what landlords can do when it comes to charging people…. I rented an old trailer (like 19 years old)  before we bought this house… when we started renting it we were supposed to pay $650 for rent without stuff like water being included….. when we moved out we were paying $900. For a trailer that only got more run down and stuff. They never wanted to come fix what needed fixed, the power always went out causing the food in the fridge to go bad… and that was a monthly thin… they charged 75$ an hour to cut grass if it wasn’t done the way they wanted it and when they wanted it… the heat would stop working so we would have to use electric heaters which made us spend more money…. They raised the prices for having an animal in the home….. they did sneaky shit. It’s terrible. Landlords have too much power sometimes. They charge wayyyy too much. And most of them don’t care about actually fixing what is their job to fix.

Answer

Ya I do think something needs to be done. Not sure exactly but I’d say a person or company owns a building there should be x amount of units for low income. And maybe a cap on how much you can charge based on data collected (area income levels, surrounding rent levels, value of unit, etc) to come up with a calculated rent cap

Answer

After reading it. The only thing that concerns me is the right to organize. While I think the thought behind it is great. We then open the doors to the KKK or others like them to organize in a rental. I personally own a 4 plex and really do not like the thought of just letting the KKK organize there. That would make my other tenants very uncomfortable.

Do you agree with implementing rent control? Thoughts on Tenants Rights?

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