Comment by aurareturn
18 hours ago
Yep. Rent control benefits the people who are already there, but punishes everyone else.
It will increase the price for new comers, lower the quality of buildings due lack of maintenance funding, and decrease new construction.
Rental control is NIMBY for renters who are already there.
> Rent control benefits the people who are already there
Not always. It can trap the person in the apartment, such as constraining where they can work.
It can't trap the person in the apartment because they can leave at anytime.
"Trap" here means the deal is so good that they don't ever want to leave.
Trap is when it is too expensive to leave, so they put up with a lower quality of life, such as not being near their jobs.
2 replies →
> "Trap" here means the deal is so good that they don't ever want to leave.
Yes. I know someone who has a huge rent controlled place in San Francisco and has had it for many decades. Probably worth like 10K/month if you rented it today. I don't know what his rent it, but he says it is so low that he'll never give it up. He no longer lives in San Francisco, lives elsewhere. The SF place gets used occasionally on weekends. So it remains empty, mostly unused, off the rental market because it would be insane to let it go. This is what rent control does. It's great for him and I don't blame him, I'd do the same too. But it's the wrong incentive.