Yes, more government intervention was SURELY warranted! 

*Yes, that was TOTAL sarcasm!

All of my rentals would be up for sale immediately after something like this was even suggested.

Foolish laws like this will lead to...

• a shortage of rentals available.
• A very high credit score requirement to rent anywhere.
• Slums
• A need for massive public housing projects for the masses of normal to low quality renters.
• Many landlords will boot out everyone, start over with only top tier renters or turn their buildings into condos and other types of owner occupied buildings.

And it's being talked about in many places.  Unintended consequences.  

Yes there is a blog post from our friend Lynnea Miller  about this very subject read my comment on her post... if you want the short answer NOT A FAN!

Crazy. Investors, come on down to Arizona, we don't play those stupid games!

Even though I have not read about it I can say it's scary to me Mel Ahrens, MBA, Kelly Right Real Estate 

I just saw Lynnea Miller 's post on the subject this morning and made it a late addition to my Second Chance Saturday post today.  Legislators, while creating new laws, rarely understand the laws of cause and effect.  This has trouble written all over it.   There are other ways to address the issue of affordable housing using the law of supply and demand. 

I believe in compassion, but not when it impedes on the rights of others by force. There are other workarounds that are not as intrusive as rent control is to the rights of property owners. 

This. Is. Just. Wrong.

We are familiar with rent control in California. Several cities including San Francisco, Oakland and Berkeley have rent control. There was a state-wide ballot measure during the Nov. 2018 election that would have made it easier for local municipalities to pass rent control laws if it had passed. It did not.

With the high cost of living in the San Francisco Bay Area - and much of California and the West Coast - we have not heard the last of attempts to pass rent control laws.

We will all be watching Oregon to see what state-wide rent control does there.

Chicago is debating it here & hope it does not pass. All you have to do is look at New York for the situation it creates.

What's the rush on the legislation?

I have not Mel, I will go read about it now.  Thanks 

The underlying movement is to counter homelessness. Imagine we have to pass laws to check some landlords greed...

I've not heard that; then again, can't say I follow what happens in Oregon. No doubt the idea will spread.

A lot of negativity here but no suggestions as to how an area can hold on to the people who keep an area going. What happens when all the service people have to move away because of high rents? What is an area supposed to do to avoid the closing of all the stores, gas stations, restaraunts, city workers, etc, etc

I did hear this yesterday (I believe since I have been up since 0350), when I was take a quiz from Bing.

No, I did not know that but then again Oregon is a very liberal state

We do not have it in NH and I am against the government regulating rents. They mess up everything they touch. Leave the renting to market forces. 

Interesting, no I have not years this 

This is in news reports.

I used to live in San Francisco, California, where there is a rent control.  Most renters stay at their property for ages and won't move out because the rent increases limit is 8%.  Some people live in their property for 30+ years and pay $650 for a 2 bedroom apartment while new tenants will be paying $3-4k.  This is not happening in Texas.

I was not aware of this.

Mel,

We have been through this in CA...Santa Monica was referred to by locals as Soviet Monica.  LOL

I wrote a blog about this yesterday.  We already lost buyers who were looking for investment property; they switched to another state.

A necessary evil of the broad reach of government. Unfortunately, when market pressure for affordable housing occurs, and folks have no place to go, something has to give. Perhaps too many Californians trying to escape the nirvana they have created?

the rental market in my area is out of control.... it's difficult for young people families to find housing... a 4 room apt for $1,600/mnth with separate utilities should be controlled.... 

I have and I can't wait to see this blow up in their faces.  Goodbye one year leases, hello six month leases.  Hello mandatory rent increases by the maximum allowed.  No more discretion to the landlord.

I'm sensing either a lot of listings coming up, which will crash the market, or a lot of condo converstion projects happening.

Very liberal state so not surprised.

I am hearing this being talked about in many places, as Michael Jacobs states. 

I have read this! 

Wow, I guess it myst me legal but I wonder about some of it.

I am more a fan of regulating legislative compensation 

The effect will B to drive landlordsaway 

Yes,  I have; it's intended to avoid pricing out the locals.

Here's the thing:  If a tenant moves out of their own volition, the owner can raise the rent to market rates  There is no limit on this.

On a renewal, $1500 rental, they can raise 7% + CPI, so that would be $105 + CPI.

Honestly this is a pretty big jump.  

What I foresee happening, however, is owners will increase it the full amount each time, to make sure they stay with the market.  Where as without rent control, sometimes owners keep the rent the same for everal years, and then increase.  Most rents in my area go up 35-65 annually, not $100 or more.  So this might actually hurt tenants more than no rent control.  

I am all for market forces doing the job.  Now buyers will be wary or problems relating to rent control and may not buy in the area, reducing the avialable homes to tenants. 

However, this rent control isn't saying they can't raise the rent, they are just limiting how much each year. 

Then are are MANY places in the USA with govm't imposed rent control. Understanding the factors that lead to such measures is important.

The suggestion that our law makers are in some smoke filled room glad-handing with some nefarious intent is mis-characterizing the situation.

We have the environmental elites (we have some of those on AR) and economic privileged (we have some of those on AR) who were successful in their "Keep everyone off our mountain' strategy.

Then there is Warren Buffet who bought a real estate company to manage thousands of rental houses because he understood the customary 3% annual rent increase was a fictional boundary. And creating scarcity in housing increasing the value of the real estate holdings.

AND, in my area of Florida, all of the big projects are for rental housing, NOT occupant owned housing.

Then, one morning we hear teachers/police/other first responders can not afford to live in the districts in which they teach, a requirement of some districts.

So what is a decison maker to do?

Require teachers to be paid adequately?

Go after the property owner?

Of course you go after the non-occupant owner.

Let's see what Warren does.

It may be a good thing.