Rent control
Study: San Francisco Rent Control Expansion Led to More Evictions
A new study from researchers at Northwestern University found that landlords were incentivized by rising rents to replace existing tenants with new market-rate-paying tenants.
Rent Control 2.0 Looks a Lot Like Rent Control 1.0
Rent control is getting a rhetorical makeover from progressive policy makers.
New York City Orders Inflation-Adjusted Rent Cuts at Rent-Stabilized Buildings
The country's largest legacy rent-control policy is pushing building owners to the breaking point.
Portland, Maine, Will Vote on Whether To Roll Back the City's Socialist Housing Policy Revolution
Today, voters will consider a citizen petition that would let landlords raise rents to market rates on vacant units.
Don't Buy the Social Housing Hype
Cities become affordable when they build a lot of housing, not when they subsidize it.
Economists Are Right To Hate Rent Control
Progressives like to argue that rent control policies that exempt new construction don't impact the construction of new housing.
DeSantis Signs Bill Banning Rent Control, Preempting Local Zoning Restrictions
The new law would allow developers to build housing on commercially zoned lots provided they include affordable units.
New York Lawmakers Could Pass the Nation's Strictest State-Level Rent Control Law by the End of the Week
A controversial "good cause" eviction bill that would cap rent increases could be included in a budget bill that must pass by April 1.
The One-Way Rent Control Ratchet
The allegedly smart balance "anti-rent gouging" policies have struck between supply and stability is already unraveling.
Ex-Lawmakers, Socialist City Councilmember Fight Putting New Housing on Shuttered Denver Golf Course
An oddball coalition of neighborhood activists and left-wing politicians have opposed plans to convert the privately owned site to housing, citing the loss of open space and impacts on gentrification.
Colorado Is the Latest State To Consider Rent Control
Plus: The U.S. Supreme Court considers another internet free speech case, the Department of Transportation pushes expensive new rail regs, and more...
Massachusetts Voters Ended Rent Control Decades Ago. Boston's Mayor Wants To Bring It Back.
The city's old-school rent control scheme worsened housing quality but had no effect on housing supply. Mayor Michelle Wu's new rent control law will likely have the opposite effect.
Joe Biden, Travel Agent in Chief
Plus: Bill would make all social media platforms check IDs, appeals court rejects rent control challenge, and more...
Federal Appeals Court Rejects Rent Control Challenge, Says Government Has Wide Powers To Regulate Land Use
The 2nd Circuit reasoned that the government hasn't necessarily taken a landlord's property when it forces him or her to operate at a loss while renting to a tenant he or she never agreed to host.
The Biden Administration Flirts With Imposing Nationwide Rent Control Via Executive Action
The White House's idea of using Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae to adopt rent control faces numerous legal and practical hurdles.
Elizabeth Warren, Jamaal Bowman Want To Give Lina Khan the Power To Impose Rent Control on the Whole Country
Warren and fellow progressive Democrats have asked President Joe Biden to use the FTC, HUD, or maybe the FHFA to impose nationwide rent control.
Landlords Sue Over City-Mandated 15 Percent Rent Cut
Property owners in Kingston, New York, argue the city is vastly underestimating its vacancy rate in order to justify ruinous rent cuts.
Rent Control Is Up for a Vote This Year. Its Effects Aren't.
Voters in Orange County, Florida, and Pasadena, California, will vote on ballot initiatives that cap rent increases at, or below, inflation.
The Nation's Worst Rent Control Law Gets a Few Moderating Fixes
The St. Paul City Council passed a series of amendments to a voter-passed rent stabilization ordinance that exempt new construction and make it easier for landlords to factor inflation into rent increases.
Study: New York City Apartments Being 'Defunded' by High Inflation, Rent Caps
A new report from The Community Housing Improvement Program argues that allowable rent hikes in rent-stabilized buildings cover less than half the increase in operating costs.
Lawsuit: Orlando Rent Control Proposal Is Illegal
Florida landlords and realtors argue that Orange County is abusing its emergency powers.
Great Moments in Unintended Consequences: Rent Control, Arizona Alt Fuel, Ballot Access (Vol. 8)
Good intentions, bad results.
San Francisco Legalizes 'Missing Middle' Housing in the Worst Way Possible
Property owners can now build fourplexes in San Francisco, but only if they've owned the land for five years, place the new units under rent control, and don't try to make them much larger than a single-family home.
Is the Nation's Harshest Rent Control Law Unconstitutional, or Just Counterproductive?
Two St. Paul, Minnesota, landlords claim that the city's restrictions on rent increases above 3 percent amounts to a taking of their property without due process or compensation.
What John Oliver Gets Wrong About Rising Rents
The comedian largely ignores laws against new supply while arguing we should declare housing a federally funded, government-provided human right.
The Dangers of Rent Control on Display in the Twin Cities
St. Paul has seen a 61 percent decrease in building permits after the city imposed rent control on future housing.
Study: St. Paul's Rent Control Law Primarily Provides Benefits for High-Income Renters
A new paper finds that lower income property owners are seeing the biggest falls in property values while high-income renters will get the biggest discounts on rent.
America's Most Controversial Rent Control Law Is Getting a Hasty Makeover
A collapse in new development activity followed St. Paul voters' approval of a strict, vaguely written rent control ordinance. City and state officials are scrambling over how best to fix the new law.
The New York Times Posts Pro-Rent-Control Cringe
The traditional case for rent control isn't made any more convincing by a Democratic Socialists of America dance number.
Rent Control Is Fashionable Again. It's Still a Bad Idea.
Even supposedly well-designed rent control policies come at the expense of new supply while creating a class of renters opposed to necessary zoning reforms.
Developers Halt Projects, Mayor Demands Reform After St. Paul Voters Approve Radical Rent Control Ballot Initiative
Unlike almost every rent control law in the country, the ordinance passed by St. Paul voters includes no exemption for new construction.
In Gangbuster Night for Republicans, Glenn Youngkin Wins Virginia Governor's Race
Plus: The Twin cities both say yes to rent control, Eric Adams will be the next mayor of New York City, and more...
Joe Biden Presses Ahead With Vaccine Mandates, Inviting Legal Challenges
Plus: The Twin Cities will both vote on rent control ballot initiatives, New Jersey and Virginia voters will pick a new governor, and more...
Seattle City Council Passes Rent Control by Another Name. Is It Legal?
New bills passed earlier this week require landlords to give tenants 180 days' notice before raising rents and pay relocation expenses to low-income tenants who move in response to rent hikes.
Rashida Tlaib Supports Legislation Canceling Rent. She Also Made Up to $50,000 as Landlord Last Year.
The Michigan congresswoman is a co-sponsor of a bill that would suspend all tenants' obligation to pay rent through April 2022.
The CDC Eviction Moratorium Is Extended for a 4th Time
The federal government's ban on the removal of non-paying tenants was supposed to expire on June 30. It'll now run through July 31.
Ayanna Pressley Wants To Cancel the Rent. She's Also Made at Least $15,000 As a Landlord.
The Massachusetts Congresswoman is a two-time supporter of the Rent and Mortgage Cancelation Act.
L.A.'s Plan To Save Old Affordable Units Could Mean No New Ones
Freezing rents at existing affordable housing will eliminate developers' incentive to build more of it.
Victories for Liberty, Property Rights, and Nondiscrimination on Three Major California Ballot Measures
Beneficial outcomes on at least three of four important California ballot measures: racial preferences, rent control, and protecting ride-share businesses and workers.
Californians Vote on Four Ballot Measures with Major Stakes for Liberty, Property Rights, and Justice
These votes could have a big impact on the nation as a whole, as well as California.
California's Rent Control Ballot Initiative Getting Crushed in New Poll
Only 37 percent of voters said they support Prop. 21, which would give local governments more power to limit rent hikes.
A Legal Challenge to New York's Latest Rent Control Laws
Government growth and abuses are not challenged nearly enough.
Who Should Pay the Rent During a Pandemic?
Rent strikes and calls for rent cancellation proliferate across the country.
With 30 Percent of Tenants Unable To Pay Their Bills This Month Due to COVID-19, Many Want Rent Canceled
Alexandria, Virginia, is the latest city to entertain demands to cancel rent payments during the current pandemic.