As a conservative, free market guy, I should oppose rent control, right?
But what if the supply side of the market is artificially capped? What if rents go up not because the demand side is growing, but because the supply side is restricted through government regulations? In that case, do you really have a free market?
I say, of course not. What you have an artificially contrived method to drive up housing prices to the point that the market no longer functions as it should.
Where there are growth restrictions, I have no problem with rent control.
That’s why I’ll be supporting this new effort to impose rent control in Ventura.
Of course, this measure will fail at the City Council level, so their will need to be a ballot initiative, which I will help gather signatures for.
How much do you want to be that I get a notice within the next 30 days raising my rent, as landlords, since the greedy bastards who own this building, try to slip in one last rent increase.
I’ve already heard one tale of a renter getting his rent increased today, in direct response to new of the rent control proposal.
The nice thing, though, the ballot initiative can include language that rolls rents back to March 1, 2003 levels.
I’m all for it.
You want slow growth to drive up property values, then you need to accept rent control. Both are artifical intrustions into the market, but if you’re going to have one, it’s only fair to have the other.
Been renting since 1994 her in Ventura. Archstone are bastards. They raise every year and what the market can handle. I’m originally from LA Santa Monica where there is rent control. In the long run this will keep people living and paying taxes in the local city rather than moving to suburbs. We as one need to push for rent control as soon as possible.