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Essay about Rent Control

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Rent Control in New York: An Economic Analysis

Rent control refers to laws that limit the amounts of rent and the amounts that rent can be increased in any year. There is no statewide rent control in the US, and all the rent control laws and regulation are passed by cities. Most of the cities with rent control are located in New York, California, and New Jersey. Washington, D.C. also has rent control.
Rent control first appeared in the United States in the early 1900s as a way of dealing with exorbitant rent prices brought about by wartime housing emergencies and tight housing markets. During this time, rent control was handled by the federal government. In the late 1940’s, the federal rent control system was gradually scaled back …show more content…

In places with a rent control board or agency, the tenant usually doesn’t have to take that risk. The tenant can report the violation to the board or agency and ask for permission to withhold rent. In some cities, if the condition of a rental property is very bad, the board or agency can take over, collect the rents, and make repairs.

Because rent control sometimes ends or the rent can be raised when a tenant is evicted, landlords may abuse the right to evict tenants. Most cities that have rent control laws limit the reasons for an eviction. A landlord can’t give the tenant a 30-day or 60-day notice that the tenant must leave. The landlord must have a good reason for the eviction such as nonpayment of rent, breach of the rental agreement like pets that aren’t allowed, or illegal activity.

The broad powers of rent-control boards and agencies mean that many more issues and disputes about landlord-tenant issues are resolved in informal hearings instead of in courts during eviction proceedings. Some cities provide mediation services as well, to help landlords and tenants work out their differences.

Rent control laws were popular in the 1970s into the 1980s, but organized landlord opposition to the laws caused some of them to be repealed or weakened after the late 1980s. In the places where rent control still exists, it has usually been affected by two kinds of decontrol. The first is called

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