In recent years, voters and politicians have increasingly embraced rent control in response to rising housing costs. The resurgence of rent control is an example of democracy in action. Democracy means unlimited majority rule, that the majority may do as it pleases simply because it is the majority. If some individuals are acting in a…
In early December, Maxwell Frost tweeted that he had been denied an apartment in Washington, DC, because of “really bad credit.” This is noteworthy only because the twenty-five year-old Florida Democrat was elected to the United States House of Representatives in November. In subsequent comments Frost engaged in a denial of responsibility for his past…
Since early in the pandemic, we have heard countless stories of the hardships faced by renters due to the lockdowns. Thrown out of work, many tenants were unable to pay their rent. In response, the federal government, along with many state and local governments, imposed eviction moratoriums. We heard virtually nothing about the hardships that…
In 2018, Austin adopted a “preference policy” to sell homes to families displaced by gentrification. Six months ago, the city finally got around to actually putting a house on the market. It remains unsold, despite the fact that the house is selling for about 40 percent of Austin’s median sales price. The program is just…
In my previous post, I wrote about a ruling by the rent-guidelines board in Kingston New, York. That ruling reduced rents for 1,200 units in controlled by the city’s rent control ordinance. Another ruling allows tenants to protect rent increases between January 2019 and August 2022. If allowed to stand, these ruling sets a very…
As previously noted on this blog, construction of new housing in St. Paul has been greatly reduced compared to the years before voters passed a rent control law last November. Many developers argue that they are having difficulty attracting capital because of the law. Despite a recent amendment to the law that exempts new construction…
The San Francisco Chronicle reports that a growing number of cities in the bay area are passing rent control laws. Those laws, the headline states, could be a “turning point for the housing crisis.” However, the housing crisis is a supply shortage, and rent control doesn’t build housing. Housing activists believe that more controls and…
As has been previously noted on this site, the city of St. Paul has amended its draconian rent control law. In an editorial, the Wall Street Journal notes that “according to data from the Department of Housing and Urban Development, there have been only two hundred (200) residential building permits in Saint Paul through April…
In her essay “The Anatomy of Compromise,” Ayn Rand wrote that when basic principles are involved, compromise is surrender: When opposite basic principles are clearly and openly defined, it works to the advantage of the rational side; when they are not clearly defined, but are hidden or evaded, it works to the advantage of the…
St. Paul recently amended its draconian rent control law to exempt new construction for twenty years. One of the largest developers of multi-family housing in the city, Ryan Cos., said that a twenty-year exemption wasn’t enough to incentivize construction of new housing. City officials responded that the exemption was made “in consultation with developers—including Ryan.”…
Housing activists frequently decry the growing corporate presence in rental housing. The activists fail to realize that the policies they advocate are a significant reason why. Housing activists call for rent control, “right to counsel,” eviction moratoriums, “ban the box,” and numerous other restrictions and mandates that shackle landlords. Activists and tenants are making the…