Rent control laws are some of the egregious and idiotic policies ever devised by the central planners. Designed as a way to alleviate skyrocketing rents, the initiative accomplishes one thing: New Yorkers can’t pay skyrocketing rents because they can’t find a place to live.
Moreover, rent controls lead to housing shortages and dilapidated conditions.
That hasn’t stopped New York’s politicians from refusing to learn from history. Officials are about the implement new rent regulations after existing laws are set to expire.
Lawmakers are proposing to “abolish rules that let building owners deregulate apartments and close loopholes that permit them to raise rents.”
The Washington Examiner had a great op-ed that responded to the bill:
When a landlord has a vacancy, he can raise the rent for that unit by as much as 20% under current law. This affords landlords an opportunity to boost the price of certain units above the rent regulation range and to test the market. According to the New York City government, “Since 1994, at least 155,664 units were registered with [Homes and Community Renewal] as being deregulated due to High-Rent Vacancy Deregulation.” Liberals want to put an end to this practice, and to that end their bill abolishes rent increases between tenants.
And it gets worse. Under current law, rent stabilized units can be deregulated if the tenant’s income exceeds $200,000 for two years in a row. This lets landlords test the free market and build a financial cushion without having to raise the prices on low-income tenants. Unfortunately, this path to deregulation will also be eliminated under the new bill. How this handout to top earners advances the alleged goal of helping the working class is hard to fathom.
New York’s new rent regulation bill will decrease housing availability by forcing landlords out of business. It will also encourage them to skimp on maintenance. But most of all, it will encourage condo conversions and prevent anyone with business sense from building new housing below the luxury threshold.
The bill is a wolf in sheep’s clothing, and it won’t just blow down one or two houses. It will destroy the entire housing market in America’s biggest city.
The progressives are ruining the City That Never Sleeps.
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