Don’t Be Fooled: Rent Stabilization is Rent Control
Tomorrow 7 Seattle City Council seats are up for grabs. I already wrote last week about how the local, self-proclaimed, business community is supporting Egan Orion with hundreds of thousands of dollars even though Orion supports rent control. But wait. He doesn’t support rent control. Orion supports rent stabilization. Oh, stabilization. Got it. There’s a big difference, right. Well, no. Rent stabilization allows a landlord who has price controlled units to increase rents based on money she’s invested in improvements to the units or the buildings. But she still doesn’t get to set her own rent, that’s determined by the local government. Keep in mind, all rent control schemes conceive of rent increases, set by some local junta in charge of rents. Here’s a great explanation of rent stabilization from The Balance, small business blog:
Rent Stabilization Basics
- Place Limit on Amount of Rent That Can Be Charged
- Limit Percentage of Rent Increases
- Limit Frequency of Rent Increases
- Unit Must Meet Certain Habitability Standards
- Tenants Entitled to Lease Renewal
- Tenant Cannot Be Evicted Unless Breach Lease
- Tenant Can File Complaints Against Landlord
These are rules from New York, but I think even Egan Orion can figure out that control and stabilization in this case is a distinction without a difference.
Let’s face it, rent control is a terrible idea. You can read why in the latest analysis we’ve produced at our rent control page where we highlight the document, Rent Control: More Politics, Less Housing. And it makes no sense to put support behind a candidate that is simply going to do what Kshama Sawant wants to do, unless you want it done by a young white man instead of Sawant.
