patrick.net

I guess it depends on which side of the fence you sit on.........When I was younger I wished there was rent control in the SF Bay Area city where I lived. As I got older and owned rental property, I would never buy investment property in a city that has rent control. From listening to folks banter this issue back and forth on Ronn Owen's KGO radio show some months back, I can see there are pros and cons of both and there are good arguments on both sides. One owner from SF called in and said that he only keeps the place habitable as outlined by the City of SF and won't do any upgrades whatsoever because the tenents have been there so long that they are only paying 500.00 or so for a place one block off of Castro St. in the Castro distict and it's hard for him to make any money. On the other hand in a place like SF where rents are very tight rates would go up so fast because of the supply/demand placed on them. I have friends that have lived in SF housing for decades in very nice apartments and victorians and they pay a fraction of what they are really worth and less than someone in less than desirable parts Vallejo would be paying for a similar victorian home so I am happy that they have nice housing which is affordable for them.

In a free society no one should have the right to dictate what another can charge for rent for their own property.

Rent control is widely abused, distorts the rental market making newcomers pay more. It should be abolished.

Prop 13 too. If the idea is to keep seniors and disabled from "loosing their homes" that should be specifically targeted.

----

Mortgage interest deductions? Hell no. Landlords can write off mortgage interest as a business expense. It *IS* a business expense, unless you think a business running at a loss because of interest expenses should be taxed on "profits" that don't exist.

If landlords get it, the private homeowners should get it too. Otherwise you're better off just renting out your house, taking the deduction, and paying your friend rent to live in their house so he can take the deduction.

I see famous economists saying the deduction should be eliminated. They clearly have not thought it through at all.

Blah blah blah. This argument comes up periodically with always the same result: totally shot down. The mere whisper of even moderate rent increases for RC units in NYC incites virtual violence.

Yeah in a free society RC and Prop 13 should not exist. On the flip side: yes, zero RC WOULD force a lot of seniors out of their homes, shunting them around to ever crappier neighborhoods whenever the local neighborhood get gentrified.

Before anyone jumps on me- I'm not saying what's right or wrong, but the intent is kind: the moving, stress and instability of being kicked out is sheer hell to a not so healthy 80 yr. old. And the politicians won't have it. But naturally. later the program gets exploited and abused. That's the seedy side of human nature.