[fintstone]

Originally Posted by jyl

I can see having rent control laws that conform with what a good, normal landlord does and prohibits what bad, rapacious landlords do.

In Portland, when I moved here, there was no rent control at all and bad landlords would tell tenants “next month your rent goes up 50%”. So the voters in the city elected a city commissioner who pushed through a law that requires landlord to pay a moving charge (typically $1-3K depending on unit size) for a no-cause eviction or a rent increase greater than 10%, and then the state passed a law that prohibited rent increases greater than 10%/year. Landlords I know were not really affected by this, since few needed to raise rents more than 10% in a single year, and the laws allowed them to raise 10% every year. Then that same commissioner got a law passed that dictated a ridiculous system for screening tenants and choosing along applicants. That really affects the landlords I know, because they basically can’t choose good tenants anymore. Now we have an eviction moratorium, and while I understand the reason for it, it really needs to exempt the smaller landlords who are going to go bust.

I don't understand this. The lease protects both the tenant and landlord. The only way you can raise the rent is when the lease is over. It should be no surprise to either party. If my costs went up 50%, you can be certain that the rent would go up that much if the market could bear it (assuming it was competitive). If the tenant can find a better deal, they can go elsewhere. If I have raised it too much, I will not find or keep a tenant. If I own the home, it is mine and I should be able to charge whatever I want. You can pay the price of go elsewhere.

The current rule regarding evictions makes no sense. Why should a landlord absorb the risk/cost instead of the tenant? If the state/city wants to pay the rent for the tenant and collect the money later...that is up to them. It seems that landlords should be able to sue the local government to recover this money.