Rent Control
Daniel Miller
Dr. Gordon Mon
Math 115-2975
05/01/07
Rent control is defined as the laws and ordinances which set a price ceiling on the rent charger, on rent increases, and other forms of control on the price of rent in residential housing structures and facilities. In the United States, rent control was initially established by President Richard M. Nixon in 1971. While rent control has largely, faded away in the U.S., it remains in effect in several major cities with large tenant populations; however, elsewhere, it is largely limited to mobile home communities, and this is especially true in the state of California. The city and the laws thereof which this author is using in the essay as a prime example of rent control is the City of San Francisco, California.
The city of San Francisco has a highly intricate and complex set of rent control ordinances and statutes. The City of san Francisco originally passed the rent control laws in 1979; in their words, to, "?safeguard tenants from excessive rent increase and, at the same time, to assure landlords fair and adequate rents?"(1) The ordinance establishing rent control is highly extensive and encompasses an entire chapter (chapter 37) of the City or San Francisco's Administrative Code. The ordinance is also highly complex.
One application of rent control by the City of San Francisco is through the imposition of rent limitations. These are outlined in section 37.3 of the Administrative Code. Examples of limitations include, but are not limited to, the following:
Landlords cannot increase rent by an amount greater than 7% annually of t &n ...