In our neighborhood the price of housing has escalated greatly in the last few years. The number of rentals has decreased drastically. People who were renting their houses have started selling them. The return on the amount of money they can get for the house is more than they can get from rent without all of the hassles. They can also keep from paying capital gains by doing a 1031 property exchange and reinvesting the money in other types of property.
Rent controls would further exacerbate the shortage here by discouraging investment in new apartments and other forms of rental property. It is sad that this misguided legislation harms the poorest people and people just starting out the most. Seattle passed an ordinance forbidding landlords from doing a background check on renters, because violent criminals shouldn’t denied housing.
I made my last trip to Seattle in late October 2018. When I say last, I mean I will not go again. Besides being a place that you don’t need to see more than once, if at all, I was verbally attacked by the wife of an old (former) friend who was so nasty in her words and tone that it took all of my gentlemanly senses to not walk out of the building. He wasn’t happy about her behavior but did nothing to end the tirade. She couldn’t stand any conservative or Republican in her midst. So long Barbara, so long Seattle.
Gee, maybe it was my telling a “dumb flight attendant joke?”