Mayor Williams signed new Rent Control into effect today for the first time in two decades. The compromise between landlords and tenants, “abolish[es] the city’s antiquated system of rent ceilings and replace it with legal restrictions that limit future rent increases to 2 percent of current rent plus inflation, or no more than 10 percent a year.” What I’d really like to know is, who represented who? Did we have orphans and grandmothers on the tenants side, and cigar-chomping businessmen on the other? Was it this stereotypical? The Post makes it seem like there’s a tenants union and a landlords union that get together and hammer out their differences in some smoky backroom somewhere near the Mayor’s office.
Not sure it’s that simple. There’s also a 30% increase limit between tenants, and provisions to protect the disabled and the elderly to a no more than 5% increase annually.
Anyone want to bet we’re going to see a lot 10% rent increases?
This post appeared in its original form at DC Metblogs
I live and work in the District of Columbia. I write at We Love DC, a blog I helped start, I work at Technolutionary, a company I helped start, and I’m happy doing both. I enjoy watching baseball, cooking, and gardening. I grow a mean pepper, keep a clean scorebook, and wash the dishes when I’m done. Read Why I Love DC.
