What are ent control laws?
Rent control laws are variable laws determining when or how it is legal for property owners to raise rents. There are many countries and cities that have extensive forms of rent control, where raising rent is only done in tiny increments, if done at all, to provide a near fixed price for the tenant. Other laws don’t restrict landlords from raising the rent, but do set forth some conditions under which prices can and can’t be raised. There are both supporters and detractors of these laws.
Rent control laws are variable laws determining when or how it is legal for property owners to raise rents. There are many countries and cities that have extensive forms of rent control, where raising rent is only done in tiny increments, if done at all, to provide a near fixed price for the tenant. Other laws don’t restrict landlords from raising the rent, but do set forth some conditions under which prices can and can’t be raised. There are both supporters and detractors of these laws. Rent control laws are in place to control the rental market to a certain degree and to stabilize prices. This is not always the result, because landlords may have huge flexibility when setting new prices on vacant property. Yet, over time, if a new tenant stays in the property and rental cost is strictly controlled, price does tend to become standardized and aren’t subject to huge increases.
The city’s 1973 rent control ordinance states that rents on an estimated 8,500 older units in the city may only be increased annually by the amount of the increase in the Consumer Price Index. In December it was 2.8 percent. In addition, after a tenant has vacated a unit voluntarily, property owners can apply to the Rent Leveling and Stabilization Board for a vacancy decontrol to increase the rent on a unit by 25 percent, only once in a three-year period. Which units are covered? Much residential property available for rent falls under the scope of the law and the authority of Hoboken’s municipal Rent Leveling and Stabilization Office, with the exception of certain new residential rental construction built after 1987 and federally-funded or state-controlled affordable housing. (According to Rent Leveling Officer Carole McLaughlin, condominiums, regardless of when they were constructed, are subject to rent control when rented out. But the beginning, or base, rent depends on the occupanc
