Editorial: Rent Control Is Back. And That’s Bad.

The Washington Post Editorial Board outlines why rent control’s resurgence in the national spotlight is bad news for renters and families across the country.

The economists are right, and the populists are wrong. Rent-control laws can be good for some privileged beneficiaries, who are often not the people who really need help. But they are bad for many others.

The California law would cap the rise in rents statewide to inflation plus 5 percent annually. Oregon would set the cap at inflation plus 7 percent. Mr. Sanders would restrict rent increases nationally to 3 percent or 1.5 times inflation, whichever is greater. To many struggling to afford housing in super-expensive parts of New York, San Francisco or the District, these plans no doubt sound great. Yet these cities already have rent-stabilization policies, and they have not worked.

Read more here.