<a href='https://davis-square.dreamwidth.org'>The Davis Square Community

Just like forcing the south to end slavery is an abuse of the democratic process. Or state supreme courts allowing gay marriage in states where voters have not approved it is. Sometimes a policy is such an abusive oppressive unjust violation of the liberty of a minority, it is OK if it is overturned. Rent control was hideous to landlords, who are people too if you can try to remember. Doctors got pay half the market rent, it was difficult to find an apartment,esp for poor and minorities, inspectors were abusive, apartments were not maintained or improved, etc. A lease is an agreement between two autonomous entities for the period of the lease. When it is up, the agreement is up for renegotiation. The tenant and the landlord have the right to walk away from renewal for the next best opportunity. If you want to complain about high rents, go after your fellow citizens who constantly speak out against increasing supply through density.

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Amen.

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If you want to be strictly libertarian, rent control isn't an abuse of anyone who buys a property after rent control is established -- it's just like buying a property subject to a homeowners' association agreement or a complicated lien, the buyer knew damned well what he was getting into, and you can be sure that the price he paid was marked down to compensate for the decreased rent that could be obtained. The people who were wronged were those who owned property at the time rent control was imposed. Indeed, if you bought a property after rent control was established and held it through the reppeal, you got a government-imposed windfall, as your property's value increases due to government action -- and that benefit is as unfair as the loss imposed on landlords when rent control was imposed.

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I don't agree with the use of the words fair and unfair here, and that is part of the whole thing with government interference in markets. Another example is mortgage interest deduction. Objectively speaking, it is a failure, Like all subsidies, it increases demand and all increases in demand (absent supply increases to absorb them) increase prices. So it failed. Plus not sure if it is a good idea to favor homeownership, economy may be better served by a more mobile population and maybe a fairness issue. But now that we have it, I'd really be hurt if it was taken away, since value of my house would go down. Would that be fair or unfair to me, it is a matter of debate.

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That is a terrible argument. In the American democratic process the laws of higher political entity trump the laws of the smaller one. It was by-the-book democratic process. Abolishing rent control is the main reason why places like Cambridge are flourishing today.

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ron_newman

In my observation, Cambridge has always flourished. It was a fine place to be in the 1970s through 90s, and still is today, except that it's now less affordable.

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clevernonsense.livejournal.com

Cambridge has done exceptionally better since the early 90s and I think getting rid of rent control played a small part. The quality and supply of housing available in the area has improved tremendously. Rent control dampens new development and promotes suburban sprawl.

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pixelsand.livejournal.com

"better" is a subjective term that can mean a lot of things. What's not subjective is that housing in this city is prohibitively expensive for anybody who isn't a high salary earner or able to obtain subsidized housing. If this continues we are going to lose artists, academics and other types who contribute a lot culturally but don't draw large incomes. Forcing people to live with roommates well into their 30's, 40's and beyond is not a solution. I have several friends who have lived here and love it but do not see it as a permanent place to settle due to the cost. I don't know if rent control is/was a solution but for whatever improvements it has brought to the housing stock, it has also caused the city to suffer in terms of the diversity of residents who can afford to live here on a more permanent basis (ie not students).

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There are always less desirable and more desirable areas. I live in Somerville not because I want to, but because I can't afford to live in a loft in the South End. If a person that can't afford Cambridge or Somerville, then they should move to Everett or Chelsea - just like I moved to Somerville for the same reason. Artists, academics are are not better class of people then 9-5 average Joes and should not deserve a special treatment.

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pixelsand.livejournal.com

I'm not suggesting special treatment, but rather that it's not healthy for the city to segregate people based on income. We need a diversity of people in every neighborhood possible, including wealth types, high earners, artists, academics, 9-5 "average joes", blue collar types, etc. Without this you get stagnation. I personally would prefer to live in Somerville to a South End loft because it's vibrant area due to the diversity of the population.

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davisdenizen.livejournal.com

I am one of those "other types" and as I posted here last year, I had to look for a new apartment after 13 years. After hard work and a miracle and four months of looking, I found a place which raised my rent by only $250. For the first time in quite a few years, most of one of my two monthly paychecks is spent on rent. And now, only a year later, the apartments I was looking at have gone up $500 from my previous rent at a minimum.

This is at least a citywide crisis, and from what I see on Craigslist, a Greater Boston area situation. I work at a local university and I have no car. If I'm forced to move to Everett or even Malden at some point my commute to work will be very difficult. I have lived in Somerville for the last 23 years and I have never seen rents at this inflated level. I have heard about some of the Spring Hill apt. buildings where new owners are planning to charge nearly $1600 for lightly renovated studios!

From what I read locally, it's clear that the market is inflated, partly because of the impending Green Line extension, but this is leading to not only inflated rents, but also inflated property taxes. Everyone is affected, landlords and tenants alike. As pixelsand says, the only people who can find apartments are those who either make a ton of money or who qualify for "affordable", subsidized housing. Everyone in the very large middle, no matter what they do for work, is in deep trouble.

I think what we need is more housing period. When I look at the Somerville Scout, I see lots of articles and pictures having to do with the boom in Somerville, attracting young, vibrant tech companies with young, vibrant workers who can afford to spend lots of money. And that IS a great thing for our city, but I agree with pixelsand that Somerville is and has always been a dynamic, DIVERSE community, and people of all ages, backgrounds and wealth levels share our densely populated space. That is what makes our community so creative and exciting and it would be a shame to lose what is essentially our "middle class", the backbone of people who spend money and make art and contribute to what makes our town different.

Edited Date: 2014-04-11 12:59 pm (UTC)

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ron_newman

Rent control never applied to new development, only to buildings already existing when it took effect.

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clevernonsense.livejournal.com

Rent control dampens rent prices across the board, greatly reducing new development. It's the main reason why we got rid of rent control.

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the voters of this Commonwealth abolished rent control statewide by referendum in 1994.

There was an initiative law proposed to outlaw rent control. Since the municipalities are creations of the state government, the state legislative power can do that. Since I didn't live in one of those three cities, I voted against the initiative, figuring it was none of my business.

Later, I found out what the argument was: The three cities were by rent control artificially depressing the value of rental properties, and thus the amount of property taxes that they were collecting. Based on the formula that the state uses for distributing local aid money, that increased the amount that the three cities received in local aid. The local aid money comes from the state income tax, and generally speaking, derives from higher-income cities in the metro area. So the argument was that Cambridge, Brookline, and Boston were leeching off the rest of the state to provide a benefit to their residents. You can buy that or not as you choose, but the initiative passed.

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ron_newman

That's a relevant argument, but I don't recall the promoters of the initiative making it strongly at the time.

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By the way Cambridge voted against rent control in the early 2000s.

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ron_newman

Was this the city council or the voters?

(Either way, I'm not sure what the point would have been as long as the state law from the 1994 referendum remained in effect.)

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The voters. And yes even it had passed it wasn't expected to go anywhere due.

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noire.livejournal.com

Rents have gone up rather sharply in Somerville in the past year as well. Big article in the Globe last Sunday about that, actually.

Edited Date: 2014-04-09 07:59 pm (UTC)

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living life happier (from livejournal.com)

Thanks everyone. This isn't the news I wanted to hear, but it's what I expected. Oh well. If you have any tips for negotiating with landlords, though, I'd love to hear them!

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The real estate prices alone have gone up 11% in 1 year alone in somerville. 7% is actually a very modest increase. http://www.zillow.com/somerville-ma/home-values/

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daviscubed.livejournal.com

Zillow does provide rent prices about 2/3 down that link, but it's seems to be a pretty volatile market.

Arbitrary endpoints:
Feb 2013-Feb 2014: $2286->$2352, a 2.9% increase
Nov 2011-Nov 2013: $2030->$2411, an 18.8% increase

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vonelftinhaus.livejournal.com

Depends, the landlord themselves how connected to the property are they- are they in the area or live in the house themselves also. I have no information but how good of tenant have you been ( rent on the 1st/2nd or 5th/6th/7th of the month?) which can be factors. Unfortunately the location can be the most major factor where as realistically that is what the rent in that area is or even possibly more- something to consider also when speaking with the owner is that it is much easier to keep existing tenants than to find new ones and gamble with the unknown. Again that might be difficult to "discuss" if it is a management company.

An example (though this is a few years back in Cambridge) a friend had told the owner that they were going to move because of the price a bit too much after the first year but the owner decided to lower the rent (reasonably of course) so that they would stay. Hope this helps

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serious-noir.livejournal.com

You have no recourse at all. My landlord jacked my rent up by 25% after we had made a verbal agreement on an increase of @ 5%. She is elderly and claimed she didn't remember that agreement.

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we had made a verbal agreement

Yeah, verbal agreements with landlords are worth the paper they're written on.

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puffy-wuffy.livejournal.com

We had an increase of 50% last year. Who knows about this year?

Prior to that, in Cambridge, we had an increase of about 25%.

It doesn't seem to matter whether you are a good or bad tenant, rents are just going up.

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A central problem is that the actual value of places in Somerville is going up. If there's someone out there who is willing to pay 50% more, it's difficult to tell the landlord that you'll only pay a 10% increase.

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pekmez.livejournal.com

And the actual value going up means the assessed value is going up. Your landlord might owe more in taxes next year than this year, and might be passing that cost on to the tenants.

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pigshitpoet.livejournal.com

there's a limit, but the question is will he get away with it? depends on how you take it, lying down or standing and fighting. what do you have to lose at this point? go for it. kick some a-hole butt!

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How do you propose to fight it?

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pigshitpoet.livejournal.com

find someone who cares or an alternative accommodation, then throw it in his face. a little bad publicity goes a long way.

Edited Date: 2014-04-11 08:21 am (UTC)

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