Rent control in the United States
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In the United States, rent control refers to laws or ordinances that set price controls on the rent of residential housing to function as a price ceiling. More loosely, "rent control" describes several types of price control:
- "strict price ceilings", also known as "rent freeze" systems, or "absolute" or "first generation" rent controls, in which no increases in rent are allowed at all (rent is typically frozen at the rate existing when the law was enacted);
- "vacancy control", also known as "strict" or "strong" rent control, in which the rental price can rise but continues to be regulated in between tenancies (a new tenant pays almost the same rent as the previous tenant); and
- "vacancy decontrol", also known as "tenancy" or "second-generation" rent control, which limits price increases during a tenancy but allows rents to rise to market rate between tenancies (new tenants pay market rate rent but increases are limited as long as they remain).
As of 2022, seven states (California, New York, New Jersey, Maryland, Maine, Oregon, and Minnesota) and the District of Columbia have localities in which some form of residential rent control is in effect (for normal structures, excluding mobile homes). Thirty-seven states either prohibit or preempt rent control, while seven states allow their cities to enact rent control but have no cities that have implemented it.
There is a consensus among economists that rent control reduces the quality and quantity of rental housing units. Other observers see rent control as benefiting the renter, preventing excessive rent increases and unfair evictions. Rent control may stabilize a community, promoting continuity, and it may mitigate income inequality.