In his recent column about rent control (Aug. 22), Jim de Bree is right about the need for new housing construction in California. But increasing the housing supply and expanding rent control are not mutually exclusive — California can build more and restrict excessive rent hikes in the short run.
In fact, rent control has existed in the United States since 1919. Landlords conspired in the 1990s to pass laws in 37 states that severely limited the ability of cities to regulate rents. In California, the state Legislature passed the Costa-Hawkins Rental Housing Act in 1995, largely preempting local rent control. The results have been disastrous for California.
Costa Hawkins said that no locality could enact rent control laws that covered units built after 1995. However, it said that for cities that already had rent control, it would be frozen at the year it was enacted. In the case of Los Angeles, it was 1978. For San Francisco, it was 1979.
Therefore, nothing built in the last 45 years in Los Angeles can be covered even though L.A.’s population has increased by 43%, and California has gone from 23 million people then to 39 million today — a 70% increase in population.
When I first came to Los Angeles in 1972 at the age of 19, I paid $100 a month in rent, including utilities, for a very modest “bachelor” apartment complete with a fold-down Murphy bed. My first job paid $550 a month. I was paying 20% of my take-home pay in rent. I could live decently on my entry-level job at Occidental Insurance.
Fast forward to 2024, and I would be paying $1,500 for that cubby hole and earning $3,000. Instead of 20% of my income, I would be paying 50%. That wouldn’t leave much for anything else. One dollar in 1972 is equal to $7.52 today, but rent went up twice as much as inflation. It is no wonder the housing situation now is so bleak.
Shelter is a necessity, not a commodity. Our society has an obligation to its people to ensure that they are decently housed. It is easy to see what happens when we leave it up to the market. Predatory landlords don’t care about our quality of life but only their bottom lines. Government must play a role in regulating housing the way that it does utilities. Otherwise, we end up in the mess we have now.
No progress can be made addressing the housing crisis in California until Costa-Hawkins is repealed. Voters will have just such an opportunity on Nov. 5. Vote Yes on Proposition 33 and roll back a terrible law.
Michael Weinstein
President, AIDS Healthcare Foundation
Los Angeles
