Letter: Rent control

Editor,

Have you noticed that advocates of rent control only offer solutions that adversely affect other people’s wallets and never their own? It’s easy and convenient to forget that a rental unit is someone’s business and someone’s livelihood. It may be their only source of income. This is private property that the owner has elected to rent at a specific rate for a specific length of time. If rent control proponents want to be credible, they have to have some skin in the game. They need to offer solutions that place their own finances at risk. Are they willing to fund a pool of money to help landlords pay their mortgage if the renter fails to pay the rent? If the landlord agrees to limit rent increases, are they willing to guarantee that the electricians and plumbers that are needed by the landlord will not raise their rates? I think we all agree that everyone deserves a roof over their head, but there is no entitlement that says that the roof has to be in one of the most expensive areas of the country.