News from the People's Republic of California
Landlords are prohibited from charging more than 33% of their tenant's income in San Francisco.
Unbelievable - except that it's San Francisco, so really we shouldn't be surprised.
Categories:
politics and junk and stuff
In related news, Congress passed a law prohibiting government from charging more than 33% of a person's income.
Oops, no they didn't...
So, I presume that an unemployed person gets free rent, right? Look for an influx of unemployed people to San Francisco. It's the summer of love, all over again!
Actually...landlords can't INCREASE rents to be more than 33% of an individuals income. That's a big difference. If you found affordable housing, but your landlord if rent increases outpaced your ability to pay them, it would seem reasonable to place some kind of cap on how much a landlord could charge- otherwise you're going to have a whole lot of evictions, which aren't good for anyone- even the landlord. Considering how absurd housing prices are in San Francisco, very few people have the option to purchase their own home. So I'm sympathetic to the plight of renters, even though I can imagine it seems unfair to the landlords. There's got to be a way to make sure neither party is exploited. I have had too many experiences with landlords that seem to think that, in an economic crisis, they are the ONLY ones who don't have to take a loss, and they can pass all of the costs associated with owning the property onto the tenant.