GREENSBORO, N.C. — I'm getting emails from people about their rent going up $300, $500, or worse, their rent is doubling! Everyone is asking if that kind of increase is legal? Unfortunately, the answer is yes.
The next question is along the lines of, can't the city or county do something about it? The short answer there is no.
Back in 1987, the NC General Assembly passed a law about rent control. Section 42 of what was House Bill 1025 reads:
Rent control.–No county or city as defined by G.S. 160A-1 may enact, maintain, or enforce any ordinance or resolution which regulates the amount of rent to be charged for privately owned, single-family or multiple-unit residential or commercial rental property.
iPropertyManagement.com looks at rent control laws by state.
North Carolina is one of 32 states that ban rent control altogether.
Just recently though, some city councils in Minnesota are using an exception to the law which allows voters to decide if there should be rent control. St. Paul and Minneapolis are both looking at rental control measures.
Should discussion like that happen here? Josie Williams, the Executive Director of the Greensboro Housing Coalition says absolutely.
“If we don't do something we will continue to see them increase rent in a short period of time, and that is going to mean thousands of people forced into homelessness. Rent control gets pushback because a private landlord of course does not want to be told how to run their property, but I do believe we can have something effective without causing harm, without causing the private landlord to lose money,” said Williams.
The people who can change it, are the people in elected positions. If this is something that interests you, one way or the other, you as a voter should tell them.