• PENNSYLVANIA SB 1095 would implement a rent control regime limiting annual increases to 10 percent or the percent increase in the relevant county ’ s Area Median Income , whichever is greater . Pennsylvania does not explicitly prohibit municipal government from adopting rent control , but no rent regulations currently exist in the state . This bill was introduced in the Pennsylvania Senate on March 11 .
• A CALIFORNIA BALLOT INITIATIVE will decide whether the state ’ s rent control policy becomes more strict this November . California restricts rental operators from increasing annual rent higher than the lower of five percent plus the inflation rate , or 10 percent . Local governments are allowed to pass even greater caps on rent , but state law exempts certain properties from being regulated , including single-family homes and units built after February 1 , 1995 . Advocates are pushing to repeal these exemptions during the November election .
While it is important to remain vigilant and support the industry ’ s advocacy in opposition to rent control at all levels of government , the political makeup of each jurisdiction makes some of these bills much more credible threats to the industry than others . The possibility of rent control being adopted is heavily dependent on the status of preemption in the state , or whether the state already has a rent control regime in place . To make it easier to understand the full policy landscape across the country ,
NAA is delivering its rent control threat assessment . To learn more , contact Ben Harrold , Manager of Public Policy .
NAA ' s assessment has identified the following as the top ten states to watch in 2024 : California , Colorado , Connecticut , Hawaii , Illinois , Massachusetts , Michigan , Nevada , Pennsylvania and Washington .
2023 REVIEW
In 2023 , NAA tracked 196 rent controlrelated bills in state governments around the country . Of those , the vast majority were aimed at adopting , allowing or strengthening rent control in some way . These mostly came from the places you would expect like California , New York and the District of Columbia . Nearly every state saw action in this arena , though .
With varying degrees of success , lawmakers across the country introduced legislation that would control rent . On July 6 , 2023 , the Oregon governor signed a law that will restrict rent increases to an annual maximum of ten percent in addition to the existing limit of seven percent plus the inflation rate . Maine and Maryland both passed laws that establish lengthy notice periods for rent increases .
Local lawmakers were even more aggressive in their push for rent control with new policies adopted by cities in California , Maryland , Maine , New York and countless more officials seriously discussing the idea .
Only 13 of our tracked bills repealed , prohibited or weakened rent control at the state level . Some of the notable rental industry wins include Montana ’ s rent control prohibition or Florida ’ s Live Local Act , which preempted rent control and allocated billions of dollars to affordable housing production initiatives .
Last year the Florida Apartment Association secured a massive win for the industry in the form of a rent control preemption and billions for affordable housing programs . Before that , the Columbus and Ohio Apartment Associations led their coalition to victory in the form of a preemption in the Buckeye State . These , combined with last year ’ s preemption in Montana , demonstrates that the rental housing industry is prepared to keep this issue from city council chambers .
NAA ' S ACTION
Across the country , NAA and our state and local partners are sounding the alarm and steadfastly working to protect the industry against the growing risk of rent control . The Maryland Multi-Housing Association and Apartment and Office Building Association of Metropolitan Washington have been beating back a torrent of bad legislative proposals throughout Maryland . Most recently , an aggressive rent limitation was killed in Howard County .
Similarly , the Massachusetts Apartment Association and the Greater Boston Real Estate Board have ensured that advocates ’ push for rent stabilization has not only come up to a vote in the legislature but hasn ’ t been put on the ballot in November . The perennial debate revolves around lifting Massachusetts ' ban on rent control
42 | TRENDS APRIL 2024 www . aamdhq . org