Apartment industry blames rising rents on lawmakers for saying 'rent control' out loud

Rents in the Silver State are skyrocketing and the association representing apartment complex owners suggests state lawmakers who uttered the phrase “rent control” in Carson City are to blame.

“Well, there was discussion about rent control, about migrating in that direction, and I don’t know if the industry got a little worried,” says Susy Vasquez, executive director of the Nevada State Apartment Association. “I’m not sure if what was going on at the time with the Legislature was impacting the way people were looking at the market.”

“No one was even talking rent control,” said J.D. Klippenstein of Acting in Community Together in Organizing Northern Nevada (ACTIONN). “It wasn’t even a topic of discussion. It was a tool to steer away from discussion.”

“If landlords are raising rents it is because of market demand,” he said. “A lot of powerful interests wanted to kill the effort to give local governments the ability to address affordable housing. Now they’re saying ‘Look what happens when we talk about rent control. Rents go up.’”

Read more: https://www.nevadacurrent.com/2019/08/14/apartment-industry-blames-rising-rents-on-lawmakers-for-saying-rent-control-out-loud/