nt for below $300 and that most of the tenants in those cheap apartments make more money that I do, I was a bit outraged. . . . (14)Ansel Sharp provides us with an excellent example that shows another failure of rent controls as well: “For example, it has been reported that a judge in New York City’s housing court, whose job is to enforce the City’s rent control program, rents a two-bedroom apartment for less than $100 per month, which, if it were not rent-controlled, would bring well over $1,000 per month” (68). One more time, these facts prove that government actions may involve consequences that are unintended.Finally, if we assume that the lower quality of any good sold at the same price per unit is equivalent to an increase in income, we will understand why landlords faced with rent controls tend to maximize their profit by allowing the quality of their properties to deteriorate. This is the only escape left to landlords by the local government to keep getting any profit from their price-controlled units. This is also explaining why in certain areas of any city, including New York City, one can find slums.What then can be said concerning the local government’s attempt to serve the best interests of lower-income groups through rent controls? Undoubtedly, some win-those who already have a rent controlled apartment. However, the example of the judge living in a rent-controlled apartment attests that people who do win are not always the ones who policy was designed to help. Moreover, even these folks do not tend to win in the longer term since the quality of apartments decays with the time as a result of limiting potential profit of the landowners by the price control. Many others directly lose. Especially hard hit are the young families who cannot find adequate apartments as a result of the shortage. Others are negatively affected as they spend their time and money commuting to the work....
