Repeal Prohibition Local Residential Rent Control

The bill repeals statutory provisions prohibiting counties and municipalities from enacting any ordinance or resolution that would control rent on private residential property or a private residential housing unit (rent control) and sets the following guidelines for the enactment of rent control:

• Rent control must be uniformly applied among all renters that are similarly situated;
• Rent control must be uniformly applied among all private residential properties and private residential housing units that are similarly situated; except that:
• For 15 years from the date on which the first certificate of occupancy was issued, no rent control may be applied;
• Rent control may be applied to a mobile home or mobile home park regardless of the date the mobile home or mobile home park was built or the date a certificate of occupancy was issued; and
• No rent control may be applied to housing units provided by nonprofit organizations and regulated by fair market rents published by the United States department of housing and urban development or any other similar federal or state program; and
• Rent control that limits the amount of an annual rent increase must not impose a limit less than the percentage increase in the consumer price index plus three percentage points plus reasonable increases reflective of the actual costs of substantial renovations.

Regardless of the first two of these guidelines, the bill permits a local government to have or adopt an ordinance or regulation that is expressly intended and designed to increase the supply of affordable housing. The bill also makes a conforming amendment.

(Note: Italicized words indicate new material added to the original summary; dashes through words indicate deletions from the original summary.)

(Note: This summary applies to the reengrossed version of this bill as introduced in the second house.)