St Paul Council to Vote On Rent Control Changes – Again

In what may be interpreted as further evidence that rent control is a bad idea, the St Paul City Council is set to vote Wednesday on yet another amendment to their ordinance.

If passed, the amendment would exempt multifamily properties built after December 31, 2004 from the 3% cap on rent increases. It would also waive the cap on previously non-residential properties that were modified to become residential property after December 31, 2004. Think warehouses converted into apartment buildings.

Finally, it would also exempt any housing documented by deed or any other recorded document as affordable housing for residents of very low or moderate income as defined by state or federal law.

There are no proposed changes for the small multi-family housing providers whose properties were built before 2004.

That may be because the city council realized rent stabilization ordinances disincentivize developers from creating new multifamily projects. Meanwhile, the population of St Paul continues to grow. That means there isn’t enough housing.

I seem to recall many developers and housing providers warned them this would happen before they passed their rent stabilization ordinance.  The silver lining, I suppose, is there’s now no better testimony against rent control than the evidence supplied in the city of St Paul.