George Rebane

(This first appeared on The Union’s website December 2005.)

Before we again go all over the map on affordable housing and rent control — or in more obtuse blather, “rent stabilization” — perhaps we should first do something simple and straightforward when renting in mobile home parks. These renters always seem to be surprised when they are told about rent increases. A letter at the get-go outlining the blunt truth about the tenant-landlord relationship they are getting into may help in avoiding such fuss. I offer a draft of such a letter at NC Media Watch; it might be worth a try.

Avoiding such surprised outrages by tenants of existing rental facilities is an issue different from the ongoing Nevada County affordable housing debate. To the extent we can keep these separated, we may be able to make progress on the advisability of rent control and the supply of affordable housing. And finally, wouldn’t it be a gas if the same people who propose “rent stabilization” would also include “cost stabilization” as part of their deep thinking?