It's Not What You Think!
St. Paul's Rent Control Measure is Unproven and Untested
On November 2, Vote NO on Question 1
Rent Control Does More Harm Than Good
It Hurts People It Seeks To Help
No American state or city has ever implemented a rent control measure as sweeping as Question 1.
Cities like New York and San Francisco that implemented rent control found that:
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The quality of rental properties took a downward turn. Property owners couldn’t cover the inflation costs of maintenance and equipment upgrades. Renters ended up in lower quality housing.
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Rental options declined. Residents rarely left rent-controlled properties, owners wouldn’t invest, and many rental units were converted to condominiums, leaving fewer, older and poorer quality rental options.
Get The Facts
No one knows how much the measure will cost or how it will be enforced. This rent control measure covers every rental unit and every renter without any exceptions. This approach has never been tried before. No one knows the long-term impact on housing quality or affordability.
The rent control cap is not tied to the rate of inflation or property tax increases. Property owners would be unable to raise rent past 3% even if inflation and other costs rose past that. Building upkeep will decline and many properties will be taken off the rental market.
New construction is not exempt from the law. Rent control stops the creation of new housing opportunities. An already severe housing shortage will be made worse.
About Us
The Sensible Housing Ballot Committee is a broad-based coalition of organizations and individuals who believe in sensible housing solutions to meet the challenge of the lack of affordable housing. Housing costs and availability are a major crisis in our state, impacting everyone in our communities from seniors to families to our most disadvantaged groups. While there are many ideas being proposed to help struggling families, we have to ensure that policies would not have unintended consequences that will only worsen things for those most vulnerable. To end this crisis permanently, we must enact sensible housing policies.
Our coalition aims to promote solutions that will help solve our housing crisis with an eye towards long-term affordability and stability for prospective homeowners and renters, and defeating proposals that will make our affordable housing problems even worse.