Rent Ceiling

The highest price landlords can charge renters.

And yes, in some places, rent ceilings happen. There are government mandates that Thou Shalt Not Charge some price above some set figure per square foot. Or, based on whatever was charged last year and/or the year before, charges can't rise above the Federal level inlfation rates, which in the recent era hover around 2-3% per year.

So why would you even have such a thing? Like...why would the government have to step in and force pricing on a private building rented to citizens?

Well, in a few areas in the world, the urban population grew so fast, and so wealthy 'n' powerful, that there was no room for the people who service the wealthy (doormen to street sweepers to waiters), i.e. the poor, to live. Yes, their salaries went up, but not at a rate nearly proximate to the increase in housing costs to cover the spread. So rent ceilings were enacted, and landlords who thought that they'd made a great investment in real estate 20 years ago ended up making some money...but not all that much.

All kinds of ethical issues come into play here as to what our laws should be in a capitalist society. And they get more complex when it turns out that so many of the people living in rent-controlled buildings in New York are actually multi-millionaires who got that way living in these cheap buildings, saving their money, and just investing the spread in the stock market.

Tough situation. Adam Smith is chuckling. And then crying.