Commentary: It’s time for pricey O.C. to implement rent controls
The new monthly rent for the apartment I reside in is $1,545, up from $1,395. That is an increase of $150 per month.
According to data published almost two months ago by the Fair Housing Council of Orange County, rent control is nonexistent in Orange County.
That means that everybody who pays rent in Orange County can see their rent arbitrarily increased as much as the property owners would like.
Santa Monica and San Francisco have exorbitant average monthly rents — $2,328 and $3,460 for a 1-bedroom, respectively. The cost of renting is a serious concern that could lead to more people and families becoming destitute.
Many people have moved to locations where the rent is affordable but crime can be a problem. Substandard living conditions can contribute to deteriorating health and, consequently, unproductive employees.
These people can be your paramedics, teachers and firefighters. This issue inevitably affects everybody because tax dollars will pay for healthcare for some of them.
The U.S. Census Bureau indicates that from 2009 to 2013, the per capita income in California was $29,527 (just under $15 per hour) and the median gross rent was $1,224. Now, the average rent in Orange County obviously is above $1,224.
Why not make apartments and housing affordable for the struggling middle and lower classes so they can to improve their collective quality of life? If apartments and housing are affordable, the struggling workforce could invest in college or other ways of improving work skills, leading to better, higher-paying jobs, which in turn could pull them out of the metaphorical quicksand of increasing rent.
Why not have rent control in Orange County? Why not make apartments and housing affordable? President Obama said it best during his 2015 State of the Union speech: “If you truly believe you can work full time and support a family on less than $15,000 a year, try it. If not, vote to give millions of the hardest working people in America a raise.”
Contact your Orange County representatives or legislators and tell them to apply a metaphorical styptic pencil to stop the financial bloodshed of renters in the struggling middle and lower classes.
Mission Viejo resident EUGENE SUH is a graduate student in social work at USC’s Irvine campus.