…Whoever desires to found a state and give it laws, must start with assuming that all men are bad and ever ready to display their vicious nature…. If their evil disposition remains concealed for a time…we must assume that it lacked occasion to show itself. But time, which has been said to be the father of all truth, does not fail to bring it to light. 

—-Niccolo Machiavelli, The Discourses  

Niccolo Machiavelli

As of 2022, seven states—California, Maine, Maryland, Minnesota, New Jersey, New York, Oregon  and the District of Columbia—offer tenant protections via residential rent control. 

Only 34 out of 482 cities in California have strong tenant protections.

And only 15 cities in California have rent controls on landlords’ greed: Alameda, Berkeley, Beverly Hills, East Palo Alto, Hayward, Los Angeles, Los Gatos, Mountain View, Oakland, Palm Springs, Richmond. San Francisco, San Jose, Santa Monica, and West Hollywood.

In California, 17% of the population lives in apartments—more than 6.7 million people or 2.1 million more than New York. 

Nationwide, almost 39 million people in the United States—nearly one in eight—live in apartments.

Many tenants have lived with rotting floors, bedbugs, nonworking toilets, mice/rats, chipping lead-based paint and other outrages for not simply months but years. 

And yet, there is little enthusiasm among these millions of people to protect themselves against predatory landlords.

Still, even in those cities where rent boards and building inspection agencies exist, landlords continue to victimize tenants every day.

Take San Francisco, for example.

To hear slumlords tell it, San Francisco is a “renters’ paradise,” where obnoxious, lazy, rent-evading tenants constantly take advantage of hard-working, put-upon landlords.

Don’t believe it.

A recent case shows the absolute necessity for reining in predatory landlords before they can inflict serious financial and emotional damage on tenants.

In September, 2021, Frank and Carol Thomas (not their real names) moved into a one-bedroom San Francisco apartment for $1,000 a month. 

Frank had been manager of the apartment complex for 10 years. Now he simply wanted to be a tenant.

Meanwhile,  Carol suffered three close personal losses:

• Her father died in January, in Knoxville, Tennessee;
• Her best friend died in June.
• Her aunt died in July.

Then, in August, Frank left for Tennessee to explore possible business opportunities there. It was while visiting Nashville that he suffered a heart attack and died.

This required Carol to travel to Nashville to:

• Arrange for Frank’s cremation;
• Obtain the release of his personal effects—including the release of his car, which had been impounded

She also had to spend time in Knoxville to:

• Arrange for the disposal of her father’s remains;
• Attend to his piano business;
• Attend to his estate, including arranging for the sale of his house.

Since she couldn’t afford commuting between California and Tennessee, Carol stayed at her deceased father’s house in Knoxville while making all these arrangements.

Weeks later, she returned to her San Francisco apartment. 

In April, 2022, Carol received a notice from the property management company responsible for the premises. 

It stated that Carol Thomas was last seen in her apartment in November, 2021 and currently lived at her family home in Knoxville, Tennessee.

The notice also stated that her rent would rise from $1,000 per month to $1,695 per month. 

Fortunately, Carol had a friend who had worked as a reporter and legal investigator. He was able to draft a response to her landlord’s rent demand.

It opened: “There is a moral dimension to this case that must not be overlooked.” 

First, it extolled Frank Thomas’ 10 years as building manager for the property management company now trying to raise Carol’s rent.

Then it pointed out: “During the time Carol was gone, she paid her rent in full and on time. Had she not, We Screw Tenants [not the company’s real name] would now be demanding her eviction.

“What We Screw Tenants is trying to do is to literally profit from the death of this man and the grief of this woman.

“This is utterly despicable. Morally, it’s on a par with robbing corpses and selling fentanyl to schoolchildren. 

“If We Screw Tenants is willing to try to extort monies from the widow of its former building manager, it will do the same the next time a tenant is required to leave one of its buildings for weeks.

“As compensation for this deplorable behavior, We Screw Tenants should provide Ms. Thomas with a moratorium on rent increases for at least ten years.”

Carol, who was in her early 60s, showed the suggested response to a case officer of the San Francisco Human Rights Commission.

The officer then contacted We Screw Tenants and said he would be filing a complaint for elder abuse against the company.

The company immediately promised to drop its demand for a $695 raise in rent—if Carol agreed to forego any legal action. 

Carol has not yet decided if she wants to pursue a lawsuit. 

But she was able to fend off a predatory property management company—only because San Francisco has:

1. Rent control laws limiting landlords’ greed; and
2. A Human Rights Commission dedicated to protecting citizens against discrimination.

Other tenants—throughout California and the nation—usually don’t prove so fortunate.