Swedish economist Assar Lindbeck famously said, “In many cases rent control appears to be the most efficient technique presently known to destroy a city – except for carpet bombing.”
This view is shared by many economists who contend that while rent control may offer short term relief to some tenants, its long term effects on the housing market are often severe and counterproductive.
Graduating with a Bachelor of Arts in African studies from Bowdoin College, New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani obviously has had little exposure to “The Dismal Science,” 19th century Scottish essayist Thomas Carlyle’s derogatory nickname for economics.
His recent crackdown on New York City’s mom-and-pop landlords to “protect tenants who are living in buildings that landlords have neglected” (WSJ 3/18/2026) via the city’s third “Rental Ripoff Hearing” are pushing these folks to the edge of extinction.
His proposals to freeze rent and increase property taxes 9.5% for all the city’s real estate could push them over the edge.
Thanks to an inability to increase rents coupled with ever increasing operating costs, many of these properties are barely afloat, if not already underwater.
In many cases the only reason lenders have not already foreclosed is they don’t want the distressed properties on their books.
Is it any wonder many landlords have stopped taking care of their units when they are unlikely to ever see a return on their investment?
And into the breach steps the great communist visionary Zohran Mamdani with more of the same via his “Rental Ripoff Hearings.” Nothing like objectivity on the part of our elected officials!
You can’t make this stuff up. First, government creates the problem. Then they blame the private sector. Finally, the double down with even more draconian rent restrictions citing “landlord neglect.” Clearly, the communists running NYC have no sense of irony.
As a multifamily landlord you must ask yourself is when is this shitshow coming to my town? Where Seattle and Portland are concerned, it’s already here.
Seattle Mayor Katie Wilson is a Democratic Socialist just like Mamdani. To call these people “progressives” is a misnomer. “The slightest bit of digging into the DSA’s leadership, communications, publications and activities reveals that the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) is nothing less than an anti-American subversion campaign, rooted in Marxist ideas and maintaining terrorist sympathies. The DSA doesn’t even try to hide it and why should they? Like all good Marxists, they believe their revolution is imminent and inevitable. The DSA vows that Mamdani’s victory is just the beginning of “a political movement of and for the working class that can defeat the oligarchy and win the political revolution.” (National Review, April 2026).
You, poor multifamily landlord are part of the “oligarchy” these people wish to dispossess.
Closer to home, four members of the Portland City Council – Tiffany Koyama-Lane, Angelita Morillo, Mitch Green, and Sameer Kanal, are members of the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) as well.
This constitutes a third of the body. Along with fellow travelers,* they advocate for higher taxes on the wealthy, expanded government owned housing and more renter protection. Therefore, it is just a matter of time before Portland has its own “Rental Ripoff Hearings.” Do you really want to wait around for that?
The history of communism is a history of violence and the willingness to inflict it. Everywhere it has been imposed, it comes at the end of a gun barrel. Violence is not incidental to the “revolution,” it is central to it. “No one has ever witnessed people fleeing towards Communist-controlled areas,” people run from them. (Frank Dikotter, Red Dawn Over China).
“Lots of people have chosen to free themselves from blue state governance, opting for greener (or perhaps redder) pastures. Virtually every trend line shows major Democrat-dominated states and cities bleeding population and capital, fueling growth in places that offer lower taxes, less regulation, more freedom, and a more affordable life.” (Washington Examiner, 04/15/2026).
It’s past time to consider the Delaware Statutory Trust escape route!
* A fellow traveler is a person who is not a member of a particular group or political party (especially the Communist Party), but who sympathizes with the group’s aims and politics.
