• RamRabbit@lemmy.world
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    17 hours ago

    the middle class disproportionately rents. It is the wealthy who own.

    Just like every other cost related to owning and maintaining a rental: property taxes get passed down to renters.

    This tax hike disproportionately affects middle and lower class individuals.

    • chloroken@lemmy.ml
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      14 hours ago

      Not if paired with a rent freeze. Obviously. But you knew that already. You’re just here to agitate for the bourgeoise.

      • RamRabbit@lemmy.world
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        13 hours ago

        Economists of all stripes agree rent control doesn’t work. A mere 2% think it has positive effects, according to a 2012 survey by the IGM Forum.

        The analysis of rent control is among the best-understood issues in all of economics, and – among economists anyway – one of the least controversial. In 1992, a poll of the American Economic Association found 93 percent of its members agreeing that 'a ceiling on rents reduces the quality and quantity of housing.


        NYC renters have suffered enough. Why would you subject them to failed policies like rent control?

    • porous_grey_matter@lemmy.ml
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      17 hours ago

      No, this is just what the landlords say, like how they say raising wages would impact jobs. It’s just not true. Landlords already charge the maximum people are willing and able to pay, they can’t really pass those costs on. Just like how in fact companies hire based on how many employees they need to fulfil their contracts, and it’s only affected marginally by the wages.

      • RamRabbit@lemmy.world
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        17 hours ago

        When a cost goes up for all owners at once, this leads to everyone raising rent prices at the same time. There is no opportunity for a renter to jump ship to a cheaper property, they all went up. The maximum changed.

        Yes, this will price out many people from being able to afford housing.

        • porous_grey_matter@lemmy.ml
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          17 hours ago

          That would leave properties empty with high taxes, pretty bad financial decision for a landlord. Leaving properties empty to land bank works if they don’t have to pay anything but it would be ruinous in this scenario. They will lower prices.

            • porous_grey_matter@lemmy.ml
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              17 hours ago

              No, it’s not. Currently taxes are not nearly high enough to impact the value proposition of doing that while you expect significant capital gains. Increased property taxes additionally lower property values and exactly counteract that. Those properties are not empty for funsies, their owners expect to make a profit doing that. With stagnating or falling prices and high taxes they will be quickly motivated to sell or rent, at a price a middle class or lower class person is actually able to pay.