As housing prices skyrocket and Wall Street buys up property in an attempt to create a permanent renters class, activists in Illinois are fighting back to lift the statewide ban on rent control.
On Thursday, November 7th, 2024, the Lift the Ban coalition held an informational meeting at Illinois State University about Illinois’ statewide ban on rent control, the current housing situation in both Illinois and McLean County, and what people can do to fight back
The majority of attendees are currently renters. The majority said their rent had also increased in the past year. The majority of the crowd at the ISU event raised their hands when asked if they were experiencing severe rent burden (over 50% of their income goes towards rent).
Speakers included District 4 County Board Member Krystle Able, District 6 County Board Member Alex Duffy, Lift the Ban Coalition Coordinator Diego Morales, and YDSA Executive Board Member Katie Hamende.
The presentation comes at a time the unhoused population in the country is reaching hitherto untold levels in a century, and housing prices are skyrocketing forcing millenials and zoomers into become a permanent renters class. The rents being too damn high is a coordinated effort by neo-liberal capitalists to destabilize & de-organize the working class; Wall Street vultures—especially post-pandemic—are buying up real estate with a ravenous appetite comparable only to drug addicts buying Blue Meth from the TV series Breaking Bad. The buyers are faceless, soulless corporations operating out-of-state with few mechanisms in place for municipalities to enforce housing standards.
As Jacobin reports, “When mega-investors buy up blocks in your neighborhood, it is often difficult to ascertain who is doing the buying. Major investors can easily conceal the true ownership of properties through layers of limited liability companies, incorporated in states like Delaware and Nevada where ownership information does not have to be disclosed.”1
While this has been a trend since the rise of neo-liberal capitalism in the 1980s (rents have increased by 350% since this then), the post-pandemic landscape has accelerated this process. In 2021, corporations purchased 24% of all single-family homes nationwide.2 By 2022, investors accounted for nearly 30 percent of sales of single-family homes, up from an average of 16 percent just three years earlier. In some cities, institutional investors account for a far higher share of single-family homes. During the same time period, five major rental companies hiked their fees by 40 percent over a three-year period and saw their tenants fall behind in rent.
The Illinois state-wide ban on rent control was passed in 1997 under pressure from the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC). ALEC is vampiric squid constituted by the most ghoulish corporate interests including the Koch Brothers, big pharma, big banks, energy companies, health insurance companies, big tobacco, private prison companies, and a litany of other capitalist blood suckers. Basically, if there’s a powerful interest group ruining this country for profit and wrecking the working class, there’s a good chance they are connected to ALEC. ALEC’s tentacles are truly bipartisan in nature and reach all the way down to local school boards.
Currently, thirty-three states have bans on rent control. 7 states/districts allow rent control: California, New York, Oregon, Minnesota, Maine, New Jersey, Washington DC. Local meteorological reports show that the sky has not fallen because of rent control in these areas.
Back in McLean County, the Lift the Ban on Rent Control event focused on how the housing shift was affecting the local community, especially students.
Recently elected District 6 County Board member Alex Duffy said he supports lifting the ban on rent control. He pledged to never accept the money from the major leasing companies.
There are four major leasing companies for students in Normal: Young America, SAMI, First Site, Class Act. ISU students make up 40% of Normal’s population. 92.6% receive financial aid. The largest student housing landlord is Young America, which rakes in 20.7 million annually. According to County Board Member Krystal Able, these blood sucking corporations use this money to engage in litigation with the county in order to avoid paying taxes, raising the tax burden on actually hard working McLean County residents.
“One thing we’ve seen commonly in McLean County is these big companies, like First Site, they don’t like their property tax bill we send them,” Able said. “So, they turn around and sue us. And then, we go into settlements. Big companies say if you don’t negotiate with us to lower our valuation, we’re going to sue you and we’re going to spend all your tax-payer money on litigation. So, our taxing body says we don’t want to do that so we’ll lower your tax value. You’re going to pay less now by $100,000s. This increases the burden on the average tax-payer and is responsible for Unit Five having to pass a tax increase referendum to pay for our schools because the savings we’re giving to rental corporations gets passed on to average working folks. To the average homeowner, the only way your taxes are going to get lower is if we reign in the greed of these big companies that are forcing us to pass the buck on down to all of you and make your lives unaffordable. The average person can appeal property tax valuation, but the average person isn’t able to take the County to court.”
Able also accused these companies as essentially engaging in fraudulent behavior while maintaining sub-standard living conditions.
“Companies will defer maintenance as a way to keep valuations low, but then they never fix the maintenance issue.”
The Lift the Ban on Rent Control coalition will be holding another town hall on Saturday, December 8th, from 2PM-4PM at the Bloomington Public Library.
Quick facts on the material conditions facing McLean County residents:
- Rent burden = >30% of income
- Severe Rent burden = >50 of income
- 47.6% of Illinoisans are Rent burdened. Rent has increased 55% since pandemic. Illinois is 4th in the nation for Rent increases.
- 51.1% rent burdened in McLean County. 31.1% increase since 2019.
Evictions (2016)
- 56,946 statewide
- 756 in McLean County
Homelessness (2019)
- 11,947 without shelter
- 164,969 people doubled up/couch surfing
Illinois Coalition to Lift the Ban on Rent control:
- Campaign was launched in 2017. Has grown to nearly 40 organizations statewide. Includes expansion of renters protection.
- HB 4104
- Open up a pathway to lifting the ban with local referendum.
- Expand renter protections
- Protection from retaliation
- Responsibilities and standards for maintenance
- Proper notice for termination of lease, entry, etc.
- Limits on move-in fees.
- Allows renters to withold rent, sue for money, or ask for a court order if the landlord is not providing adequate maintenance
- prohibits excessive late fees, limits security deposits to 1.5x rent
- requires adequate heating in winter
- consequences for unlawful entry
- protects tenants against retaliation of a tenant reports code violations, illegal landlord behavior, asking for repairs, participating in a renter’s organization, or exerting renters’ rights
- Retaliation can look like raising rents, decreasing service, evicting or threatening to evict, non-renewal of a lease
What does rent control look like?
- Rent board with tenants & homeowners
- Annual rates, often indexed to inflation
- Rent justification: high costs for the landlord can create an exemption (damage occurred to home)
- Typical exemptions: New constructionist, building past a certain date, owner-occupied buildings
Get involved in Lifting the Ban on Rent Control:
Call/email Sharon Chung: 309-808-2351 – info@repchung.com
Tell your story – bit.ly/myrenterstory
Sign-up for newsletter – bit.ly/ltbnewsletter
Become member of coalition – info@ltbcoalition.org
Here is video of the full event, exclusively on Agitation Rising News:
- https://jacobin.com/2024/05/single-family-homes-rentals-wall-street
- 2https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2022-09-08/why-did-housing-costs-explode-during-the-pandemic
