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17 Cornell J. L. & Pub. Pol'y 1 (2007-2008)
Absentee Landlords, Rent Control and Healthy Gentrification: A Policy Proposal to Deconcentrate the Poor in Urban America

handle is hein.journals/cjlpp17 and id is 7 raw text is: ABSENTEE LANDLORDS, RENT CONTROL AND HEALTHY GENTRIFICATION: A POLICY PROPOSAL TO DECONCENTRATE THE POOR IN URBAN AMERICA Jorge 0. Elorza* ABSTRACT Empirical data overwhelmingly suggests that the presence of mid- dle- and working-class homeowners is beneficial for inner-city communi- ties. Yet, absentee landlords have a systematic financial advantage over resident landlords when it comes to purchasing homes in blighted neigh- borhoods. This advantage has disastrous effects for inner cities, as the communities with the greatest need for the stabilizing presence of mid- dle- and working-class homeowners are the ones least likely to attract them. The lack of in-moving homeowners and the resulting increase in poverty cause declining neighborhoods to fall deeper into downward spirals. In this Article, I propose a rent control plan designed to attract middle- and working- class homeowners to blighted neighborhoods, and I argue that many positive outcomes will result. By designing this plan, I hope to challenge the conventional wisdom that rent control has only one legitimate purpose, reducing tenants' rents, and call attention to the ex- ternalities caused by the absentee landlord industry. Second, I provide a legal and economic model for inner cities to deconcentrate poverty and to better integrate the poor into mainstream society. Third, I develop a model for healthy gentrification whereby vicious cycles of poverty are transformed into virtuous cycles of stability. A B STR A C T .................................................. 1 INTRODUCTION ............................................. 3 I. UNDERSTANDING URBAN INSTABILITY ........... 5 * Assistant Professor of Law, Roger Williams University School of Law. B.S., Univer- sity of Rhode Island; J.D., Harvard Law School. I would like to express my deep gratitude to Duncan Kennedy and Colleen Murphy for their helpful comments. I also benefited from the comments of Emilie Benoit, Jeffrey Dana, Jared Goldstein, Andrew Horwitz, James Huguley, Bruce Kogan, Timothy Kuhner, George Nnona, Nicolas Retsinas, Leticia Tejada, and David Zlotnick. I would also like to thank my able and diligent research assistants Timothy Cavazza, Katherine Johnston, Michael McMillen, and Rikin Mehta. This research was generously sup- ported by a RWU SoL Summer Research Grant.

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