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In the first decade of this century, New York City was facing a housing crisis. The great influx of immigrants from all over Europe had created a seller's market, and tenants (who previously could protest objectionable actions on the part of their landlords by simply moving) were left with few options. Families of eight or more members were sharing tiny three room apartments and paying up to 100% of their income on rent. Landlords would raise …

…pit, and often the first people to suffer are tenants who can't get the landlord to do simple repairs due to lack of return on the investment. In part as an effort to protect landlords in cities with rent control laws, the state of California has recently passed vacancy decontrol regulations allowing landlords, even those in cities with restrictive rent control laws, to set rent at market or near-market levels when a unit becomes vacant.