Letters: Incentives for Homeowners (and Protection for Renters)

Incentives for Homeowners (And Protections for Renters)

To the Editor:

In “Owning a Home Isn’t Always a Virtue” (Economic View, July 14), Robert J. Shiller looked to Switzerland’s relatively low homeownership rate to make the case that the United States should rethink policies that promote owning a home — and should strengthen laws related to renting.

There is a better, closer-to-home example of a place with relatively favorable landlord-tenant rules: New York City. Many of its rental units are covered by rent controls, and many tenants have strong protections against rent gouging and eviction. By contrast, renters in many other cities are at the mercy of landlords who may wish to take advantage of a strengthening market to force them out through a large rent increase or a refusal to renew a lease.

Professor Shiller lauds the flexibility that renting provides families, allowing them to relocate easily for better jobs. But for tenants facing a rent increase or worse in many American communities, good commutes to work can be lost, advantageous child care or schooling options can be disrupted, or a social support network can be upended — all at a landlord’s whim.

I agree with Professor Shiller that we need to review our landlord-tenant law to help families plan their futures.

RAY BRESCIA

Albany, July 15

The writer is an associate professor of law at Albany Law School.

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To the Editor:

Professor Shiller asks: “In today’s world, is it wise for the government to subsidize homeownership?” Two prominent Americans of vastly different political views apparently have an answer for him.

The first said: “A nation of homeowners, of people who own a real share in their own land, is unconquerable.”

The second said that “an ownership society” is being created in our country, “where more Americans than ever will be able to open up their door where they live and say, ‘Welcome to my house, welcome to my piece of property.’ ”

Who are these two Americans? The first was Franklin D. Roosevelt, and the second was George W. Bush.

RICHARD S. COLMAN

Orinda, Calif., July 15

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