Dear Sam,
I love writing to people named Sam, haha. Thanks for replying to my post! In my case, I was lucky not to have tenants stop paying rent during COVID and I did not raise rents for two years. Now, most units are far below market rent and I'm limited in my ability to increase.
Example; I have a 1-bedroom unit that was renting in the high $700's during COVID. According to AB 1482, the max rent increase is 10% (regardless of CPI). It will take years to get it over $1000 while the market rents are twice that. CPI is up but now, I must wait another year to add a few $10's per month.
I agree we have to mindful of our customer base and the economy. In 2008-2010 people lost jobs and stopped paying rent. I worked with tenants, lowered rents and had to evict a few people. I survived it but we didn't have the state controlling rent or stopping evictions. We need to generate cash when we can because there will be difficult times for landlords too; especially when the state steps in and interferes with the market. The state forces property owners to take the brunt of losses caused by bad lawmaking. If the state would focus on increasing inventory and stop making real estate investments unprofitable, we wouldn't be having the problems we are having.
Sorry, I got on a roll. Thanks for the information about CPI. I would like to see the numbers. Can you share the report or tell me where you saw it?
Sam