Recently, state Senator Adriane Johnson proposed SB3530, limiting security deposits and capping rent increases to 3.5% a year. I am a small landlord. I own the two flat I live in and 2 three flats — all in the Austin area of Chicago. Property taxes on one of my buildings went up 53% since 2015; the other went up 58% since 2015. Insurance costs went up 58% since 2015. Then there are the rate increases at Commonwealth Edison, People’s Gas, and the city of Chicago water utility.
In addition, the cost of maintaining a property has skyrocketed well above the rate of inflation. For example, in 2017, I installed a new furnace. It cost me $1,700 and was installed by a reputable Chicago-area firm. That same firm wanted over $4,400 last year for the same type of furnace! The hot water heater I installed in 2020 now costs 32% more, not counting the increase in labor costs.
A 3.5% rent increase limit doesn’t take into account the reality that the expenses associated with maintaining a rental property have been increasing at a rate far above 3.5% annually. What about the damage caused by bad tenants, which can run thousands of dollars? Similarly, thanks to state and local ordinances, it takes several months to evict a tenant who stops paying rent. A one-month security deposit doesn’t begin to cover those costs.
Instead of always heaping burdens on landlords, why not help them to keep costs down? Big developers get grants, low-interest loans, you name it. We small landlords get no help whatsoever, which is why so many of us either lose our properties or have to sell them.
Last, but not least, I find it rather ironic that legislators’ pay is capped at 5%, but since 2018 it has risen 44%. Don’t hold landlords to a higher standard than the one to which you legislators hold yourselves. Who is the public servant here?!