Contracting Out of Rent Control

Contracting out of rent control is possible if the tenant's right to a controlled tenancy is made legally transferable, thereby allowing the landlord to decontrol the property by purchasing the right to a controlled tenancy. This article outlines the basic features of contracting out and compares three forms of contracting out with vacancy decontrol. It argues that one form of contracting out may be much more politically feasible than other methods of decontrol because of the way it distributes the benefits of decontrol between landlords and sitting tenants.