Rent Regulation...my idea of heaven is rent regulation

Ok so it's a twisted version of the line from Monty Python's life of Brian but it works. Why? I wish we had rent regulation, even a little bit where I am at in So Cal. Forget the race card played in the article Andrew links to (by the way I'm white so uh...high rent affects anyone renting). Let's focus on the nitty gritty of renting apartments. I pay nearly half my income to rent, I also pay for water, electricity, a car payment (public transportation here sucks) and in general everything else a renter pays for, add into that the fact that I am the bread winner due to my wife's disability and money is pretty much tight as can be. Each year my rent is raised and each year I have to deal with it. I don't have the government stepping in to control it, I am completely at the mercy of whatever the property company decides to do.

Oh and by the way, I don't get jack shit in return. The place looks the same as it did when I moved in a few years ago. So forgive me if I don't feel your pain on this one.