CRE experts sound off on rent control in Illinois

For more than 20 years, a law on the books in Illinois has prevented any municipality from enacting rent control measures. But with the elections of J.B. Pritzker and Lori Lightfoot, as well as several self-professed socialist Chicago aldermen, the political will may be shifting toward this affordable housing tool.

Noting the displacement of people within gentrifying communities in Woodlawn where he mostly works, Corey Oliver, chief operations officer at Community Venture Investment Corporation, said that there is a need for controlled ascension of rent as these neighborhoods are being developed. He doesn’t believe, however, that rent control is the right way to temper a swelling rental burden.

“The concept of rent control in itself is flawed,” Oliver said. “Any time that you are going to control somebody’s ability to earn money, while not restricting their ability to spend money, you are going to [create] a negative situation for that owner.”