Because D.C. Tenants are very fractured, Schattenstein said, the expiration of rent control probably won't become a major issue until sometime next fall. Schattenstein also noted that D.C. lost its pro-tenant mayor, Sharon Pratt Kelly, in last fall's election. Mayor Marion Barry and members of the city council may still end up supporting rent control, Schattenstein said, but because a federal control board is overseeing the city, it's unclear how much input the council will have. Along with D.C. and the states above, two other states have very limited forms of rent regulation. In Maryland, rent control effects only the small D.C. suburb of Takoma Park, and in Connecticut, some jurisdictions have Fair Rent Commissions, a system not considered rent control in the typical sense.
Many more states have laws that actually preempt or restrict the enactment of rent control.
With some affordable housing advocates even questioning whether rent regulation mainly benefits the poor, the only sure thing about rent control is that fierce battles over its continued existence lie ahead.