Evening star., 1924-02-28
! 7CHANGES URGED !
IN BALL RENT ACT
Owners Propose Amend
ments if Committee Decides
to Continue Measure.

Building owners asked seven
amendments TO the Ball rent act II
the life OF the Rent Commission is
extended, at the closing hearing last
night.
Richard S. WhsIey. chairman of
the Rent Commission, charged that
landlords and real estate men are
making an organized effort to have
@ housing survey made for the pur-
pose OF delaying action. so that the
expire on May 90. This. was denied
by Robert .. Dean. counsel for the
Association. Of Building Owners ant
Managers.
Charles E. Howry, former judge o..
the United States Court Of Claims
appearing In opposition to the pro.
posed continuance of the Rent Conn
mission. said that he tried for three
years TO get possession OF certain
property he owns. which was occu-
pied by a woman bootlesger. and
that when he finally did get posses
sion there were two wagon loads of
empty bottles in the back yard. Ho
said that he had seen nine soldiers
In uniform enter the house through
the basement In one evening.
There was a sharp tilt between
Judge Howry and Representative
William c. Hammer of North Caro-
lima, a member of the committee who
censured the judge for not having
had the woman arrested. Judge
IIowry said he. reported the condi-
tion to the police and nothing was
done.
Closing the argument In favor OF
the Lampert bill. which would ex-
tend the jurisdiction of the Rent
Commission as Il permanent organi-
cation, Mrs. Clara Sears Taylor, a
member OF the commission declared
that the real emergency began with
the signing of the armistice and has
porperty owners. she charged. had
put fictitious prices on property.
doubled the rent on delapida ed
buildings and charged dishonest
rents
Referring 10 the figures cited by
the bureau of labor statistics and used
by landlords In the hearings. showing
that rents have increased In Washing
ton only 81 per cent since the war, Mrs.
Taylor read letter from Chsrles E.
Baldwin. acting commissioner. in which
he stated these figures were compiled
from only $50 houses and $50 apart
nlents.
The average increase Of the rents
OF poorer people-that is. the govern
ment workers-has been approximately
I2a per cent" she said. "Of course.
these are the cases that come before
our commission, and il must be stated
they are the extreme cases" she
Many Instances show increases as
nigh as e35 per cent" she said.
Amendments Proposed.
The amendments proposed by the as
sociation of property owners, through
Mr.. Dean. are as follows:
l. Limit the jurisdiction Of the
commission to apartments which rent
for $50 and less.
ri M%h
vision and make determinations of
the commission effective on the date
handed down
8. Take away from the commission
the right TO initiate proceedings.
!. Require % per cent of the tam
petition before the commission can
act.
). On request permit the commits.
SION to make double determination,
one where tho landlord makes repairs
and the other where the tenant
makes repairs
8. Give the landlord the right to
call to the attention Of the commission
the undesirability Of q tenant, and give
the commission power to eject unde-
z. Reduce the personnel Of the COM
mission from five to three. and require
that they be bonafide residents of the
Dlstrict three years prior to their ap-
Mr.. Dean also read into the record a
summary Of reports received from fifty
real estate firms showing that ~ houses
and l41 apartments renting for $50 or
iefs per month are now vacant.
The subcommittee headed by Repre-
sentative Lampert went into executive
session today with the hope that it
would be bale to make its report to
the full District committee In about
week.