Evening star., 1943-07-16
Rent Ceilings
Are Upheld by
Appeals Court
Three Complaints
Against Brown
Are Dismissed

The constitutionality of the
Emergency Price Control Act, and
rent ceiling regulations promulgated
under it by the ONCE of Price ADJ
ministration, was upheld yesterday
by the United States Emergencys
Court OF Appeals In dismissing three7o
complaints regarding rentals against
Price Administrator Brown. u
The complaints, appeals from
OPA decisions, were filed by Stanleyh
w. Taylor, San Francisco; Charles
w. Wilson and Emma Bennett
Chicago, and Lakemore Co., an Ohio L
corporation with property in Cleve-
land. y
In addition to upholding the con-
stitutionality OF the Emergency Price
Control Act, points ruled on by the Is
court included: y
l. That rent regulations are valid l.
when generally fair and equitable, %
even though an individual landlord
may not be able to obtain a fair q
return on his rental property.
Other Points Covered.
2. That the Price Administrator is'p
not required to grant rent adiust-is
ments on the basis of individual
cost increases. 10
3. That landlords whose rentalsjo
are lower than rents for comparable
properties are not entitled to in-ol
creases on this basis alone. Is
In the Taylor case, the complains
ant attacked constitutionality of thess
Emergency Price Control Act and
rent ceiling regulations. n
In the Wilson and Bennett case
the compliments attacked a rent 7
ceiling regulation as invalid insofar
as 1t failed to provide for adjust e
ments OF maximum rents in individ-
ual cases.
The Lakemore Co. had contended :
1t was entitled to a rent increase Il
to compensate for tax Increase
Control Held Desirable. ~
The court elaborated on the de- u
STABILITY of rent control during the
wartime as an anti-inflation meas
ure. In its decision in the Taylor =
case, it said:
Increases in rents have an i'm
mediate effect on wage earners,
Other items are normally bought in
small quantities and small in.
crease in the price of such commodi-
ties makes no great impression upon
the wage Garner. Rents are paid in
lump sums, however, and wage
earners are actuely aware OF the
fact that their living costs are in
creaSlng when rents are raised.
Furthermore, in the case of most
commodities, wage earners can re-
duce their purchases and thereby
adjust their budgets to price in
creases; in the case of rental hous-
ing in war centers, however, work.
ers generally have no choice, be-
cause the supply of housing is so
severely limited. 3,.-51lG.
Fear Infiationary Spiral.
accordingly, wage earners tend
to demand wage increases to Offset
encroachments on their living stand
ards resulting from higher rents.
II such wage increases are not
granted, labor friction and strikes
may arise to impede the prosecution
of the war. If wages are raised the
pressure for increased prices soon
makes itself felt. Further demands
for wage increases are thereby en-
gendered. Thus an inf1ationary
spiral initiated by rent increases
gathers momentum. The vital i'm
portance of the rent control pro-
gram to the war effort is thus ap-
parent"
The cases were argued before for
mer Chief Judge Fred M. Vinson,
who is now economic stabilization
director; the present Chief Judge
Albert B. Maris and Judge Calvert
Magruder.
The opinion in the Taylor case
was written by Judge Maris and
opinions in the other two cases by
Judge Magruder. -