> the rentier class who add nothing to the value of the transaction I lived in one of the most expensive rental markets in the US for a while, so believe me, I

> the rentier class who add nothing to the value of the transaction I lived in one of the most expensive rental markets in the US for a while, so believe me, I'm not inclined to defend landlords, but the availability of rental units do serve a function. Even if we make the crazy assumption that a law forbidding the ownership of more than one residence would have resulted in a median home price one-third of what it actually was in my market, for half the time I lived there, I couldn't have afforded a down payment and a mortgage, and for the other half, I wouldn't have wanted to. There's a risk in tying up a significant chunk of your net worth in an illiquid asset. For what it's worth, I believe rent-seeking (in the economic sense) behavior should be heavily discouraged as a matter of public policy, and believe that a system of taxation that is centered around land-value tax is the best way to achieve that, at least for residences. > a public service [...] for cost plus a reasonable percentage This type of regulation only makes sense for natural monopolies like utilities and whatnot.