I have a relative who owns a townhouse in Brooklyn. When they bought their place, they got a substantial discount because it came with a couple of un-evictable

I have a relative who owns a townhouse in Brooklyn. When they bought their place, they got a substantial discount because it came with a couple of un-evictable tenants who were paying under $100/mo in an area that would have bore $1500/mo otherwise for those apartments. They literally spent more on utilities for that apartment than they received in rent. In looking for apartments in NYC, I ran across at least one other that was rent controlled and was absurdly cheap, and the person living there was subletting from the person to whom the rent controlled place was passed down to for more than he was paying, but still less than market rent. I don't think it's a defensible system, at all, and I'm normally relatively in favor of welfare programs. This one is just completely broken.