I don't understand your argument. Everyone has to live somewhere. For some people, that means renting. Someone has to own the building they live in. It's not

I don't understand your argument. Everyone has to live somewhere. For some people, that means renting. Someone has to own the building they live in. It's not like the person who owns the building does nothing to earn their rent. Building maintenance, loan servicing, taxes, insurance, vacancies, all of that and more has a cost (just ask a homeowner). From what I understand, 4% annually is a good return after expenses. If you're arguing specifically about rents in the Bay Area, then sure that's a problem that needs to be fixed. But blaming the property owners for high rents is sort of blaming the messenger, no? No additional land and laws that prevent building upwards directly leads to higher rents because of increased competition, and high salaries at tech companies (combined with a bunch of other externalities like private buses) just makes it worse.