Most important, rent control provides an opportunity to build strong tenant organizations at the building, neighborhood, and city-wide levels. This is the only way that a pro-tenant rent control system can be won and enforced. A tenants' movement organized around rent control can begin to work for a better "people's rent control" system, and for basic changes in the way housing is provided and controlled.

Landlords frequently argue that rent control leads to substandard housing. If rent control were only repealed, they say, landlords would have more money to invest in their buildings, and housing conditions would obviously improve.

A recent report by New York State's Temporary State Commission on Living Costs and the Economy shows just how fallacious this idea is. Under a state "vacancy decontrol" law enacted in 1971, rent controlled apartments in New York City are automatically "decontrolled" as soon as the tenant moves out. This law has resulted in sky-rocketing rents in decontrolled apartments. But according to the commission's report, vacancy decontrol has "failed to spur" landlords to make major improvements in their buildings. In fact, the level of major improvements has fallen off significantly since vacancy decontrol began.

The commission looked at alteration permits granted by the city Building Department for major building improvements. In 1969, 1809 such permits were issued, and in 1970 the total was 1432. But in 1972, the first full year of vacancy decontrol, only 872 alteration permits were issued. In 1973, there were 903 permits.

What the New York report shows is that rent decontrol means extra profits for landlords, not extra money for building improvements. The same thing would be true in Massachusetts if rent control were repealed here.

CTOC offices are at 595 Mass. Ave.