# Scapegoating Rent Control: Masking the Causes of Homelessness (Nov 2007) * **Scapegoating rent control: masking the cause of homelessness** * By Richard P. Appelbaum, Michael Dolny, Peter Dreier and John I. Gilderbloom. Published online in the Journal of the American Planning Association on 12 April 2007 * * **Abstract**: * While many analysts contend that a shortage of affordable housing is a principal cause of homelessness, **one recent well-publicized study argues that housing shortages themselves —and hence homelessness— are ultimately the result of ill-conceived local rent controls**. * **This study, conducted by William Tucker, has been widely cited by opponents of rent control** as a justification for limiting the ability of localities to regulate rents. * **The research presented in this article is a re-analysis of Tucker's data that corrects for methodological shortcomings in the original analysis**. * The research shows that there is no evidence to support Tucker's conclusion that rent control causes homelessness. * **Keywords**: rent control, homelessness, US {% hint style="info" %} Rent regulation has a long history and it has been research and documented. This provides opportunities for solid and evidence-based journalistic accounts of recent and current rent regulation initiatives. {% endhint %} --- # Agent Instructions: Querying This Documentation If you need additional information that is not directly available in this page, you can query the documentation dynamically by asking a question. Perform an HTTP GET request on the current page URL with the `ask` query parameter: ``` GET https://housing-base.journalismarena.eu/access-to-housing/academic-reports-and-papers/scapegoating-rent-control-masking-the-causes-of-homelessness-november-2007.md?ask= ``` The question should be specific, self-contained, and written in natural language. The response will contain a direct answer to the question and relevant excerpts and sources from the documentation. Use this mechanism when the answer is not explicitly present in the current page, you need clarification or additional context, or you want to retrieve related documentation sections.