"My suggestion is to make the renters lives intolerable without resorting to violence." Agreed. Be creative, and have fun with it. Have a trusted helper post flyers of the man's picture with the caption "Warning! Sex offender alert!" Use your keys to enter their apartment while they're at work, and let the mischief begin. Change their locks, and then accuse <b>them</b> of having changed the locks- all while they're locked out of the apartment. No mercy for that kind of scum. If a standard lease agreement was signed, check the fine print for any and all legal ways in which you can harass them. How about surprise 'fire safety inspections' every night at 3 AM? ... or having all of their mail shipped to an out of state 'mail holding facility', where it can only be picked up in person? Or encouraging their upstairs neighbors to take up late night tap dancing. Fuck them hard, and keep fucking them until they give up. More realistically, delay any arbitration hearings. Find excuses to keep postponing any sort of ruling until their lease expires. Don't renew the lease (obviously), so by the time big brother hears their case, it's already a moot point as they no longer live on your property.
Regardless of my opinion about victimless crimes this situation is obviously not the case as alleged victims filed a complaint that they are being illegally overcharged on their rent.
Are you a trader? The government could just as easily set an 'earnings cap' on your work, allowing you only a living wage- say $30,000/year. Any earnings beyond that point would be classified as criminal price gouging, setting large fines and prison time as the penalties for any illegal excess profiteering. The new law wouldn't even have to be marketed as a victimless crime situation- just show the public some heart wrenching videos of Enron employees who lost everything at the hands of merciless energy traders.
Frankly I tried to avoid arguing the virtues of rent control laws and simply wanted to point out that the law does exist, it gets enforced, it existed at the time of purchase and landlords should know better than breaking it just because they don't like it. As far as your post is concerned, yes, I am a trader, there are huge differences between trading and real estate. Why do you think rent prices are regulated and trading profits are not right now - because real estate situation is absolutely essencial and critical for the society while trading is not. Moreover the free market works relatievely well in trading unless the market is cornered. It does not work in real estate where supplies are limited and municipalities restrict and regulate new construction. Landlords and property owners benefit handsomely when municipalities ban or severly restrict new construction as real estate prices skyrocket, but they have to take the good with the bad and rent control is the other side of the same coin. Besides it's not even the government, it's the municipality. In essence the residents of the town got together and decided that they don't want skyrocketing rent prices in THEIR town. Landlords may take it or leave it. Democracy in action, what's wrong with that?
<b>"Democracy is two wolves and a lamb voting on what to have for lunch. Liberty is a well-armed lamb contesting the vote." ~Attributed to Benjamin Franklin</b>
Oh you mean middle-aged, middle class families renting apartments in a rent-controlled building in NYC are the wolves having poor lamb Donald Trump for lunch?
The truth is "Democracy is two lambs and a wolf voting..." Sounds much more fair and much closer to reality than alleged Franklin statement. ~attributed to Ddd Ooo
He doesn't keep receipts for his renovations? He owns many buildings? He doesn't do the paperwork registering the rent increases? Even though it does not effect his taxes... Let him lose then...its his own fault!