Prohibiting rent control

SB 168 prohibits local governments in West Virginia from enacting or maintaining any form of rent control. The bill amends state law to ban counties, cities, and towns from adopting ordinances or resolutions that set below-market rents, limit rent increases, or base rental rates on tenant income. It defines rent control broadly to include any restriction on how much landlords can charge for residential properties. This law would require local governments to remove existing rent control policies and prevent new ones from being implemented.