In most American cities, the rent for a one-bedroom apartment was $250 or more per month i

n recent years. In some smaller cities such as Louisville, Kentucky or Jacksonville, Florida the rent was less, but in larger cities it was more. For example, if you lived in Los Angeles, you had to pay $400 or more to rent a one-bedroom apartment, and the same apartment rented for $625 and up in Chicago. The most expensive rents in the U. S. were in New York City, where you had to pay at least $700 a month to rent a one-bedroom apartment in most parts of the city.

Renters and city planners are worried about the high cost of renting apartments. Many cities now have rent control laws to keep the cost of renting low. These laws help low-income families who cannot pay high rents.

Rent controls in the United States began in 1943 when the government imposed rent controls on all American cities to help workers and the families of soldiers during World War Ⅱ. After the war, only one city—New York—continued these World War Ⅱ controls. Recently, more and more cities have returned to rent controls. At the beginning of the 1980s, nearly one fifth of the people in the United States lived in cities with rent-control laws.

Many cities have rent-control laws, but why are rents so high？ Builders and landlords blame rent controls for the high rents. Rents are high because there are not enough apartments to rent, and they blame rent controls for the shortage of apartments. Builders want more money to build more apartment buildings, and landlords want more money to repair their old apartment buildings. But they cannot increase rents to get this money because of the rent-control laws. As a result, landlords are not repairing their old apartments, and builders are not building new apartment buildings to replace the old apartment buildings. Builders are building apartments for high-income families, not low income families, so low-income families must live in old apartments that are in disrepair. Builders and landlords claim that rent-control laws really hurt low income families.

Many renters disagree with them. They say that rent control is not the problem. Even without rent controls, builders and landlords will continue to ignore low-income housing because they can make more money from high-income housing. The only answer, they claim, is more rent controls and government help for low-income housing.

Which of the following would be the best title for the passage？

A．The Highest Rent.

B．Rent Controls.

C．Building Apartments for Low-Income Families.

D．Rent-Control Laws.