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Show Bureau Chops 1 High Rents in Milwaukee N. E. A. 8taff Special. MILWAl'KEK. March . On the basis of adjustment made In more than 200 cases, Walter H. Bender, rent arbiter of the Milwaukee rent bureau, nays rent regulation here has been a success. The bureau has been In existence since July, 1920. It Is a part of the Wisconsin state railroad commission and was created by an emergency act of the legislature to check rent profiteering. prof-iteering. "In addition to the 200 cases In which we have made adjustments, we have effected agreements In hundreds of others and hnve dissuaded many landlords-from attempting to put Increases In-creases Into operation," says Bender, a lawyer. REDUCTIONS ORDERED. Of the 200 cases formally decided, reductions have been ordered in 90 per cent. "Last summer as many as seventy-five seventy-five tenants came to our office dally for conferences and advice," says Bender. "At present we average from thirty to forty callers daily." in addition to passing on cases ( brought to Its notice, the rent bureau i slwts,rllji Investigates lentrd prrrp ertles. It requires landlords to fill out questionnaires giving data on rents, fixed chaws and other Information. COMMI88ION DECIDES. After the evidence In a rent complaint com-plaint Is taken and the premises are Inspected by Bender or one of his four assistants, a report Is sent to railroad commission headquarters m Mudlson. There the decision Is made as to whether to permit a raise In rent or to order the rent reduced. "The determination of a fair rental Is always a knotty problem." says' Bender. "The objection to placing It too high Is obvious. If placed too low, it muy discourage the building of rental property. Ordinarily we allow a net return on the present value of the property equal to about S per cent, "In uddltion to this net return we add taxes, insurance, repairs, water rules, cost, of heating, and depreciation. deprecia-tion. The varying degrees of service rendered by apartment bouse owners must be considered. So no Ironclad rule can be followed In our work." While the rent bureau Is increasingly increasing-ly populur with tenants, many real estate men and builders aesert that it has proved a deterrent to Milwaukee's building program. |