A system of price controls on rent charged by landlords to renters of homes and apartments. Under rent control, prices are fixed or subject to a maximum rate of increase. Renters are eligible for rent controlled apartments based on their income, or factors such as disability. In Cambridge, Massachusetts, rent control had the effect of discouraging landlords from renovating properties and experienced problems with fraud and corruption. When it was lifted there, a rapid process of gentrification occurred, displacing residents who could no longer afford market prices.