A lot of renters are feeling squeezed -- as apartments get more expensive every year.
Now, there's a call to let local communities slow down those rent increases.
A number of cities, including New York, limit the amount a property owner can raise a rent on an existing tenant. It's how the characters on "Friends" could afford those nice apartments in Manhattan.
Those limits are usually called rent control or rent stabilization, and they've been against the law in Illinois since 1997.
Diego Morales from the "Lift The Ban Coalition" said with the shortage of affordable housing ... not just in Chicago. but Illinois as a whole ... it's time to "let the people decide whether or not they would like these types of policies to address the housing crisis."
The group is making a new pitch to lawmakers to let local communities set up their own laws limiting the percentage rents can go up every year -- usually tied to the rate of inflation or a similar metric.
The Chicago Association of Realtors has argued that lifting a ban on rent stabilization would prevent smaller landlords from making improvements to their properties, and would do nothing to make rents more affordable.
