Mobile homes are housing units installed on a permanent foundation owned by a landlord. Although a resident owns the home, she rents the foundation from the landlord. In theory, owners of mobile homes can transfer their home to a different foundation if the rent becomes too steep, but uninstalling, transporting, and reinstalling the mobile home is usually prohibitively expensive. This “lock-in” effect encourages state legislatures to create rent controls for mobile home foundations. Which statement is a plausible, unintended consequence of these laws?
A) The price of mobile homes is artificially low.
B) There are few new mobile home foundations constructed.
C) The price of transporting mobile homes is artificially high.
D) There are few new buyers of mobile homes.