By Adam Pagnucco.
A coalition of 40 organizations who support rent control have written to the county council demanding a strong bill. The groups are focused on a set of amendments that will be considered tomorrow when the council is scheduled to vote on rent control legislation. Everyone expects some form of rent control to pass so these amendments matter a lot. The supporters’ letter is reprinted below.
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July 17, 2023
Montgomery County Council
100 Maryland Avenue
Rockville MD 20850
Dear Council President Glass, Council Vice President Friedson, and members of the County Council,
Thank you for your leadership in pushing a comprehensive rent stabilization bill that will be discussed by the full Council on Tuesday, July 18th, 2023. Rent stabilization is essential to ensure that tenants, many of who have lived here for years, can continue calling Montgomery County their homes. Families and children cannot thrive if they are concerned about being pushed out. We look forward to celebrating a final bill package with you that provides fair, clear, and comprehensive protection for renters in our county.
We urge the County Council to pass rent stabilization as recommended by the PHP Committee with the following additional amendments:
We strongly SUPPORT the following amendments. Without these additions, families who need and deserve basic protections will fall through the cracks through extensive evictions or rising fees.
- Add an amendment for vacancy control, which is essential to ensure that predatory landlords are not evicting tenants in order to raise the rent higher than the cap. Since we don’t have Just Cause Eviction, we need to make sure our county protects our residents. This policy is used in different areas around the country, including Takoma Park, Maryland. Without vacancy control, landlords will be able to reset their rate above the cap every single year by simply evicting tenants.
- Add an amendment to regulate fees. We have heard from Prince George’s County, Maryland, that landlords are increasing fees drastically, much higher than the rent cap. This amendment is important to close the loophole that we have seen in other jurisdictions.
We are CONCERNED about:
- Any banking amendment that is not accompanied by vacancy control. Under both the Glass and Stewart amendments, a landlord would be allowed to bank unused increases from the past for renewing tenants but not for new tenants. Without vacancy control, landlords would be limitless in charging whatever they want to new tenants. This sets up a substantial incentive for landlords to evict tenants. In addition, Councilmember Glass’s amendment has no limits on how long a landlord could bank unused increases setting up a scenario with allowable increases at double or treble the cap. Banking should ONLY pass if we pass vacancy control.
We strongly OPPOSE the following amendments:
- Oppose increasing the rent cap. We ask the Council to follow the recommendations from the PHP Committee. Tenants and advocates prefer the cap to be lower and cannot allow for the cap to go higher. This would impact tenants tremendously.
- Oppose the substantial renovation rehab exemption introduced by Councilmember Luedke. This exemption would allow landlords to get exemptions without sufficient investment in renovation. Councilmember Stewart’s amendment is a more reasonable alternative especially by prohibiting buildings that continue to have code violations from accessing the exemption.
- Oppose the amendment exempting many landlords based on size. This amendment would exempt landlords smaller than four units from rent stabilization, and was rejected at the last PHP committee worksession.
- Oppose the month-to-month exemption. This would impact many residents, including teachers, who often go month-to-month between school years as they wait to find out if/where they’ll be transferred, and people in eviction proceedings, who are already some of the most vulnerable residents in the county.
- Oppose the amendment exempting all buildings constructed after 2000. This exempts almost 25% of current rental properties plus any new development. It also reduces the stock of affordable and regulated housing over time.
- Oppose any sunset date, which would turn the push for permanent rent stabilization into another temporary rent stabilization bill. No sunset date is acceptable since it creates uncertainty for tenants and landlords.
Montgomery County has an opportunity to pass a strong bill that protects renters and includes incentives for landlords, such as Fair Return Petitions and exemptions for new buildings. We ask the Council to include vacancy control and add an amendment to regulate fees. We also ask that you oppose amendments that weaken the bill, especially the sunset date, increasing the rent cap, month to month exemptions, and other amendments that would undermine the protections intended by the bill.
Thank you for your supporting Montgomery County Residents. We urge you to VOTE in favor of Bill 15-23 as recommended by the PHP Committee, with vacancy control, effective date change, and regulated fees. We urge you not to include amendments that would be harmful to Montgomery County Residents.
Sincerely,
1199 SEIU United Healthcare Workers East
Action in Montgomery (AIM)
ACQ (Ask the Climate Question)
African Communities Together
Anakbayan MoCo
Bethesda African Cemetery Coalition
Biodiversity for a Livable Climate
CASA
Charter House Tenants Association
Chesapeake Climate Action Network
Colespring Plaza Tenants Association
Everyday Canvassing
Francophone Africans Alliance
Impact Silver Spring
Jews United for Justice
LiUNA Local 11
Maryland Poor People’s Campaign
Maven Tenants Union
MoCo Pride Center
Montgomery County BIPOC Green New Deal Internship
Montgomery County Branch of the NAACP
Montgomery County Green New Deal for Social Housing
Montgomery County Democratic Socialists of America
Montgomery County Education Association
Montgomery County Racial Equity (MORE) Network
Our Revolution Montgomery County
Progressive Maryland
Progressive Neighbors
Renters United Maryland
SEIU Local 500
Shepherd’s Table
The Renters Alliance
Transit Alternatives to Midcounty Highway Extended (TAME) Coalition
Trans Maryland
UFCW 1994, MCGEO
United Food and Commercial Workers Union Local 400
UNITE HERE! Local 23
UNITE HERE! Local 25
Unitarian Universalist Cedar Lane Environmental Justice Ministry
Young People for Progress