By Adam Pagnucco.
In the wake of the City of Gaithersburg’s letter to the county council opposing rent control, the City of Rockville’s council has voted to send a letter to the county council raising concerns of “unintended consequences.” According to the city, the county’s rent control legislation “may inadvertently serve to delay the creation of new affordable housing, challenge property owners to perform regular care, cause inadvertent tenant turnover, and may encourage landlords to increase rents by 6 percent every year.”
The city’s letter is reprinted below.
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July 18, 2023
The Honorable Evan Glass
Montgomery County Council President
100 Maryland Avenue
Rockville, Maryland 20850
Dear Council President Glass,
On behalf of the Mayor and Council of Rockville, we write to share our concerns with potential unintended consequences of the proposed Bill 15-23. We agree with the County Council’s concern that since the pandemic, people have been adversely impacted with rising rents and commodity costs due to inflation caused in part by the pandemic and supply-chain issues. The current version of the bill may inadvertently serve to delay the creation of new affordable housing, challenge property owners to perform regular care, cause inadvertent tenant turnover, and may encourage landlords to increase rents by 6 percent every year.
As a member of the Council of Governments Board of Directors since 2013, we have worked with leaders across the DMV to support the housing needs of our workforce and service industry employees. You are aware that over the past ten years – the average rent increase in Montgomery County was 2.1% and in the twenty years prior to the Covid-19 Pandemic – the average increase was 1.5%. That is below the levels throughout the DMV including Washington, DC – which employs rent control on any building built prior to 1973. Rent stabilization has contributed to the degradation of living conditions for those in rent controlled housing as there is no incentive for continued financial investments.
Some have stated that “developers will build anyways” and while that might come to pass – they will not be building housing that is affordable to the majority of our County. The cost of financing and materials has risen exponentially over the past several years and, as the City and the County have required more in public amenities, MPDUs, green space, energy efficiencies, SWM etc. (which for the Record we support) – developers may take their projects elsewhere were the financial risks are fewer.
We do acknowledge that some landlords have increased rents by double digits, and we are concerned about the financial and housing uncertainty for the renters. We are committed to finding and implementing policies and programs that foster the well-being and financial stability of renters, especially people in lower and moderate-income renter communities, and we will continue to seek ways to create and preserve housing that’s affordable to a wide cross-section of income levels. The City of Rockville joined with others to implement temporary moratoriums on rent increases during the Federal State of Emergency and we will continue our efforts to secure new developments that bring quality housing opportunities to those between 40% and 80% AMI.
We recommend that renters be provided with opportunities for transparency on properties that do repeated double digit increases. Additionally – we support the continued use of the Voluntary Rent Guideline (VRG), which has typically been lower than the 6 percent allowable increase. The VRG has been in place for nearly thirty-years and has served as an important tool to encourage landlords to maintain low and reasonable rental rates. We also strongly advocate for additional funding for rental assistance and subsidy beyond the current programming to support low-income families before eviction proceedings commence. Currently, renters have to receive an eviction notice and can only get limited assistance.
Council President Glass – the Rockville Mayor and Council look forward to continuing to work together with you and the County Councilmembers to increase the amount of affordable housing that is critical if we are to create a Montgomery County that is welcoming for all.
Sincerely,
Rockville Mayor and Council
cc: Andrew Friedson, Council Vice President
Gabe Albornoz, County Councilmember
Marilyn Balcombe, County Councilmember
Natalie Fani-Gonzalez, County Councilmember
Will Jawando, County Councilmember
Sidney Katz, County Councilmember
Dawn Luedtke, County Councilmember
Kristin Mink, County Councilmember
Laurie-Anne Sayles, County Councilmember
Kate Stewart, County Councilmember
Robert DiSpirito, Rockville City Manager
