Tenant unions from a variety of places, including Louisville, Kentucky; Bozeman, Montana; and Kansas City, Missouri, have been organizing loud, impassioned protests at corporate landlords’ national headquarters as well as going door-to-door and lobbying the White House and Congress for the past few years. They haven’t succeeded in securing a concrete government gain for tenants, though.
Rise of tenant advocacy groups
In response to the Covid-19 pandemic, tenants demanded that their rent and mortgage obligations be canceled. Instead, the government provided landlords with $46 billion in Emergency Rental Assistance, with no conditions attached, lining the coffers of institutional slumlords and serial evictors with a notorious track record of health and safety. The Biden administration‘s early 2023 Blueprint for a Renters Bill of Rights was so devoid of any policy to go along with its lofty verbiage that the country’s landlord lobbyists joyfully declared victory after renters demanded that renter rights be codified in federal law. According to Tara Raghuveer of the National Tenant Union Federation, “over the past several decades, the federal government has not only abdicated its responsibility to tenants, it has actually become the financial enabler of some of the worst landlord business practices.”
Local and regional success stories
The Biden administration took action to restrict the amount that rent increases in specific affordable housing units across the nation may be made. Tenant activists claimed the new regulation, which caps rent increases at 10%, will help tenants stay in their homes, despite criticism from some housing experts over the decision. “Although the rent is still excessively high, this cap will give over a million tenants security,” stated Tara Raghuveer, National Tenant Union Federation director. Capping rent increases, according to Mortgage Bankers Association President and CEO Bob Broeksmit, will only make the housing affordability situation worse. The exact opposite of what is now required in markets across the nation, rent control has repeatedly shown to be a failing policy that inhibits new building, distorts market pricing, and degrades the quality of rental housing, according to Broeksmit.
Policy implementation
Experts state that the restriction is applicable to apartments that are funded by the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit, the biggest government program for affordable housing in the country. Approximately 2.6 million rental properties in the United States, according to the National Low-Income Housing Coalition, now have LIHTC rent and income limits. According to Shamus Roller, executive director of the National Housing Law Project, you may contact your landlord or search for the term “tax credit” or the letters “LIHTC” on your lease to find out whether you live in one of these units. According to Roller, some organizations have an interactive map and a list of every LIHTC property available on their website. Asking for documents from the local recorder’s office is an additional choice. He went on, “A regulatory agreement that must be recorded against the property applies to all LIHTC properties.” A public LIHTC database is also available, however housing activists cautioned that it was out of date. Tenants may also use the National Housing Preservation Database to do research.
Validation of grassroots advocacy
The National Housing Law Project states that the maximum rent an owner may charge a LIHTC renter is determined annually by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development utilizing income criteria. The National Housing Law Project states that although these evaluations are intricate, the new regulation states that rent hikes on qualifying units should not surpass 10% annually from now on.
This will assist in “keeping the lowest-income tenants, families with children, seniors, and people with disabilities in their homes.” Tenants should inform their landlord about the government’s revised policy and give them a copy of the official HUD statement if they believe their landlord is not abiding by the new regulations. It might be challenging to comprehend this legislation, therefore we strongly advise renters to speak with their neighborhood free legal services provider to find out if they are covered by the cap and, if they are, to contest unauthorized rent increases.
Conclusion
In conclusion, The advantageous terms they receive from our federal government enable many of these landlords to operate their businesses, which often include rent-gouging, evictions, and unfavorable circumstances. The government does business with our landlords, and the rent is just too darn high. Tenant unions contend that the federal government’s generosity should be subject to certain restrictions, such as caps on rent increases, duties to maintain the housing sanitary and secure, and pledges not to foreclose on renters or extend leases unless there is a valid reason.
