The Great Housing Debate: Friedson Answers Key Questions on Competing Proposals

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In: County Council, County Executive, Government, Housing, Local Government, Maryland, Uncategorized

On Thursday March 2, 2023 8 County Council members and the County Executive introduced two competing housing proposals (mymcmedia).

Since these are just press releases and the bills themselves are still in development, they left a few questions to be answered so keep reading on.

You can see a summary of the issues here via Montgomery Perspective along with the full text of the press releases. You can also view the “Tenant Assistance and Protection Package” press release here and the “Housing Opportunity, Mobility and Equity (HOME) Act” press release here.

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Tenant Assistance and Protection Package

After reading the press releases, I had a couple questions regarding the core component against rent gouging in the “Tenant Assistance and Protection package” proposed by 6 council members.

“The first component of the Tenant Assistance and Protection package is anti-rent gouging legislation that eliminates excessive rent increases in a way that doesn’t threaten new housing construction which is essential for Montgomery County to meet its regional targets. The legislation would cap maximum rental increases in multi-unit buildings at eight percent plus inflation (based on the consumer price index). The legislation provides for a 15-year exemption for new construction and provides an allowance for building owners undergoing major renovations or financial hardship to ensure safe and dignified housing.”

We asked Councilmember Friedson if this 8% was based upon an annual increase or overall.

He answered that it is “based on lease renewal. Regardless of one or two year, it cannot exceed the 8% + CPI”. The CPI is based upon the annual CPI regardless of what lease is being renewed or the new terms.

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To the concern that this may discourage landlords offering longer term leases he responded “There are already requirements on offering 2 year leases” and “The purposed is to prevent gouging with excessive increases.” The bill also pairs this with “increased financial support which actually lowers rent burden.”

HOME Act

The Act sets a limit on the allowable annual rent increase for units to follow the Voluntary Rent Guidelines (VRG) or 3 percent, whichever is lower.

On the other side, the HOME Act sets the annual increase to the VRG or 3% whichever is lower. In the past 11 years, only 3 times has it been over 3% or about 27% of the time.

This year the VRG was 5.8% which was the highest since 5.8% in 2007 based upon inflationary pressures. The VRG is required by law to be updated each year and is meant to be a voluntary guideline not required. 2023 and 2007 were the highest VRG numbers since the first two years it was calculated in 1983 and 1984.

You can see the historic VRG data for Montgomery County here.

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