White House Proposes Blueprint For Renters Bill Of Rights, Aims To Promote Affordability

The Biden administration rolled out a series of actions Wednesday it says will help rein in high multifamily rents and otherwise protect renters.

Landlord organizations lambasted the plan, while affordable housing activists said it doesn't go nearly far enough to address escalating rents and a lack of affordability in housing.

“We are disappointed [the administration is] pursuing potentially duplicative and onerous regulations that are already appropriately addressed under state and local law,” the National Multifamily Housing Council said in a statement after the release of the plan, though it did acknowledge that the White House isn't advocating rent control.

“These efforts will do nothing to address the nation’s housing shortage and could discourage much-needed investments in housing,” the organization said.

Under the plan, the administration is directing a number of federal agencies to take actions it says will help prevent unfair housing practices in the rental market. The plan is part of a larger initiative known as the Blueprint for a Renters Bill of Rights that was also released in January.

“The White House announcement introduces some potential for agency-level actions, but ultimately, it falls short of directing rent regulation or addressing market consolidation in a way that will bring about material difference for tenants who are in crisis right now,” People's Action Homes Guarantee campaign director Tara Raghuveer said. 

Though rent control isn't mentioned in the list of actions, the document calls out “egregious rent increases.”

“The Federal Housing Finance Agency ... will launch a new public process to examine proposed actions promoting renter protections and limits on egregious rent increases for future investments,” the plan says.

Under the plan, the FHFA will establish requirements that encourage the financing of multifamily loans that guarantee affordable housing. In 2022, Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae purchased a combined $142B in multifamily loans, supporting more than 1 million units.

The Federal Trade Commission and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau are also directed in the plan to collect information to identify various practices that prevent applicants and tenants from leasing or staying in multifamily properties, including the unfair use of tenant background checks.

“The two agencies will seek information on a broad range of practices that affect the rental market, including the creation and use of tenant background checks, the use of algorithms in tenant screenings, the provision of adverse action notices by landlords and property management companies, and how an applicant’s source of income factors into housing decisions,” the document says.

The administration is further directing the Department of Justice to examine anticompetitive information sharing within rental markets. Other agencies, such as the FHFA and the Department of Housing and Urban Development, will participate in the effort.

“One of the other big takeaways from today's announcement is that it actually affirms that the federal government does indeed have a role to play in correcting the imbalance of power between landlords and tenants,” Raghuveer said. “But there's much more that the president can do to provide material relief.”

Namely, make every dollar of federal financing for multifamily contingent on universal protections that include rent regulations, she said.

“For decades, the federal government has avoided taking responsibility for that power imbalance between landlords and tenants,” Raghuveer said. “We plan to continue organizing until that happens.”

The baleful impact of the pandemic is barely mentioned in the document, which housing advocates said is a major oversight.

“One unfortunate omission from the White House blueprint is any administrative action to hold corporate landlords accountable for egregious, predatory and often unlawful behavior during and since the pandemic,” National Low Income Housing Coalition CEO Diane Yentel told Bisnow.

During the pandemic, the FHFA made it clear that property owners who failed to comply with pandemic-related renter protections would be subject to remedies under their loan documents, including moving the loan into a technical default and revocation of forbearance, Yentel said.

Last year, the House Oversight Committee published a yearlong investigation documenting egregious eviction practices of four large corporate landlords during the first 16 months of the pandemic.

“Yet the White House and FHFA have taken no action against them,” Yentel said. “FHFA should hold these landlords accountable by subjecting them to remedies under the loan documents, including barring them from any future federally backed mortgage.”

Extraordinary rent growth in the wake of the pandemic, especially in regions that were once considered affordable, has thrust rental affordability into the national spotlight, Apartment List senior research associate Rob Warnock said. Since March 2020, the nationwide median rent has increased more than 19%, and in certain metropolitan areas, pandemic-era rent growth has exceeded 40%.

“Today the administration is advocating for greater tenant protections against the consequences of that shortage, including skyrocketing rents and deteriorating quality of housing,” Warnock said. “The proposal clearly strikes a balance among stakeholders for now.”

Namely, the plan details actions that will be taken by federal housing providers, plus commitments made by private entities, but doesn't enact new federal laws governing the landlord-tenant relationship, he said.

"Overall, I'm optimistic, but ultimately, this is just a step in a long journey,” Warnock said.