The White House has announced a series of actions to increase fairness in the rental market and further fair housing principles. These steps align with a newly released “Blueprint for a Renters Bill of Rights,” which outlines a set of principles to spur action by the federal government, state, and local partners, and the private sector to protect renters and promote rental affordability.
“Over a third of the American population–44 million households–rent their homes. Before the pandemic, well over 2 million eviction fillings and roughly 900,000 evictions occurred annually–disproportionately affecting Black women and their children. Since then, rental housing has become less affordable with some landlords taking advantage of market conditions to pursue egregious rent increases,” said the White House statement. “Today’s announcements recognize there are responsible housing providers–large and small, national and local–willing to treat renters fairly, but it also holds accountable those who exploit market realities at the cost of renters’ housing access and stability.”
Key actions from the administration include:
- The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), both independent agencies, will collect information to identify practices that are unfairly preventing applicants and renters from accessing or remaining in housing. According to the White House, this is the first time the FTC has issued a request for information related to unfair practices in the rental market;
- The CFPB will issue guidance and coordinate enforcement efforts with the FTC to ensure accurate information in credit reporting and to hold background check companies accountable for instituting unreasonable procedures;
- The Federal Housing Finance Agency will launch a public process to examine proposed actions promoting renter protections and limits on extreme rent increases for future investments;
- The Department of Housing and Urban Development will publish a notice of proposed rulemaking to require public housing authorities and owners of project-based rental assistance properties to give at least 30 days’ notice before terminating a lease due to nonpayment; and
- The administration will hold quarterly meetings with a diverse group of residents and resident advocates to enable them to share their ideas to strengthen protections.
