Councilmember Will Jawando and Councilmember Kristin Mink Introduce the Housing Opportunity, Mobility and Equity (HOME) Act, with Support from County Executive Marc Elrich

Per Montgomery County: Montgomery County Councilmember Will Jawando, Councilmember Kristin Mink, with the support of County Executive Marc Elrich, introduced the Housing Opportunity, Mobility, and Equity (HOME) Act during the Council session on Tuesday, March 7. Community organizations, landlords and renters joined the Councilmembers and County Executive for a press conference introducing the HOME Act. They highlighted the costly impacts of renting in the County and how the bill would help relieve hundreds of thousands of renters.

“Housing is a human right. Affordable housing is not a nice to have but a necessity for renters to be able to live and contribute to our communities,” said Councilmember Jawando. “One-third of our County residents are renters, and most are Black. 58 percent of Black households rent, double the percentage of White or Asian households. With inflationary concerns, we must provide stable housing for residents.”

“The stories we heard today of families stretched and displaced by rent increases of five to eight percent are not anomalies. They are representative,” said Councilmember Mink. “We need to acknowledge that for a significant portion of our residents, receiving an increase like that is tantamount to an eviction notice on their door. A cap that is higher than the rate of wage growth and significantly above the rate of inflation does not provide the stability and predictability for renters that we are being asked to deliver – that our community is crying out for.”

“Over the last year, we have received reports of rents around Montgomery County increasing in excess of 10 and 15 percent per month — that is not affordable,” said County Executive Elrich. “Ultimately, rent stabilization is about stable homes, stable communities and equity. This bill gives renters protection from unnecessary rent increases while ensuring that property owners are able to maintain their property and earn a profit. It is absolutely the right thing to do. I want to thank Councilmember Jawando and Councilmember Mink for sponsoring this legislation. I support this bill, will advocate for its passage, and look forward to signing it into law.”

“No parent should be forced to choose between sending their high schooler to prom or covering their rent,” said Pia Morrison, president of SEIU Local 500. “I stand with you today to demand that this Council makes meaningful changes to rent stabilization in this county by supporting the HOME Act.”

“This bill is extremely critical. 40 percent of Montgomery County residents are renters. With the average rent over $2,200, 23 percent of County residents are paying more than half of their income in rent,” said Gino Renne, president of UFCW Local 1994 MCGEO, AFL-CIO.

“What was once a strong community is now in jeopardy as residents are priced out of their homes and living dwellings across the County,” said Nikki Woodward, vice president of Montgomery County Education Association (MCEA). “Currently, most of our MCPS educators do not live in Montgomery County mainly because they’re unable to afford to live here. In some cases, we have educators that are traveling across the states from Pennsylvania and West Virginia. We have teachers who every day have to choose between gas to come to work and taking sick leave.”

“If my rent increases by three percent, MoCo residents are saying I can deal with that. I can manage,” said Harold Hill, a District 5 resident. “But if it’s raised by eight percent and CPI, MoCo residents are saying, ‘CPI to us means Can’t Pay It.’”

“I have a boy with special needs who needs to see a specialist weekly. To ensure we have a roof over our heads, I must shift funds around to ensure the rent gets paid on time. However, that takes away from food, clothes, utilities, and much-needed medical attention for myself and my son,” said Luz Castro, CASA member and District 6 resident. “That is why I stand with CASA today to announce our support for the HOME Act.”

“This is about how we stop what has amounted to a forced migration of working families, of seniors, of folks with disabilities, of folks with kids in our schools who are being pushed out of our community,” said Will Roberts, Montgomery County Renters Alliance. “Is that the kind of community Montgomery County wants to be?”

“Make no mistake, rent stabilization is not an issue that only affects Mt. Rainier and Prince George’s, but also Montgomery County; this is a statewide issue,” said Mayor Celina Benitez, who just led the effort to pass rent stabilization in Mt. Rainier. “We have to be cautious of the fact that if we continue to push people out, we will have no residents here to be able to take care of our cities.”

“We just need to be sure of a reasonable return for landlords, which I do think this bill does,” said Montgomery County landlord Dan Spahr. “I believe with cooperation between tenants, landlords and policymakers, we can achieve a fair and equitable housing market in Montgomery County.”

The HOME Act helps keep renters in their homes by preventing rent gouging, reducing displacement, and creating cost predictability for renters and landlords. The HOME Act is the result of a community-driven effort by Councilmembers Jawando and Mink, as well as the County Executive. The Act sets a limit on the allowable annual rent increase to the County’s Voluntary Rent Guidelines (VRG) or three percent, whichever is lower. The Act would exempt certain buildings from rent increase requirements, including newly constructed units for ten years and units connected to government programs, healthcare facilities, nursing homes, and owner-occupied units. The HOME Act also permits landlords to request a fair return increase, establishes an excise tax on rental units that remain vacant for more than a year, and funds affordable housing acquisitions.

You can read the legislation here.