On December 12, PolicyLink’s Tram Hoang, CASA’s Trent Leon Lierman and Laurel City Council member Martin Mitchell engaged Greenbelt City Council in a discussion of rent stabilization legislation at the invitation of Greenbelt Counci lmember Ric Gordon. Rent stabilization attempts to control the rise in rent in a more moderate way than rent control; the latter uses strict price limits, but both limit the amount of rent that a landlord can charge.
Mitchell recounted some cautionary examples of cases in Laurel that disturbed existing tenants. In one case, a new landlord of a property that housed older residents doubled the rent for their current tenants (some tenants had lived in the buildings for 20 years). The same landlord owns multiple properties in Laurel and other places, including Greenbelt. Mitchell was able to negotiate with the landlord to pay some reasonable increases with American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds, but realized that a long-term solution would require legislation.
PolicyLink Presentation
Hoang began her slide
presentation by noting the cost of an average two-bedroom apartment in Maryland would require a worker earning the minimum wage to work 93 hours a week. In Prince George’s County, 85 percent of white residents, 87 percent of Black residents and 80 percent of Latino residents are cost-burdened, meaning over 30 percent of their income goes to their housing.
Different ways of restricting rent increases lead to different outcomes for renters. Because the housing systems have many imperfections, according to Hoang, no one policy can solve all the problems, but rent stabilization can slow the growth of corporate ownership of homes and prevent displacement and homelessness. In Prince George’s County, housing stability (meaning renters are not cost-burdened) would free up over $440 million, which could fund other parts of the economy. Across the United States, over 180 cities have some form of rent stabilization. This year alone, five cities passed rent stabilization legislation.
Greenbelt Rentals
Lierman, a Greenbelt resident and Maryland organizing director for CASA, said that rent is escalating everywhere. In fact, the owner of Parkway Apartments and Greenbelt Park Apartments is the same owner that doubled the rents of aged tenants in Laurel. He has not increased the rent in Greenbelt but, without rent stabilization, he could. Franklin Park Apartments has an additional $300 month-to-month fee that kicks in if tenants cannot pay their rent.
Council member Rodney Roberts recounted a situation a few years back where a landlord was going to raise rent exorbitantly and the city threatened to introduce rent control. The landlord backed down. Roberts stressed that the biggest problem is that housing is seen as a commodity to be bought and sold. With that mindset, Roberts said, there will never be affordable housing. Counci lmember Judith Davis asked where the Laurel City Council was with their bill and Mitchell replied that he was trying to move it forward without a consensus from the council.
Examples
Lierman noted that Takoma Park has had rent stabilization since 1981, Mt. Rainier introduced a bill last week and Hyattsville has a bill to be introduced. Lierman also noted that Montgomery County will also be introducing rent stabilization. Hoang felt more cities would pass rent stabilization if not for city charters and state preemption that often get in the way. Trent and Mitchell thanked Gordon for inviting them to talk with council.
Readers may find all the source documents for this article by going to the city website at greenbeltmd.gov and clicking on the button for Municipal Access TV, which links to the page for council meetings. Find the Agenda Packet for the meeting dated December 12, 2022, and open it for links to the agenda documents.