In a swift move to “empower” tenants, the Joe Biden administration is working up a new plan that is already alarming the housing industry.
The White House’s new rules are designed to protect tenants in the wake of post-pandemic price spikes.
According to housing advocates and industry lobbyists who have met with Biden admin officials, these new measures could be expected to roll out as soon as this month.
For those who remember, this entire housing debacle started during Covid. Landlords were barred from evicting delinquent tenants because they were living amidst an emergency. And apparently unable to make good on payments.
Like most moves from the Biden White House, the Supreme Court eventually shot down the whole program by deeming it unconstitutional. Now, Biden is working to find yet another loophole to feed his so-called tenant empowerment endeavor.
From Politico:
The actions — which will come even as rents have started to fall around the country — could include promoting grace periods for late rents and the right to counsel for tenants facing eviction, among other steps, advocates say.
Even though Joe Biden himself declared that “the pandemic is over” back in September during a 60 minutes interview, it appears – through these new tenant measures – that he plans on keeping America in emergency status for a while.
Biden is also hellbent on implementing regulation that would prevent landlords from collecting rent and kicking out delinquent tenants in their own property.
More from Politico:
The White House declined to comment on the specifics of potential new regulations, pointing to a statement it released last week in response to the letter from Democrats.
“We are exploring a broad set of administrative actions that further our commitment to ensuring a fair and affordable market for renters across the nation,” spokesperson Robyn Patterson said. “We look forward to continuing to work with lawmakers to strengthen tenant protections and improve rental affordability.”
All of this is just another way for Democrats to morph housing into an American “right.” With landlords paying the largest price for their own assets.
“People can’t afford to live,” said Rep. Jamaal Bowman (D-N.Y.), who spearheaded a letter last week with Warren calling on President Joe Biden to issue an executive action limiting rent hikes in properties backed by the Department of Housing and Urban Development or Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the government-controlled mortgage financiers. “We want to push the president as far as possible to lighten the burden of rent on everyday people.”
Democrats want the administration to enact new restrictions on rent hikes and punish landlords they accuse of price-gouging — “not just principles, not just guidelines, but what can the president do through executive action to lighten the burden on people and put more money in their pockets,” Bowman said in an interview.
