WASHINGTON — Two weeks after his emergency legislation on rent control was blocked by the Bowser Administration, Councilmember Robert White is taking another jab at capping increases for rent-controlled apartments in D.C.
White, who serves as the Chairperson for the Committee on Housing, presented a bill Wednesday that seeks to reduce the recently approved cap increase from 8.9% to 6.9% for the next two years.
"I want it to be as close to zero as possible, and I listened to everyone, advocates and landlords," White told WUSA9 regarding his legislation that he says is a short-term solution as the D.C. Council comes up with a long-term plan. "Landlords were saying, look the government froze our rent increases for two years, the cost of maintenance went up, the cost of labor, the cost of utilities went up. We just want to maintain our buildings," White added.
District residents and tenant advocates confronted White following our interview, chanting "Rent Hike! Rent Strike!'
Barbara Cooper was among the residents that confronted White. She discussed deplorable living conditions in her Southeast neighborhood. "Why should we have to pay more money, to live in bad conditions? Floods, rats, roaches, robberies, rapes, killings, you name it, we got it," Cooper told WUSA9.
Cooper is the president of the tenant group at the Marbury Plaza Apartments. She says any increase would devastate her neighbors that are grappling with inflation and limited incomes. Cooper says many of the residents she represents rely on Social Security benefits and other types of government assistance.
"It's a lot of us that can't afford it. What they are trying to do is push us out, raise the rent and let other people come in," she added.
White says he considers the 6.9 percentage a compromise between activists and landlords.
"I am concerned about worse maintenance. I am concerned about landlords filing emergency petitions that could raise rent higher than if we did nothing, and I am worried about buildings being sold and us losing affordable housing," White added.
The D.C. Department of Housing is expected to release its first ever database on rent controlled units in the upcoming weeks as the council is set to debate White's legislation.
As for now, the Chair of the Committee on Housing says they do not have data on how many rent-controlled units exist in the District and how many of those are currently vacant.
White says they also do not know how much people are being charged for rent in these apartments.
The cap increase for rent-controlled units legislation is set for discussion on Tuesday, May 30.
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